Five things we learned from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup came to a conclusion on Sunday night as Chelsea became the first team to win the newly revamped competition. 

Their stunning win over Paris Saint-Germain put the icing on the cake to what was an enthralling month of action in the US, as the tournament lit up the summer months.

Looking back on the last few weeks, here are five things we learned from watching the 2025 Club World Cup. 

PSG are beatable 

For most of the tournament, it looked inevitable that the Champions League winners were going to add another trophy to their season's haul. They began by thrashing Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the opener, and after a bump in the road against Botafogo, proceeded to see off Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, dump out Bayern Munich and then humiliate Real Madrid. 

Then came Chelsea in the final. The French side were expected to continue their domination of the tournament and European football by beating the Blues to become world champions, but they were torn apart in a perfect 45 minutes by the Premier League side. 

Enzo Maresca got his tactics spot on by honing in on the space left by PSG and instructing Cole Palmer to exploit it to cause danger, which he did to significant effect, with two first goals and an assist. 

Lesson learned for Luis Enrique, but the rest of Europe would have taken note ahead of next season. 

GES Sportfoto/Getty Images

Cole Palmer is a Ballon d'Or contender 

Write him off at your peril, because there aren't many big game players like Cole Palmer.  In the last two years, he has either scored or assisted in the final of the Super Cup, Euros, Conference League and now the Club World Cup.

The England man strolled around the MetLife Stadium pitch like he was having a kickabout down the park with his mates instead of playing the European champions and it produced a sublime performance from the forward. 

Many had begun to sleep on Palmer after a quieter second half to the regular season, but in the final, he showed what he's all about and put his name right back into contention for this year's Ballon d'Or. 

Player of the tournament for a reason, and the prizes could keep on coming. 

Luke Hales/Getty Images

Those Brazilians are quite good 

The USP to this month's tournament had been all about bringing the best teams from around the globe to battle it out, but the belief was that the European teams would be too strong for anyone else. No one told the Brazilians that, though. 

The final may have ended up being between two sides from Europe, but for most of the tournament, the four teams from Brazil really did give the big boys a scare. 

Botafogo started the ball rolling with a win over PSG in the group phase, while Flamengo's victory over Chelsea nearly derailed their march to glory. Palmeiras reached the quarter-finals and impressed, and Fluminense swept aside Inter and made it all the way to the final four. 

The South Americans showed they are more than a match and added even more personality and flair to the tournament, and their fans created an atmosphere unrivalled across the States. 

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A weather warning 

With the World Cup set to be co-hosted by the USA in 2026, this tournament was always seen as a dry run for events next year. 

Things like ref cams and player walkouts were fun, but it remains to be seen if they'll make a reappearance next summer; however, we learnt a lot about the weather conditions the team will face next year. 

Games reached temperatures of 36 degrees at some point, while others faced long delays due to large lightning storms, which could cause scheduling havoc if that were to happen again in twelve months' time. 

FIFA have reacted quickly by confirming that stadium roofs will be called upon to stop the heat and prevent storms, but nevertheless, it's something national teams will need to be prepared for. 

There are still gems to be found 

Before there was social media, rolling TV news and YouTube, summer tournaments were the platform for new stars to be unearthed. 

Toto Schillaci, Karel Poborsky, and John Jensen were little known on the global stage before their breakout moments during the 1990s, but in the modern era, everyone knows everything about every player, so a surprise name is seen as more of a rarity.  

The Club World Cup skewed that notion a little with several players coming from almost nowhere to the forefront this summer. None more so than Real Madrid reserve striker Gonzalo Garcia, who took home the Golden Boot and is suddenly being compared to Raul after being promoted to the first team.

Al-Hilal's Marcos Leonardo showed there is talent away from the marquee names in Saudi Arabia, and Jhon Arias caught the eye for Fluminense with a string of notable performances - and they weren't the only new names. 

More of that in four years' time, please. 
 

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