Cole Palmer Inspires Chelsea to Club World Cup glory

_______________

FIFA Club World Cup

Chelsea 3 PSG 0

Individual Awards

Best Player of the Tournament: Cole Palmer

Top Goal scorer: Gonzalo Garcia

Best Young Player: Desire Doue

Best Goalkeeper: Robert Sanchez

_____________

Two years ago, Cole Palmer was a frustrated young man. The 21-year-old then, was often overlooked by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Palmer was largely a reserve player, and so he asked to leave.

Guardiola didn’t fight to keep him. He looked on as Chelsea spent £40m on the lanky forward.

Palmer has since become one of the biggest stars in the game.

Chelsea's English midfielder #10 Cole Palmer poses with the Golden Ball trophy during the award ceremony for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Champions, following the final football match between England's Chelsea and France's Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 13, 2025. (AFP Photo)

And at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Palmer became a world champion as Guardiola and his City side painfully watched in the comfort of their living rooms on back in England.

For Palmer, his move from Manchester City to Chelsea has since proved a masterstroke.

To the club’s two largest shareholders, Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly – Palmer’s transfer has since turned out to be a massive return on investment.

An investment that pales into insignificance if you consider the amount of cash prize Palmer has single-handedly won Chelsea in both the UEFA Conference League final and FIFA Club World Cup final this year.

Chelsea players pose for a photo before the Club World Cup final against PSG. (Credit: Charles Lwanga)

During the FIFA Club World Cup final, Palmer scored twice and set up Joao Pedro for the third, as he inspired Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the final and its $40m (sh143b) first-place prize.

But the money doesn’t end there.

The Blues also signed out with $85.625m (sh305b) which was part of $1billion (sh3.6 trillion) that FIFA pumped into the first edition of its revamped Club World Cup.

More than half of that cash—$525m (sh1.9 trillion) —was paid out as participation fees while $475m (sh1.7 trillion) was allocated for performance bonuses.

About a month ago, May 28, 2025, to be exact, Palmer had still inspired Chelsea to a 4-1 win over Real Betis and with it €7m (sh29b) for winning the UEFA Conference League final.

Chelsea captain Reece James lifts the Club World Cup trophy. (Credit: FIFA Club World Cup)

In that particular final, Real Betis took an early lead with a goal from Abde Ezzalzouli.

However, Chelsea, responded strongly in the second half. Palmer played a key role in the comeback, providing assists for two goals and being named Man of the Match.

Palmer’s match-winning performances in both finals have earned Chelsea a combined sh477b.

Palmer is special

At MetLife, it was the same script, written by the same author.

Palmer’s two goals put Chelsea in control before he provided the assist for Pedro to make it 3-0 before halftime for the Blues. But he was more than a goal scorer.

Individual awards: Best player of the tournament, Cole Palmer, best young player, Desire Doue and Best goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez. (Credit: Charles Lwanga)

The 23-year-old was the architect. Such a special talent. He didn’t need to fight, battle or muscle his way through this.

Palmer inspired Chelsea in a manner that was as cool as a cucumber, and led the fight against a PSG team that had been, with justification, billed as the best team in the world.

Dembele and Doue fail to show up

Are PSG the best in the World? Is Ousmane Dembele an obvious choice for the FIFA Ballon d'Or? Maybe, maybe not.

What their loss in New Jersey proved was that Luis Enrique’s Champions League winners aren’t so perfect after all, despite their outstanding performances on the way to reaching the final.

PSG failed to live up to their usual standards. (Credit: Charles Lwanga)

PSG missed their first-team stars Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez. It proved that without their first-team stars, their backup options aren’t quite the same level.

Dembele also needed to step up and prove his case for the Ballon d’Or. Both Dembele and star forward Desire Doue failed to live up to their usual standards.

Bring on the 2026 World Cup

Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium had 81,118 fans in attendance, including an appearance from U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.

Trump handed out medals to the teams and the individual awards before crowning Chelsea and joining in their celebrations on stage to bring down the curtains on what has been a historic and remarkable month-long tournament.

Trump handed out medals to the teams and the individual awards before crowning Chelsea and joining in their celebrations on stage. (Credit: Charles Lwanga)

Grammy winner and celebrated artists Doja Cat, and J Balvin and Afrobeats sensation Tems, brought a fresh and energetic twist to the event. Their half time musice performance marked a welcome departure from previous FIFA events and was met with an enthusiastic reception in the stadium.

Sunday was a sellout crowd and an important final dress rehearsal as the focus now shifts to next year’s FIFA World Cup, where New Jersey will again be the center of global attention.

__________________

Cash Prize money breakdown

1= Chelsea  $126m (sh448b)

2= PSG  $115m (sh410b)

3= Real Madrid   $61.5m (sh220b)

4= Bayern  $58.2m (sh208b)

5= Dortmund  $52.3m (sh187b)

6= Man City   $51.7m (sh185b)

7= Palmeiras  $39.8m (sh142b)

7= Fluminense   $39.8m (sh142b)

9= Inter Milan $36.8m (sh132b)

10= Al Hilal   $34.2m (sh122b)

11= Benfica   29.9m (sh107b)

12= Flamengo  $27.7m (sh99b)

13= Botafogo  $26.7m (sh96b)

14= Juventus   $26.6m (sh95b)

15= Porto   $24m (sh86b)

16= Atletico   $23.7m (sh85b)

17= Inter Miami   $21.1m (sh75b)

17= Monterrey   $21.1m (sh75b)

19= River Plate   $18.2m (sh65b)

20= Boca Juniors  $17.2m (sh61b)

21= RB Salzburg     $15.8m (sh56b)

22= Sundowns   $12.6m (sh45b)

23= ES Tunis    $11.6 m (sh41b)

23=Al Ain   $11.6m (sh41b)

23= Al Ahly   $11.6m (sh41b)

26= LAFC  $10.6m (sh38b)

27= Seattle  $9.6m (sh34b)

27= Urawa    $9.6m (sh34b)

27= Uslan    $9.6m (sh34b)

27= Wydad   $9.6m (sh34b)

27= Pachuca   $9.6m (sh34b)

32= Auckland  $4.6m (sh16b)