Chelsea FC were crowned champions of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday after a dominant 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the final, held at a sold-out MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The English side delivered a clinical first-half performance, led by a standout display from Cole Palmer, who scored twice and assisted the third goal. 

João Pedro added to Chelsea’s tally just before halftime, sealing the club’s first title under manager Enzo Maresca and marking a major triumph in the inaugural 32-team edition of the restructured tournament.

“We work every day to improve ourselves… it’s been a fantastic season,” said Maresca post-match.

Palmer, who was named Player of the Tournament, later lifted the Golden Ball after an exceptional campaign that saw him emerge as one of Chelsea’s central creative forces.

Tensions flared in the final minutes, with PSG’s João Neves sent off for a dangerous challenge, followed by a heated exchange during the medal ceremony in which PSG coach Luis Enrique appeared to push João Pedro. Enrique later apologized, calling the incident “completely avoidable.”

Adding to the spectacle, U.S. President Donald Trump attended the final and presented the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James, drawing both cheers and boos from the crowd on the anniversary of the 2022 assassination attempt against him.

The 2025 edition marked a turning point in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup, transitioning from a 7-team invitational format to a World Cup-style tournament featuring 32 of the world’s top clubs. Hosted in the United States for the first time, the month-long event brought together continental champions and high-ranking clubs from all six FIFA confederations.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino hailed the tournament as a breakthrough moment for global club football.

“This competition will become just as important—or even more important—than the Champions League,” Infantino said.

Chelsea qualified as one of UEFA’s top-ranked clubs based on their European performance, while PSG entered the tournament as runners-up in Ligue 1 and high finishers in UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

Other prominent participants included Real Madrid, Flamengo, Al Ahly, Club León, Wydad Casablanca, and Seattle Sounders. Group-stage and knockout matches were played across Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, and New York, drawing large crowds and generating strong global broadcast numbers.

Looking Ahead

Chelsea’s triumph reaffirms their place among world football’s elite and marks their second Club World Cup title—the first coming in 2021. For PSG, the defeat represents another missed opportunity to claim their first major global title despite heavy investment in recent years.

The next edition of the expanded Club World Cup is scheduled for 2029, with FIFA expected to review scheduling, prize money, and player workload in light of feedback from clubs and federations.

Acting Minister of Higher Education, Nida Mohammad Nadeem, has said that the international community is shouting slogans of support for Afghanistan on the one hand, and threatening to prosecute the leaders of the Islamic Emirate on the other.

Nadeem made this statement in a meeting with Takeyoshi Kurumaya, Ambassador of Japan to Kabul.

He said that the Islamic Emirate acts based on religion, Sharia and the will of the people, and these values constitute the main policy of the government.

He also referred to the expansion of the country’s education system and spoke of the ministry’s commitment to providing quality religious and contemporary education in accordance with religious and national values.

The minister also praised Japan’s cooperation in the field of treating drug addicts and addressing the problems of returnees.

For his part, the Japanese ambassador assured of his country’s continued assistance to Afghanistan and expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Islamic Emirate in various sectors, including the management of refugees returning from Iran and Pakistan.

Last week, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Behrouz Azar, has announced that Afghan citizens deported from Iran can visit the country’s diplomatic missions in Kabul or Herat to pursue their claims of money owed to them.

Zahra acknowledged that some refugees have failed to receive their housing deposits from their landlords, but stressed that this is not a cause for concern.

She said the number of people owed mines is small and the Iranian government is fully prepared to handle such cases.

According to her, refugees in Iran who have failed to receive their housing deposits for any reason can also visit offices in the relevant provinces of Iran and submit legal documents.

The expulsion of Afghan refugees from Iran has intensified in recent weeks. According to reports, more than half a million Afghan refugees have returned to the country from Iran in the past three weeks.

While Iranian officials speak of the “dignified return” of Afghan refugees, many returnees have different stories. Some say that Iranian police did not give them time to collect their belongings and settle their accounts, and they were returned to Afghanistan with nothing in hand.

One returnee said: “I lived in Iran for 24 years. The police would come and ask if we had a card. Some would tear up our passports, some would ask for money. We would give the money we earned, while we were hungry ourselves. This was the situation in Iran. Now we are back. Mashallah, there is peace here and help is available.”

Another returnee said: “They detained our children on their way to work. They also told us that we had to leave. We were detained with the children for two to three days. Then we were released. I had five air conditioners, five refrigerators, a water purifier, carpets and household items, I left everything behind. No one bought them.”

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan emphasizes that it is addressing the problems of deported refugees.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy of the Prime Minister, said while inspecting the process of transferring returnee refugees in Kabul: “If we stay in someone else’s homeland for a year or ten years, they will eventually tell us to leave. But this is our homeland. We own this country. We will try to rebuild it together.”

The United Nations has warned that by the end of this year, the number of returnees will reach about three million, an issue that, according to the organization, will put a huge strain on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.