CLUB WORLD CUP
Man City go for full house of trophies at Club World Cup
Pep Guardiola is hoping to complete his trophy haul as Manchester City manager at the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia as the Gulf Kingdom shows off its wares in hosting a major international football tournament for the first time.
City travel to Jeddah, the host for all seven matches in the tournament, looking to add a first Club World Cup to the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup they won last season.
“We miss just one trophy to finish the circle and win all the titles City can have,” said Guardiola, who has already won the competition three times during his spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“We will go there and prepare because for us it is a dream.”
Despite a recent four-game winless streak in the Premier League, City are strong favourites to lift more silverware.
Not since Corinthians beat Chelsea in 2012 have the Champions League winners failed to lift the Club World Cup.
No matter who emerges victorious from the final on December 23, there will be a new name on the trophy.
Fluminense are South America’s representatives after winning the Copa Libertadores for the first time last month.
However, the major threat to City could come from the rise of Saudi as a sporting hotbed.
Al-Ittihad have only qualified due to their status as champions of the host nation but boast a wealth of previous Club World Cup winners in Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho.
Benzema became the first player to ever score in four Club World Cups as Al-Ittihad swept aside Auckland City 3-0 in the first round on Wednesday.
Next up they face against African champions Al Ahly of Egypt in the quarter-finals.
The winner of the other quarter-final between Mexico’s Club Leon and Urawa Red Diamonds will meet City when they enter the competition at the last four.
Saudi’s sporting ambition
Benzema, Kante and Fabinho were just some of the star names who have recently swapped top European clubs for the riches on offer in the Saudi Pro League.
That was just the beginning of an offensive to turn the country into a football powerhouse.
Saudi is set to host the 2034 World Cup and looks almost certain to also be awarded future versions of a revamped Club World Cup.
This will be the final edition of the current format before it expands to a 32-team tournament every four years from 2025.
The United States will host the first expanded Club World Cup as it prepares for to welcome the World Cup the following year.
However, Saudi is then expected to step in to add to its growing portfolio of major sporting events that includes a Formula One Grand Prix, major boxing bouts, tennis and golf events.
The conservative desert monarchy is also lining up a bid for the Olympic Games.
A string of other sporting interests include Premier League club Newcastle United and LIV Golf.
A huge investment in sport is designed to promote Saudi’s international reputation, diversify its economy and promote tourism.
However, critics believe that under its 38-year-old de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, there is an attempt to “sportswash” its human rights record.
Among the concerns raised by rights groups are laws against homosexuality, gender inequality, freedom of speech and frequent use of the death penalty.
-AFP
Controversy has erupted following Chelsea’s dramatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final, with reports suggesting that the trophy presented to the English club is a replica – and that the original remains in the possession of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Blues clinched the inaugural edition of the revamped tournament at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 13, with captain Reece James receiving the silverware from Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
However, social media and the international press have been ablaze with claims that the trophy lifted during the celebrations was not the authentic one.
Videos from the post-match ceremony showed Trump lingering on the podium well after the presentation, standing beside James as he hoisted the trophy. This unusual move immediately drew attention.
Now, the intrigue has deepened following Trump’s own remarks in an interview with sports broadcaster DAZN, in which he admitted that the original trophy was currently “in his office at the White House.”
According to sources, Infantino unveiled the redesigned Club World Cup trophy at the White House shortly after Trump returned to office earlier this year, following his election win over Kamala Harris.
It now appears that the original trophy never left the presidential residence, prompting FIFA to commission a replica for the ceremony in New Jersey.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump was also seen pocketing one of the winner’s medals during the event.
Infantino had handed him a medal, presumably for inspection, but the U.S. President was later spotted slipping it inside his blazer.
This led to online jokes among fans, with some suggesting he had taken the medal intended for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke, who left the squad just before the final to complete a surprise move to Arsenal.
Madueke was reportedly seen partying with Jadon Sancho at the Wireless Festival in London while Chelsea celebrated across the Atlantic.
The incident has cast an odd shadow over what was otherwise a historic moment for Chelsea, marking their first triumph under the new Club World Cup format.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to take place in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and the final returning to MetLife Stadium, questions may linger over the relationship between football’s global leadership and its most controversial political host.
FIFA has yet to comment officially on the trophy replica claims.
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U.S. President Donald Trump paid homage to soccer great Pele after being met with boos and cheers from the crowd at the Club World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Chelsea walloped Paris St Germain 3-0 to close out the newly expanded version of the tournament, designed as a glittering curtain-raiser for the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with Mexico and Canada.
Trump was seated next to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in box seats at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where fans booed him when he appeared briefly on the jumbotron during the U.S. national anthem.
He was on his feet in the same VIP suite after Chelsea completed their thrashing of Paris St Germain, pumping his fist as congratulatory music blared.
Trump was met with boos from the crowd again as he posed with the match referees on the pitch during the trophy ceremony, as organisers kept the music pumping in the stadium.
He handed Chelsea their trophy and stood in the middle of the players for their team photo and celebration.
“I knew he was going to be there but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused,” said Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who scored two goals during the match.
Asked in a TV interview who he believed was soccer’s “GOAT,” Trump named Brazilian icon Pele, who helped spark interest in the sport in the U.S. in his brief time playing for the New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League in 1975.
“I came to watch Pele, and he was fantastic,” Trump told broadcaster DAZN. “That’s like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pele was so great.”
Trump has embraced sport’s super-sized spotlight during his second term, becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in February.
In May, he announced D.C. as the host for the 2027 NFL Draft from the Oval Office. He regularly attends UFC and has said he wants to host such fights at the White House next year.
FIFA announced last week that it had opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico. A record 48 national teams are set to take part.
Trump’s appearance at MetLife came a day after he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union, an escalation of a trade war that has angered U.S. allies and rattled investors.
-Reuters
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Cole Palmer produced a scintillating first-half masterclass as Chelsea demolished Paris St Germain 3-0 to win the Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The English attacking midfielder scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro in a devastating display in the revamped tournament’s decider that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, shell-shocked before the break.
Chelsea struck first in the 22nd minute when PSG fullback Nuno Mendes gifted possession to Malo Gusto. While his initial effort was blocked by Mendes, Gusto collected the rebound and found Palmer unmarked in the middle and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the lead after the 30th-minute cooling break with a goal of sublime quality. Latching onto a precise through ball from Levi Colwill, he cut inside before faking a pass to dummy a defender and firing into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer then turned provider, running up the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball in his stride and beat the offside trap before chipping his finish beautifully over keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG’s misery was completed when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 83rd minute.
-Reuters
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