New York: US President Donald Trump attended the FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain that took place at the MetLife Stadium on Monday (IST) and hailed the great work that was being done by his friend and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Chelsea FC were crowned the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup champions after a superb performance by Cole Palmer guided the Premier League side to a resounding 3-0 final victory over ten-man Paris Saint-Germain.
The FIFA Club World Cup was just the start of the footballing takeover in the Americas, with the 2026 FIFA Club World Cup set to be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
“It was a little bit of an upset, I guess you would say but it was a great, great match, very well played, and a tremendous crowd.
“It’s a big thing and Gianni (Infantino) is a good friend of mine, he has done such a great job with soccer, or as they call football. While we were flying over the stadium, we saw it was packed, and there were lines with people waiting to get in,” Trump said to DAZN.
Trump was booed loudly multiple times by the 81,118 fans at MetLife Stadium when he walked on the field for the postgame festivities.
Trump distributed medals to the teams and also stood with Chelsea players while they lifted the newly introduced trophy, which also prompted criticism on social media.
In a blockbuster final, Palmer scored twice in eight minutes in the opening half and then played through Joao Pedro just before the break to set up the Blues for a deserved triumph over the European champions.
Chelsea finished as the top scorers in the tournament with 17 goals; one more than PSG, Manchester City and Bayern were all on 16. Luis Enrique’s side, who were chasing a quadruple of major trophies during the 2024/25 campaign, were rocked by Chelsea’s first-half onslaught and looked a shadow of the team who demolished Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
(IANS)
