The curtain comes down on the first edition of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup when reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain, face Chelsea in Sunday’s final at the MetLife Stadium, with Donald Trump among those set to be in attendance.
It is the kind of glamour match-up that FIFA president Gianni Infantino would have been hoping for to wrap up the tournament, which on Saturday he labelled as marking the start of “the golden era of club football”.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca acknowledged ahead of the game that PSG are “probably in this moment the best team in the world”, and the French side are hoping to cap off the most remarkable of seasons by completing a stunning clean sweep of trophies.
PSG won a French league and cup double before claiming the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history with a record-breaking 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final at the end of May.
Luis Enrique’s side have carried that form over into the Club World Cup, putting four goals past Atletico Madrid in the group stage and four more past Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami before defeating Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
They then produced a masterclass in a 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
“It has been a fantastic season and for us it is very important that we end it in the best possible manner,” Luis Enrique said as he spoke to reporters on Friday.
It would be a shock if Chelsea claimed the trophy against a PSG side led by Ballon d’Or candidate Ousmane Dembele.
However, the Stamford Bridge side came to the United States fresh from finishing fourth in the Premier League and winning the UEFA Conference League.
“They are one of the hottest teams in the world at the moment but this is the final, a one-off game,” said Chelsea’s Reece James.
“Everyone has them down as strong favourites but I have been in many finals before where we have been favourites and we have not come out on top.
“That doesn’t mean too much to me and I don’t really care that everyone is bigging up the opposition.”
