CLUB WORLD CUP
Havertz’s late penalty seals world club crown for Chelsea
Chelsea were crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions for the first time as Kai Havertz struck home a penalty deep into extra time to break the hearts of Brazilian club Palmeiras on Saturday.
Havertz, scorer of the winning goal in last season’s European Champions League final, was as cool as a cucumber as he converted in the 117th minute after Palmeiras’s Luan had conceded the spot kick with a handball.
Palmeiras’s misery was complete when Luan was sent off in stoppage time for a desperate tackle on Havertz
Chelsea have now won every major club trophy since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took control in 2003.
The final in the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, where around 15,000 Palmeiras fans outnumbered Chelsea supporters, took a while to come to life.
Chelsea, who lost the 2012 final to Brazilian side Corinthians, became increasingly dominant though and took the lead in the 55th minute when Romelu Lukaku powered in a header.
Palmeiras hit back shortly afterwards when Thiago Silva was adjudged to have handled the ball and Raphael Veiga converted from the spot to send the Brazilian fans wild.
Chelsea looked stronger in extra time but a penalty shootout loomed until Luan’s raised arm was struck by Cesar Azpilicueta’s volley from close range and after a VAR check referee Chris Beath went to check a pitch-side monitor.
He returned to point to the spot and Havertz did the rest.
Since taking charge little over a year ago Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, who was in attendance after missing the semi-final because of a positive COVID-19 test, has now earned Chelsea the European and world club crowns.
“It never stops. We want to keep on winning trophies,” Tuchel said in a pitch-side interview before his team were given their medals by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“In the end if you score late you need luck to do it but we were relentless and we did not stop trying.”
Palmeiras had been bidding to become the fourth Brazilian club to win the inter-continental tournament since 2000.
The South American club champions worked like Trojans to keep Chelsea in check and Tuchel’s side laboured early on.
They were not helped when Mason Mount, one of four changes to the side that started against Al-Hilal in the semi-final on Wednesday, was forced off with an injury.
Palmeiras settled into the game and in Dudu they had a real threat with the midfielder firing narrowly over before flashing another effort wide of Edouard Mendy’s post.
Chelsea rarely threatened in the first half but they took the lead in clinical fashion 10 minutes after halftime.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had been wasteful, got to the byline and his cross was perfect for Lukaku who headed past Weverton.
The lead did not last long though as Brazilian Thiago went up to clear a cross but the ball struck his raised arm and Veiga fired the spot kick inside Mendy’s left-hand post.
Chelsea moved up a gear with Havertz just missing the target with a thunderous shot from an angle before Christian Pulisic, who replaced Mount, went close with a shot.
The Premier League club continued to turn the screw in extra time with Palmeiras beginning to flag.
Pulisic’s low cross was deflected up on to the woodwork as Palmeiras dug deep. But the Brazilians’ resistance was finally pierced as Havertz again showed an appetite for the big occasion to keep Chelsea’s trophy machine rumbling on.
For Palmeiras there were tears, but no shame.
“I’m going to ban my players from not celebrating second place,” manager Abel Ferreira said. “Woe to them if they get on the plane and don’t have a beer. If you don’t, you’ll have to deal with me. I’m proud of what we did.”
Egyptian side Al Ahly won the third-placed playoff, beating Al Hilal 4-0.
–Reuters
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final will be held at the New Jersey home of the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, world soccer’s governing body announced on Saturday along with the venue lineup for the revamped tournament.
The expanded 32-team tournament, which will feature leading clubs from around the world, will be held in 12 stadiums around the United States next year from June 15-July 13.
The open-air stadium for the final, which opened in 2010 and has a capacity of 82,500, held the Copa America Centenario final in 2016 when Chile denied Lionel Messi’s Argentina for a second time in a penalty shootout.
The venue was also announced earlier this year as the site of the 2026 World Cup final.
The other venues, mostly a mix of NFL and Major League Soccer stadiums, are in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington and two in Orlando.
The Club World Cup will have eight groups of four with the top two teams from each group advancing to the single-match knockout stage from the round of 16 to the final.
FIFPRO’s European member unions have started legal action against FIFA over the Club World Cup due to concerns over the impact of a crammed calendar on players’ health and performance.
-Reuters
Twelve stadiums have been announced as venues for the expanded Club World Cup holding in the United States next year. There will be 32 clubs in attendance – a far departure from the regular eight.
The tournament kicks off on Sunday, 15 June 2025, with all roads leading to the MetLife Stadium in New York.
The final match will be in New Jersey on Sunday, 13 July 2025, just over a year before the venue stages the FIFA World Cup 26 final.
This venue is joined by 11 more – Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle), and Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).
“The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will feature 12 fantastic stadiums where a new chapter in football’s global history will be written by great players from the 32 best clubs in the world,” Infantino, the FIFA president stated.
“This new FIFA competition is the only true example in worldwide club football of real solidarity and inclusivity, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to play the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup which will impact enormously the growth of club football and talent globally.
“This is about opportunity and hope for those who need it most, and also about prestige and true football for those who make our sport shine.”
With the draw set for December, just two of the 32 teams are yet to be confirmed: one from South America, the other representing the host country.
The expanded FIFA Club World Cup which has put the organisation of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in disarray, is beginning to crumble.
Cup holders, Real Madrid, have indicated their intention not to participate.
Earlier on, the umbrella body of professional footballers has also frowned at the fixtures congestion which the novel competition appears to have caused.
According to Reuters’ report, Real Madrid will decline FIFA’s invitation to participate in the Club World Cup as the governing body have undervalued the compensation the 15-times Champions League winners should receive, manager Carlo Ancelotti said.
FIFA’s revamped international tournament, with 32 teams, is set to take place in the United States at the end of next season, with Europe’s best-ranked 12 clubs among those invited.
Ancelotti, one of the most successful football managers in Europe, has won the Club World Cup three times and the Champions League five times.
“FIFA can forget it, footballers and clubs will not participate in that tournament,” Ancelotti told Italian daily Il Giornale in an interview published on Monday to coincide with his 65th birthday.
“A single Real Madrid match is worth 20 million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the whole cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation.”
Ancelotti, who led Real to a Champions League and LaLiga double last season, said there had been a lot of pressure on managers lately but he had managed to stay passionate about his job.
“I see nothing particularly new, this has always been our job but the case of (former Liverpool manager Juergen) Klopp is significant. The pressure continues, the burden of responsibility becomes too heavy, obsession takes over,” he said.
“I keep my passion, that’s how I live the match, the game, my job; I’ve always carried this balance with me. I’ve overcome moments that weren’t always positive; after my experience with Everton I was off the radar, they thought I was finished, I was old.”
With all three European club competitions expanded to 36 teams from next season, the Club World Cup has come under scrutiny for saturating the football calendar.
In May, FIFA said they would not consider rescheduling their 32-team Club World Cup after global players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Association (WLA) threatened legal action if they did not review their plans.
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