Kylian Mbappe, Cole Palmer, Pep Guardiola’s new initiative at Manchester City, and the victors and losers of the 2025 Club World Cup

The money-making competition has been a huge success for certain clubs, players, and coaches, but a tragedy for others…

The 2025 Club World Cup completed on Sunday night, with Chelsea and Donald Trump winning the title following a Cole Palmer masterpiece at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It was a bizarre sight, particularly considering few pundits expected the Blues to win the new event, let alone defeat Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

However, Enzo Maresca’s side absolutely deserved their 3-0 victory, which threw their much-lauded opponents into a mini-meltdown, highlighting how seriously both teams regarded the game – and the league in general. The competition had a number of severe flaws, yet it is difficult to doubt the amount of commitment among those participating.

Who profited the most from the expanded event? Who was left regretting their participation? GOAL breaks down all of the main winners and losers from the Club World Cup below…

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LOSER: Kylian Mbappe’s timing.

Kylian Mbappe missed the entire group stage due to a bad episode of gastroenteritis, but it was nothing compared to the misery inflicted on the French forward during his eagerly anticipated reunion with Paris Saint Germain.

Mbappe played every minute of Real Madrid’s humbling 4-0 loss to his former team, but he was unable to make an effect in a brutally one-sided semi-final.

Indeed, the encounter in New Jersey highlighted how much PSG has grown since he left the Parc des Princes, and how much Real has stagnated since his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Of course, it must be acknowledged that the Xabi Alonso era has only just begun. Los Blancos should improve under the Spaniard’s leadership, but the scope of the rebuilding effort has already become alarmingly evident.

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Winner: Messi’s Miami

Let’s be honest: Inter Miami’s participation in the Club World Cup was entirely opportunistic, with the goal of capitalizing on the ‘Lionel Messi effect’ to raise interest and increase ticket sales.

While Inter Miami did not earn the opportunity to act on a worldwide scale, they undoubtedly made the most of it. The Herons may have been overwhelmed by PSG (there’s no shame in that these days!), but they did MLS well simply by making it to the final 16.

Furthermore, despite the “bloodbath” in Orlando, Javier Mascherano’s team has certainly gained a lot of confidence from qualifying for the knockout stage. They’ve won three straight games since returning to MLS, with a resurgent Messi scoring six goals.

There’s every chance that the Club World Cup will be a watershed event in Inter Miami’s season, and not just in terms of convincing their Argentine superstar to sign a new contract with the club.

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LOSER: PSG.

Chelsea upset PSG in every way.

The Parisians were widely expected to defeat Chelsea in the same way that they had Atletico Madrid, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid – but their chances of completing a historic quadruple were all but over by halftime in the final.

Essentially, the Blues dominated PSG with the same kind of intense pressure and lethal transitions that Luis Enrique’s side had been demolishing everyone else with over the previous six months – and there was nothing the European champions could do about it. At one point in the second half, the Olé’s even appeared after every Chelsea pass as an increasingly desperate PSG attempted to retrieve the ball.

Nobody expected the collective head-loss that followed, with Joao Neves sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair before Luis Enrique became embroiled in a post-match melee that culminated with Joao Pedro on the ground.

It was all highly unprofessional and reflected badly on the PSG coach and his players. They are clearly not used to being outplayed, and it showed in New Jersey.

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WINNER: Cole Palmer.

Cole Palmer’s output dropped dramatically in the second half of the season, with the attacking midfielder only showing up for the Europa Conference League defeat of Real Betis. He was also noticeably silent for the majority of Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign.

Palmer, on the other hand, once again proved himself to be a man for the big occasion in the United States, reminding the world of his nonchalant brilliance with a delightful double and a classy assist in Sunday’s final win over PSG, bringing his total to six goals in his last three finals for club or country.

“It’s happened again. I like finals,” the England star said in his own inimitable, uncomplicated style – and, to be honest, Palmer appears to be unfazed. Despite the scorching heat in East Rutherford, he once again proved his ‘Cold’ reputation with a number of ridiculously cool finishes.

Indeed, the highest accolade Palmer can receive is that he was the best player on a pitch that included some of the main contenders for this year’s Ballon d’Or. There’s no doubt that he’ll be in the hunt for the 2026 award if he continues to produce decisive and brilliant performances for Chelsea and England on the game’s biggest stages.

