Paris Saint-Germain and the Road to the 2025 FIFA World Cup Finals
- Kaleb Houle-Lawrence
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
This weekend, the culminating game of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup took place in New Jersey. For months, soccer (or football, for our European-minded readers) matches have been taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For France, this was a monumental moment; this tournament marked the first time that club team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) would compete in the Cup! But how did they get there, and how did they do in that New Jersey stadium?
PSG 2024-2025 Season
This past season has been one for the record books for PSG, Paris’s premier football club. This year, PSG achieved what is known as the “continental quadruple” in European football. The team won the Trophée des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the UEFA Champions League. Many sports analysts attribute this meteoric rise to the team’s younger players, who are reaching their peak athletic abilities and will continue to improve.
What made the club’s quadruple title win so impressive is that they were the first ever French team to do so. In fact, they are only the second ever French team to win the UEFA Champions title. All of these victories culminated in PSG’s eventual FIFA Club World Cup run over the past month. Given their stellar performances, the club was quickly tapped as a favorite to take home the trophy.
Who Makes PSG?
PSG is a young football club compared to its other global counterparts. This year, however, was their first since 2016 with football superstar Kylian Mbappé, who recently moved to Real Madrid. This year’s team was instead led by captain Marquinhos and vice-captains Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, and Presnel Kimpembe.
There are several other key players for PSG as well, including Ousmane Dembélé, the team’s leading offensive player. Désiré Doué is one of PSG’s leading young stars. Doué was awarded the FIFA Club World Cup’s Best Young Player for his tournament performance. Midfielder Vitinha also made news by covering the most distance in the tournament. Throughout the past month, he covered 81.21 kilometers on the field.
The Early Rounds of the Tournament
The FIFA World Cup Finals are broken down into several rounds that act as “knockout stages.” In the “Group Stage,” PSG played three games and managed two shutouts (where the opposing team didn’t score any goals). They let up one of their three games with a 1-0 loss to Botafogo. Given their two wins, however, they advanced to the “Round of 16.”
In the “Round of 16,” PSG came face-to-face with Inter Miami. By the end of the match, PSG delivered a dominant 4-0 win against the Florida-based team. This bought the club a ticket to the quarterfinals.
Coming up against the Bayern Munich club of Germany, PSG delivered a second strong performance with a 2-0 shutout. At this point, sports analysts had their eyes pinned on PSG as the likely winner of the whole tournament.
In the semifinal round, the Paris-based team came up against their close neighbors: Real Madrid. Real Madrid. Real Madrid is widely considered the best football team in the world, and has even been named “FIFA’s 20th Century Club Team” for its past performances. This hurdle would prove PSG’s strength as a team if they could succeed. And succeed they did. With a 4-0 score, PSG secured its spot in the finals.
Not only was this the PSG’s first time in the finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, but it was their first appearance in the Cup at all. With the steam of three wins behind them, PSG looked for that trophy in their Sunday afternoon match.
The Finals
In the Finals, PSG came up against English powerhouse Chelsea FC. Fans around the world were on the edges of their seats as the two teams came head-to-head for one of the most coveted titles in football.
For twenty-two minutes, neither club was able to score a goal. Then, Chelsea FC delivered its first goal, leaving PSG on the offensive. Minutes later, Chelsea FC delivered a second goal. By halftime, PSG was down 3-0 against Chelsea, shocking sports analysts, fans, and the team alike. While PSG put up a fight, they were unable to recover from the first half and ended the match 3-0, putting an end to their historic season.
The Future of PSG
Even though PSG failed to clinch the title this year, sports analysts and the players are certain that future appearances are in the books. PSG boasts an incredibly skillful and young team, which will enable them to continue performing at a high caliber. For football fans around the world, PSG will certainly remain on their radar.
Written by Kaleb Houle-Lawrence
University Intern
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