The Promised Land: Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain bid to emulate Bruce Springsteen in FIFA Club World Cup Final

Critical debate has raged for close to half-a-century now over the lyrical traditions and allegorical meanings behind the works of singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

Affectionately known to fans as 'The Boss', the New Jersey native and his backing group the E Street Band, have wrote their names in American music folklore multiple times.

• Read more | Who will win the FIFA Club World Cup Final? On The Break preview Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain showdown

His songs count too many to be numbered as copper-bottomed hits and radio staples - songs that have since been passed down to successive generations with thrilling passion.

Yet for all of his global success - the 76-year-old veteran has just wrapped a third year of touring across Europe with two shows at San Siro - the Meadowlands remain his home.

Between 1985 and 2009 when it closed, no other artist played more shows at Giants Stadium than Springsteen, with marathon performances frequently in excess of three hours.

Since then, he has christened its successor MetLife Stadium as his new domain - again, with more gigs  than any other touring act, bar Taylor Swift, since it opened its doors.

All this is to say that when Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain step out onto its turf for the second time in a week, there will be no shortage of history that they must live up to.

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After four weeks of thrilling action across the United States, the pair will contest the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final to bring the curtain down on a near-year-long campaign.

Both teams began their campaigns in August 2024, the Blues with a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League and Les Parisiens with a 4-1 win over Le Harve in Ligue 1.

They ended their European journeys with victory in Wrocław and Munich, thumping victories over Real Betis and Inter Milan respectively to secure continental silverware.

Now, this extended coda - either the end of the 2024-25 campaign's Side A, or the start of the 2025-26 season's Side B - reaches a East Rutherford crescendo primed to soar.

MetLife Stadium is no stranger to noise and thunder - its day job is primarily hosting two of the NFL's most vociferously supported franchises after all - but this is a grander thing.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than a year away. Its final, arguably the flagship sporting fixture on the planet, will be held in this very same venue in just over a dozen months.

For players on both sides, there is much more on the line than another piece of silverware, though neither Enzo Marseca nor Luis Enrique would turn down a new trophy too.

Littered with top-tier international names still looking to arguably rubber-stamp their place amid the conversation, this doubles as a faux-audition for greater success in 2026.

Ousmane Dembele, Cole Palmer, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marc Cucurella, Désiré Doué, Joao Pedro - the stars on either side who could be back here are not few and far between.

But underneath more favourable temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic, this means more for their clubs as a whole than anything else, the ramifications set to run deep for the victor.

As incumbent UEFA Champions League holders, and with their performances across America this past month, PSG can arguably already lay claim to be the best team in the world.

Win, and it's official. It cements a remarkable turnaround from a team who felt as if they were Europe's longest-suffering bridesmaid, never quite ready to be hitched to the big prize.

For Chelsea however, it will hand Marseca and his fan a sense of unshakable belief, the kind of take-all-comers swagger arguably absent at the club since Thomas Tuchel's tenure.

That level of self-belief can so often be the key link when it comes to the fine margins in football. Believe you're going to win the ball, win the tackle, win the game and you do.

Much like Springsteen and his shows, where his crew take requests from the crowd like a bar-room outfit on the biggest stage, there is a gloriously creative chaos to this game.

The sheer unpredictability, or at the very least the speculation of chance, is part of what makes both such a communal experience, one that invigorates the heart, body and soul.

For Chelsea and PSG this weekend, both will know that for all their well-drilled tactics and plans, their slick sleight-of-hand moves and their showmanship, it might not matter.

Indeed, as they chase the promised land of club football's newest, biggest prize, both may hope they can summon the spirit of the E Street Band, and find some off-the-cuff magic.

One thing is for certain - only one will be left dancing in the dark when the curtain falls and the final whistle blows.

Watch the 2025 Club World Cup Final live on DAZN on Sunday. More information and to sign up for a free account here.