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LOSER: Pep’s New City Project

Pep Guardiola has consistently stated that winning the Club World Cup will not compensate for Manchester City’s dismal 2024-25 season. However, it would have at least sparked some serious optimism for the next season.

As it is, however, there is only skepticism about the strength of Pep’s new project, with uncomfortable questions being raised about a coach and a squad that suffered an ugly last-16 loss to Al Hilal.

The Saudis may have spent a lot of money on their squad a few summers ago, but Abu Dhabi-backed City has spent £289 million ($392 million) on theirs since January, and they still don’t look like a title-winning team.

There is even speculation that Nico Gonzalez, who was purchased during the winter window for £50 million ($67.5 million), would be moved on before the start of the new season, which does not give much faith in the consistency of their recent buying spree.

Obviously, new additions need time to gel, and Guardiola remains one of the game’s best tacticians. City will also point out that even reaching the knockout stage in the United States resulted in a large sum of money.

From a sporting standpoint, City gained almost nothing from the Club World Cup, but it has the potential to drain them completely.

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LOSER: Inter

Just when Inter fans thought things couldn’t get much worse, the Club World Cup arrives, exacerbating the already bleak atmosphere at San Siro.

May 31 was a bad day for the club, with the Nerazzurri losing 5-0 to PSG in the Champions League final, and June 30 wasn’t any better.

A club still reeling from that historically catastrophic loss in Munich, as well as the following removal of coach Simone Inzaghi, suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat to Fluminense in the Club World Cup’s last 16.

As if that wasn’t terrible enough, Lautaro Martinez and Beppe Marotta then pounced on absent player Hakan Calhanoglu in their post-match interviews, culminating in a dressing-room schism that has painted the club in a negative light.

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WINNER: Brazilian football.

During the Club World Cup’s group stage, Flamengo winger Luis Araujo triumphantly remarked, “We have great teams in Brazil who are all capable of facing any team in the world.” He couldn’t have been more correct. Brazil had four teams in the competition, and all four advanced to the knockout stage.

Flamengo and Botafogo caused the biggest upsets in the group stage, defeating Chelsea and PSG, respectively, before going out in the last 16.

Palmeiras advanced to the quarterfinals, while Fluminense advanced to the semifinals, with just Chelsea, who have spent a fortune on players in the last two years, standing in their way.

“There is no way to compete with the Europeans in terms of finances,” Flu coach Renato Gaucho said. “They can sign great players and form very strong teams.”

However, he also stated that the tournament provided undeniable evidence of the strength of the Brazilian game. No nation had more clubs or players in the final 16.

“Football is decided on the field,” he said, “and the Brazilian people should be very proud of what their clubs have been doing on the field.”

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LOSER: Argentina football

Argentina’s teams, unlike their Brazilian counterparts, had awful Club World Cup campaigns.

Granted, they only had two representatives: Boca Juniors and River Plate, but both were eliminated early. They only managed one win between them, River’s 3-1 triumph over Urawa Red Diamonds, while Boca failed to defeat Auckland City, who were thrashed 10-0 by Bayern Munich.

The disparity in quality between Europe’s top teams is not the issue here, however. It’s a stark contrast to Brazil’s finest. Indeed, the Club World Cup proved what the Copa Libertadores has been pointing out for some time: a concerning erosion in the quality of Argentina’s elite teams.

Remember, Boca and River met in a highly anticipated Copa final in 2018, and they’ve both finished second in the interim – but the last six editions have been won by Brazilian teams, with four all-Brazilian finals.

Losing their most promising players earlier than ever before – River Plate product Franco Mastantuono joined Madrid at the age of 17 – is undoubtedly detrimental, but it is also a problem for their Brazilian competitors.

What’s more troubling is that even superbly supported clubs like Boca lack the resources to compete with Brasileirao Serie A teams for South America’s top talent. The overall outcome was that Argentina’s Club World Cup representatives had the best fans at the tournament, but the lowest performances.

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WINNER: Saudi Pro League

FIFA president Gianni Infantino proclaimed the start of a “NEW ERA OF FOOTBALL” after Al-Hilal defeated Manchester City in the last 16, which was a little overblown.

Indeed, Sergej Milinkovic said Al-Hilal’s unexpected advance to the quarter-finals effectively vindicated the high-profile players who had elected to relocate to the Middle East while still in their twenties. “Let’s see if they will criticise us now,” stated the former Lazio midfielder.

