The Rondo: Debating the Club World Cup – Are Cole Palmer and Chelsea deserved winners, where do humbled PSG go from here, and grading the 2025 CWC overall

Aaaaand breathe. The Club World Cup is done. It was a frantic, breathless and often maddening month in the United States. And it concluded in appropriate style, a fever dream of a final, a sort of imperfect Super Bowl that Chelsea won 3-0.

There was a lot to like: the last match was highly watchable and delivered a significant upset – with Chelsea’s Cole Palmer having his much deserved day in the sun while Ousmane Dembele and PSG finally cracked. There were some really good games throughout, some outstanding player performances, and fans that brought the energy across oceans and continents.

But, then, let’s not forget about the heat, pitch quality, travel, fan issues – and PSG coach Luis Enrique losing his temper at full time of the final. These are the logistics that need figuring out. Can they be fixed in the next iteration?

Ultimately it was an interesting and largely satisfying month of soccer, and that’s probably what fans want. This seemed a solid proof of concept, with enough evidence to suggest that such an expanded CWC does make sense.

GOAL US writers break it all down in a Club World Cup final edition of… The Rondo.