CLUB WORLD CUP
World Cup winners heading to FIFA Club World Cup 2025
The biggest stars from across the planet football will meet in the USA this June, as the newly formatted FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ gets underway. With 22 FIFA World Cup™ winners set to compete at the event, we look through those aiming to
Group A
Inter Miami, who qualified via the sole host nation slot, will bring two world champions to the finals. Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi enjoyed a historic campaign at Qatar 2022, taking home the adidas Golden Ball as La Albiceleste lifted the trophy for the first time in 36 years. He will be joined by Sergio Busquets, who helped Spain to their maiden title at South Africa 2010.
Group B
A trio of PSG stars helped France to lift the World Cup at Russia 2018. Lucas Hernandez played in every game at the tournament, while Ousmane Dembele featured four times, with the pair also part of the squad which reached the final at Qatar 2022. Presnel Kimpembe made his sole global finals appearance in Russia in a group-stage draw with Denmark.
No team heading to the tournament can boast a higher number of world champions than Atletico Madrid. Antoine Griezmann and Thomas Lemar were both part of the victorious France team of 2018, with Griezmann scoring in the final win over Croatia en route to the adidas Silver Ball and adidas Bronze Boot. Julian Alvarez, Angel Correa, Rodrigo De Paul and Nahuel Molina all played their part in Argentina’s win in Qatar to take Los Rojiblancos’ total of World Cup winners to an unsurpassed six.
Group C
The Germany squad which took home the first world title since the nation’s reunification at Brazil 2014 contained seven Bayern players. Two remain with the Bavarian giants, in the shape of Thomas Muller and captain Manuel Neuer.
Portuguese giants Benfica will be led at the Club World Cup by two Argentina icons. Angel Di Maria, who retired from international duty with 145 caps after winning last year’s Copa America, netted the second goal in the nation’s final victory over France in 2022. Centre-back Nicolas Otamendi, meanwhile, played every minute in Qatar and is still adding to his 123 caps.
Group D
Argentinian Enzo Fernandez is enjoying his best season at Chelsea since his then-British-record £106.8m transfer to the Blues from Benfica. That move came following his standout performances at Qatar 2022, which saw him win the FIFA Young Player Award.
Group E
Three members of the reigning world champions’ squad are currently playing their football in their homeland for River. Backup goalkeeper Franco Armani has been with the South American giants since 2018, and has since been joined by full-backs Marcos Acuna and German Pezzella.
At Russia 2018, defender Benjamin Pavard etched his name into the hearts of World Cup watchers across the globe when he scored the Goal of the Tournament in a 4-3 win over Argentina, en route to France’s success. Four years later, Lautaro Martinez helped La Albiceleste claim revenge over their European counterparts in the Qatar decider.
Group H
Les Bleus captain Kylian Mbappe burst on to the international scene in 2017. Just over 12 months later, he was a world champion and the first teenager to score in the final since Pele. At Qatar 2022, he made further showpiece history, becoming just the second player, and the first for 56 years, to net a World Cup final hat-trick.
Controversy has erupted following Chelsea’s dramatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final, with reports suggesting that the trophy presented to the English club is a replica – and that the original remains in the possession of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Blues clinched the inaugural edition of the revamped tournament at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 13, with captain Reece James receiving the silverware from Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
However, social media and the international press have been ablaze with claims that the trophy lifted during the celebrations was not the authentic one.
Videos from the post-match ceremony showed Trump lingering on the podium well after the presentation, standing beside James as he hoisted the trophy. This unusual move immediately drew attention.
Now, the intrigue has deepened following Trump’s own remarks in an interview with sports broadcaster DAZN, in which he admitted that the original trophy was currently “in his office at the White House.”
According to sources, Infantino unveiled the redesigned Club World Cup trophy at the White House shortly after Trump returned to office earlier this year, following his election win over Kamala Harris.
It now appears that the original trophy never left the presidential residence, prompting FIFA to commission a replica for the ceremony in New Jersey.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump was also seen pocketing one of the winner’s medals during the event.
Infantino had handed him a medal, presumably for inspection, but the U.S. President was later spotted slipping it inside his blazer.
This led to online jokes among fans, with some suggesting he had taken the medal intended for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke, who left the squad just before the final to complete a surprise move to Arsenal.
Madueke was reportedly seen partying with Jadon Sancho at the Wireless Festival in London while Chelsea celebrated across the Atlantic.
The incident has cast an odd shadow over what was otherwise a historic moment for Chelsea, marking their first triumph under the new Club World Cup format.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to take place in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and the final returning to MetLife Stadium, questions may linger over the relationship between football’s global leadership and its most controversial political host.
FIFA has yet to comment officially on the trophy replica claims.
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U.S. President Donald Trump paid homage to soccer great Pele after being met with boos and cheers from the crowd at the Club World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Chelsea walloped Paris St Germain 3-0 to close out the newly expanded version of the tournament, designed as a glittering curtain-raiser for the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with Mexico and Canada.
Trump was seated next to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in box seats at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where fans booed him when he appeared briefly on the jumbotron during the U.S. national anthem.
He was on his feet in the same VIP suite after Chelsea completed their thrashing of Paris St Germain, pumping his fist as congratulatory music blared.
Trump was met with boos from the crowd again as he posed with the match referees on the pitch during the trophy ceremony, as organisers kept the music pumping in the stadium.
He handed Chelsea their trophy and stood in the middle of the players for their team photo and celebration.
“I knew he was going to be there but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused,” said Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who scored two goals during the match.
Asked in a TV interview who he believed was soccer’s “GOAT,” Trump named Brazilian icon Pele, who helped spark interest in the sport in the U.S. in his brief time playing for the New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League in 1975.
“I came to watch Pele, and he was fantastic,” Trump told broadcaster DAZN. “That’s like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pele was so great.”
Trump has embraced sport’s super-sized spotlight during his second term, becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in February.
In May, he announced D.C. as the host for the 2027 NFL Draft from the Oval Office. He regularly attends UFC and has said he wants to host such fights at the White House next year.
FIFA announced last week that it had opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico. A record 48 national teams are set to take part.
Trump’s appearance at MetLife came a day after he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union, an escalation of a trade war that has angered U.S. allies and rattled investors.
-Reuters
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Cole Palmer produced a scintillating first-half masterclass as Chelsea demolished Paris St Germain 3-0 to win the Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The English attacking midfielder scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro in a devastating display in the revamped tournament’s decider that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, shell-shocked before the break.
Chelsea struck first in the 22nd minute when PSG fullback Nuno Mendes gifted possession to Malo Gusto. While his initial effort was blocked by Mendes, Gusto collected the rebound and found Palmer unmarked in the middle and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the lead after the 30th-minute cooling break with a goal of sublime quality. Latching onto a precise through ball from Levi Colwill, he cut inside before faking a pass to dummy a defender and firing into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer then turned provider, running up the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball in his stride and beat the offside trap before chipping his finish beautifully over keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG’s misery was completed when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 83rd minute.
-Reuters
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