When Chelsea officials sat down in May 2024 to decide the fate of coach Mauricio Pochettino, the upcoming Club World Cup was fresh in their minds as part of a long-term vision for the club. Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart, the club's sports directors, along with Behdad Iqbali, the main partner at «Clearlake Capital», which owns the club, believed that the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons should be treated as a double season. That's why they didn't want to change the coach before a tournament of this size.However, the departure of Pochettino, who later became coach of the US national team, and the signing of Enzo Mariska ended up being a decision that divided the club's fans. But Mariska ended his first season with a remarkable hat-trick: qualifying for the Champions League, winning the European Conference League, and winning the Club World Cup, thanks to an amazing performance from Cole Palmer, the star who was described as «terrifying».
A world championship with money and dreamsFrom the beginning, Chelsea's management took the tournament seriously, even before FIFA announced details of the awards, sponsors and television broadcasts. In the end, Chelsea returned from the United States with $114 million as a tournament prize, a very significant amount under the rules of financial fair play. The club had already paid a $36 million fine for financial irregularities, while spending more than £100 million on signings such as Joao Pedro, Jimmy Gittins and Liam Delap.But the tournament was not just numbers on the books, but an opportunity to create a new culture of victories for the club. Cole Palmer was the title of this story, after his picture topped billboards in Times Square with the slogan «Very terrifying». In the final against Paris Saint-Germain, he scored two goals and assisted another for Joao Pedro, turning a difficult match into a festival at the «Met Live» stadium
Long road since 2021Strangely enough, Chelsea's journey to this tournament began more than four years ago, when it defeated Manchester City in the Champions League in 2021 under the ownership of Roman Abramovich. Since then, the club has undergone dramatic transformations: sanctions over the Ukraine war, the sale of the club to the alliance of Clearlake and Todd Boyle, and the appointment of four different coaches.On the way to the final, Chelsea overcame several obstacles, from Nicholas Jackson's expulsion in the group stage, to a marathon five-hour match against Benfica due to a storm in Carolina. Throughout the tournament, Mariska complained about the weather and the match schedule, calling the conditions a «joke», but he knew how to keep his players focused.
Investments in everythingThe club was keen to provide generous financial rewards to players equivalent to what they receive in the English Premier League and the Champions League. He also spent additional money to secure distinguished training facilities, exceeding FIFA's daily budget. The club negotiated directly with the «Philadelphia Union» club to rent its facilities, bypassing the draw that FIFA was going to organize, and forced Flamengo to train at a university more than 80 kilometers from the stadium.In Miami, Chelsea used the facilities of Barry University, a favorite of Real Madrid, then moved to New York and used the facilities of the New York Red Bulls and New York City in preparation for the final. The club spent almost double what FIFA allocated to each club in order to ensure the best possible preparation.
Smart team managementMariska was keen to keep the starting lineup intact, calling up prominent players from loans such as Andre Santos. He preferred to keep the lineup together, distributing minutes to all players to keep everyone mentally and physically involved. Even when he lost to Flamengo in the group stage, he insisted that the changes he tried were preparation for next season.On the other hand, losing first place in the group was an advantage, as facing Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid spared him until the final. With Inter Milan and Manchester City out early, the road seemed paved for the final, but Benfica and Fluminense and Palmeiras posed real challenges.
A moment of coronation and gloryIn the semi-final against Fluminense, Joao Pedro shone with two goals, while Chelsea fans tried to fill the stands with cheap ticket prices that reached $11 for the quarter-finals. In the final, support came from Ecuadorian fans for Moises Caicedo, and the evening ended with a sweeping victory over Paris Saint-Germain, amid a tense atmosphere and quarrels between the players at the final whistle.Now, players will have three weeks off before returning on August 4 to prepare for the new Premier League season, which will kick off just 35 days after the final. Despite exhaustion, they return to London as world champions.Chelsea entered the tournament with a professional mentality, invested in every detail, and crowned its work with a well-deserved victory, writing a new chapter in its history as one of the most successful clubs in the world.