Of course, there is still the possibility of problems with those transactions, despite the fact that the Saudi Pro League has spent a lot of money to get here.

However, the folks behind the plan to dominate world football will have been emboldened even more by Al-Hilal’s historic triumph, because that kind of publicity cannot be bought.

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LOSER: Jackson’s Chelsea career.

Nicolas Jackson deserves credit for quickly apologising for his red card against Flamengo, which occurred only four minutes after he came on as a substitute. He said that he had disappointed everyone who had supported him following his dismissal, which ended his Premier League campaign prematurely.

“I’m so angry at myself,” he posted on social media. “No excuses. I take full responsibility. I’ll reflect, I’ll grow, and I’ll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me.”

Unfortunately for Jackson, no one at the club believes him anymore. He’s become a liability, one that Maresca no longer needs to endure, with Chelsea signing two No.9s this summer, Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, both of whom impressed in the United States. The latter was exceptional, netting three goals in three outings despite only arriving from Brighton in time for the quarter-finals.

As a result, Jackson’s days as Chelsea’s first-choice centre-forward are ended, and his most memorable moment at the club will be the stupid red card in Philadelphia, which summed up his costly lack of poise.

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LOSER: Bayern Munich.

The opinion is that Bayern Munich earned somewhat less than €50 million from competing in the Club World Cup, but the risk was not worth it. Not with Jamal Musiala suffering a serious injury in the United States that will certainly keep him out until well into 2026.

The challenge that shattered Musiala’s leg and dislocated his ankle is still being debated, with Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer accusing PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma of carelessness.

However, Musiala maintains that “there’s no one to blame.” “I think situations like this happen, and now I’m just going to use the next period of time to regain my strength and positivity,” the attacking midfielder wrote on Instagram.

With that wonderful approach, young Musiala should recover quickly. However, his return cannot come soon enough for Bayern.

The coach understands that finding a suitable replacement will be extremely tough – and Bayern are already unable to sign a left winger!

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WINNER: Chelsea.

Chelsea are the “world champions,” but are they truly the finest team in the world? Absolutely not. The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League last season and were cruising through the Conference League while Europe’s top players competed in the Champions League.

However, we can conclude that the Blues’ record £1.5 billion spending binge is beginning to pay off. Enzo Maresca’s expensively manufactured youth group is definitely on the rise, as seen by their comprehensive defeat of a PSG side that had humiliated top opponents the month prior.

Chelsea got under the Parisians’ skin like no other team before them, but they also exhibited the intensity and talent that distinguishes them as serious challengers to win the English title next season. In that regard, the Club World Cup could not have gone better for the Blues.

Granted, their lack of a full pre-season may catch up with them, but they gained an exorbitant amount of money by winning the tournament (Pedro and Delap are pretty much already paid for!) – and, more significantly, they built an irreplaceable amount of belief in the process.

“Everyone has talked a lot of sh*t about us all season, but I feel like we are going in the right direction,” an obviously ecstatic Palmer told DAZN. “The manager is building something special, something important.”

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LOSER: The 2026 World Cup.

The Club World Cup was not lacking in either quality or upsets, both of which are essential components of any fascinating sport. However, there’s no denying that the conditions sparked concerns for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

For starters, some coaches and players were dissatisfied with the condition of the pitches, which Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham described as “not great at all”. Luis Enrique was notably underwhelmed by the playing surface at Seattle’s Lumen Field, one of the 2026 stadiums.

“I can’t imagine an NBA court being full of holes!” the PSG manager fumed following his team’s 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders. “The ball bounces almost as if it were jumping around like a rabbit.”

Then there was the weather. Cooling intervals were critical due to the generally high temperatures in the United States, with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca claiming that the heat was so oppressive that it was “impossible” to conduct normal training sessions and midfielder Enzo Fernandez admitting that he felt “dizzy” during matches.

Even worse, six matches were postponed due to thunderstorms, as play in American stadiums is halted for safety reasons when lightning is spotted within a 10-mile radius.

“For me, it’s not football,” Maresca stated after Chelsea’s last-16 match against Benfica was halted for 113 minutes. “I think it’s a joke. I can understand that for security (safety) reasons you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means it is probably not the right place to do this competition.”

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