Football General Manager
Everyone tuned in or turned up to watch Sunday’s Club World Cup final fully expecting to see Paris Saint-Germain formally crowned the best team on the planet right now. However, Chelsea crashed the coronation party, with the Blues beating the reigning European champions 3-0 at a packed MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Cole Palmer was the undoubted star of the show scoring two goals and creating another for Joao Pedro. The attacker’s dynamic display resulted in him being presented with not only the man of the match award, but also the Golden Ball.
Unsurprisingly, Palmer also makes BALLGM‘s team of the tournament but who else has been included? Chelsea may account for half of our picks but there’s also room in our all-star selection for players from beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain, surprise packages Fluminense and Palmeiras, and even Real Madrid…
Everyone tuned in or turned up to watch Sunday’s Club World Cup final fully expecting to see Paris Saint-Germain formally crowned the best team on the planet right now. However, Chelsea crashed the coronation party, with the Blues beating the reigning European champions 3-0 at a packed MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Cole Palmer was the undoubted star of the show, scoring two goals and creating another for Joao Pedro. The attacker’s dynamic display resulted in him being presented with not only the man of the match award, but also the Golden Ball.
Unsurprisingly, Palmer also makes BALLGM‘s team of the tournament but who else has been included? Chelsea may account for half of our picks but there’s also room in our all-star selection for players from beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain, surprise packages Fluminense and Palmeiras, and even Real Madrid…
It’s still not clear if PSG will retain the services of Gigi Donnarumma for another season but, in our humble opinion, they’d be mad to let him go. n
The Italian giant may not be amazing with the ball at his feet but he was utterly integral to their Champions League success and didn’t really put a foot wrong in the U.S., keeping more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper (five). n
One of the most complete footballers in the game today, Achraf Hakimi is a joy to watch, a tremendous defender who is absolutely fantastic on the front foot.
The Morocco international is easily one of PSG’s most important players, constantly winning the ball back and then using it to excellent effect, as illustrated by the fact that he was directly involved in four goals at the Club World Cup.
Fluminense coach Renato Gaucho says Thiago Silva is still good enough to play for Brazil at the 2026 World Cup – and it’s difficult to disagree based on the defender’s performances over the past month.
The former Chelsea, PSG and AC Milan ace turns 41 in September but was absolutely outstanding during Flu’s surprise run to the semi-finals. As Blues left-back Marc Cucurella said, “Thiago is a legend of football.”
We’re now seeing why Chelsea repeatedly fought so hard to keep hold of Levi Colwill, with the 22-year-old now blossoming into an accomplished centre-half.
The England international, who has the added advantage of being able to play at left-back, got better and better as the Club World Cup progressed and was outstanding in the final, coping majestically with PSG’s stellar forward line and even releasing Cole Palmer for his second goal with a terrific ball to the right wing.
For quite some time, Marc Cucurella looked like just another bad buy by Chelsea. Now, though, he’s one of their most reliable players and rightly regarded as one of the best left-backs in the game. n
Cucurella was outstanding throughout Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign, playing every minute of six of their seven games and coping brilliantly with every single winger he came up against, including Desire Doue in Sunday’s final.
Moises Caicedo was a fitness doubt for the final – but he was given the green light to start in New Jersey and that made all the difference in the world. n
Chelsea simply wouldn’t have been able to disrupt PSG’s usually pretty patterns of play in anything like the same way if their excellent Ecuadorian enforcer hadn’t been available for selection. n
Because of the relentless way in which he recycles possession, Caicedo was a most worthy recipient of the Bronze Ball.
It may have taken a while (the constant state of flux at Stamford Bridge didn’t help!) but Enzo Fernandez is finally looking like a nine-figure footballer.
The Argentine was arguably the principal driving force behind Chelsea’s surprise success, with Enzo finishing up with more assists than any other player (three), while also weighing in with a goal. Just like Cucurella and Caicedo, he’s also highly adept at winding up opponents!
Whether Cole Palmer really deserved to win the Club World Cup’s Golden Ball is debatable – there were more consistent players than the the England international, who contributed little to the group stage. However, he came alive when it mattered most, being directly involved in five goals from the last 16 onwards.
Furthermore, his performance in the final was absolutely sensational, with Palmer scoring a deadly double and setting up Joao Pedro for Chelsea’s killer third as he sensationally upstaged Ousmane Dembele u0026amp; Co.
Chelsea agreed to pay Palmeiras an initial £29m for Estevao Willian shortly after he’d turned 17. The Club World Cup showed precisely why.
Even though he’s still only 18, Estevao was one of the most exciting attackers on show in the States, wowing the world with his wonderful array of skills and picking up more man of the match awards than anyone else – including one in Palmeiras’ quarter-final loss to Chelsea.
Consequently, the Blues could not be more excited by the imminent arrival of a player touted as the best talent to come out of Brazil since Neymar.
Kylian Mbappe’s unavailability for the entirety of the group stage due to the effects of gastroenteritis looked like a major problem for Real Madrid. However, Xabi Alonso found an unlikely solution in Gonzalo Garcia.
The 21-year-old academy product caught fire at the Club World Cup, netting four times in six appearances to prompt comparisons with los Blancos legend Raul while walking away with the golden boot for top scorer (although he was probably fortunate in that regard that Joao Pedro only joined Chelsea in time for the quarter-finals!).
Pedro Neto initially looked like another strange signing by Chelsea. After all, they already had a plethora of wingers (and with Estevao still to come!), while the Portuguese attacker’s fitness record was a legitimate cause for concern.
Neto, though, played his way into Enzo Maresca’s starting XI towards the tail end of the season before taking the Club World Cup by storm with three goals in his first three appearances. As a result, it’s now abundantly clear why Chelsea are willing to let Noni Madueke join Arsenal.
