Game Day Essentials
• Final: Paris Saint-Germain (#1) vs Chelsea FC (#10)
• Date and Time: Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 pm ET
• Venue: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• Forecast: Hot, sunny, dry, 83F/28C
• How to Watch: DAZN, Sling TV, TBS
• Referee: Alireza Faghani (AUS)
This special 2025 FIFA Club World Cup edition of Oppo Research features two posts, one that profiles Paris Saint-Germain and one that profiles Chelsea FC. Read one, then the other: Here is your 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final preview.
Michael Battista
1. PSG: Undefeated vs Premier League
PSG will certainly feel good about its chances against Chelsea on Sunday. After all, the French giants haven't lost to a Premier League team in the 2024/25 campaign, defeating Manchester City FC, Liverpool FC, Aston Villa FC, and Arsenal FC en route to their first-ever UEFA Champions League title.
PSG and Chelsea last faced each other in 2016, when the Parisians eliminated the latter in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the second straight year. They also met in the quarterfinals in 2013, when Chelsea won on away goals.
It's fair to say that some of the English teams PSG defeated this season, such as Manchester City and Liverpool, are better than Chelsea. By that logic, PSG shouldn’t have too much trouble this afternoon. But then again, this Chelsea is measurably better than the team that wrapped up the Premier League season on May 28 — the Londoners added João Pedro on July 2, and his goals proved to be decisive in the Semifinal win over Fluminense.
Oliver Strand
2. One win away from the quintuple
PSG is no stranger to success in France. The Parisians won Ligue 1 a record 13 times, including a fourth consecutive title this past season. But PSG is now setting its sights on history by becoming the first French side to win five trophies in a single calendar year.
That's right: PSG is going for the quintuple.
PSG opened 2025 with a stoppage-time win in the French Super Cup, dispatching AS Monaco 1-0 back in January. The team went on to complete the domestic treble, winning Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France in May. In the middle of all of that, Paris eviscerated Inter Milan 5-0 in the UEFA Champions League Final to claim a long-awaited first European crown for the club.
PSG headed into this summer's tournament with momentum on its side. A win over Chelsea today will give PSG an astonishing fifth title this year.
Not to get ahead of ourselves, but PSG could add to that tally when the team faces off against reigning Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup on August 13th. A sixth trophy would equal the record set by FC Barcelona (2009) and Bayern Munich (2020), the only clubs to achieve a sextuple.
But wait! Even that record could be broken in December, when PSG is set to face the winner of the FIFA Challenger Cup in the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Could this be the year of the PSG septuple?
Oliver Strand
3. Vitinha runs the midfield
PSG’s midfield trio of Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz, and João Neves is world-class. But Vitinha is arguably the most important of the three. So far, he has covered a tournament-best 69.4 kilometers, averages 103 accurate passes per 90 (second only to Rodri’s 104), and leads the tournament in accurate long balls per 90 with 10.
Vitinha's expected assists of 1.8 trail only the 1.9 of Dortmund’s Daniel Svensson. The battle between Vitinha and Chelsea's Enzo Fernández will be thrilling to watch today.
Hudson River Blue Staff
4. Ousmanne Dembele: Ballon d’Or favorite
French forward Ousmane Dembélé is having a season for the ages, winning four trophies with PSG while contributing 49 goals and assists in all competitions — that's the fifth-most of any player in Europe’s top five leagues. Dembélé won the Golden Boot in Ligue 1 with 21 goals — Mason Greenwood also scored 21 goals, but the Frenchman's lower penalty count made him the winner.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona winger has completely revitalized his career since moving to Paris in 2023. After spending multiple seasons dealing with injuries and poor form, Dembélé is finally hitting the heights many expected of him when he first broke onto the scene with Stade Rennais FC back in 2015. Now, with a UEFA Champions League title medal and a domestic treble to his name already this season, a FIFA Club World Cup title should put Dembélé at the front of the pack in the race for the Ballon d’Or.
Dembélé will face competition from teammate Vitinha, Liverpool's Mohammed Salah, and Barcelona FC wunderkind Lamine Yamal. But Dembélé is the most important player on the best team in the world, and another major trophy will likely make him a favorite to win yet another trophy when the Ballon d’Or is announced in September.
Megha Gupta
5. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is playing lights out
Most will credit PSG’s success to the fantastic play of Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, and others on this star-studded team, but it's safe to say that the French outfit wouldn't be here today if not for one player who constantly flies under the radar: Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The 6-foot-5 goalkeeper consistently made outstanding saves in PSG’s run to its first-ever UEFA Champions League title, including a heroic performance in the penalty shootout where he denied Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones to send his team to the quarterfinals. Overall, Donnarumma conceded six goals in PSG’s seven knockout games in that tournament, keeping three vital clean sheets — including the 5-0 domination of Inter Milan in the final.
He's been even better at the FIFA Club World Cup, where he leads the tournament in clean sheets (five) and save percentage (93.3). PSG has conceded just one goal in six games, and completely closed down a formidable Real Madrid attack in the Semifinals.
Will Donnarumma record another clean sheet this afternoon at MetLife Stadium? The Italian will face an impressive attacking trio in Cole Palmer, João Pedro, and Pedro Neto, but it shouldn’t be too much of a worry for the goalkeeper, as he’s already faced worse this tournament.
Matthew Mangam
