Paris Saint-Germain crushes Real Madrid to set up Club World Cup finale against Chelsea

Paris Saint-Germain continues to build its case as the top club team in the world. 

The 2025 UEFA Champions League titleholders advanced to the finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, netting two early goals and three in the first half en route to a dominant 4-0 victory over a depleted and sloppy Real Madrid in the semis Wednesday before an announced crowd of 77,542 at MetLife Stadium. 

PSG will face Chelsea — a 2-0 winner the previous day over Brazilian side Fluminense — in the tournament finale Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford. 

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“It’s always difficult to play those kind of matches against Real Madrid. … But we are having a special season, a special moment, and I think we deserved to win,” Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique said. “We are going to try to go one more step against a good team like Chelsea. … Almost there. We want to make history with our club.” 

French superstar Kylian Mbappe’s first start of the tournament finally came after the 26-year-old striker dealt with an illness earlier last month.

But he was held scoreless over a full 91 minutes by his former club, for whom he starred from 2017-24 before transferring to the La Liga powerhouse in Spain last summer. 

This was the anticipated first meeting between the two European powers since the 2021-22 Champions League Round of 16, but the clash of the titans between the last two UCL champions was a one-sided affair as Fabián Ruiz scored twice for PSG in the opening half. 

The four-peat Ligue 1 dynasty took advantage of a disorganized Real Madrid back line playing without two starters.

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Center back Dean Huijsen was serving a red-card suspension from a penalty in the box late in the quarterfinals match against Borussia Dortmund, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was unavailable due to a leg injury. 

Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso deployed Raúl Asencio and Fede Valverde to replace them, respectfully, but the results were disastrous and immediate. 

“We suffered. It was difficult,” Alonso said. “We can improve. … This tournament showed me what we are and what we can improve on. 

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“We now know where we are. There’s a lot to learn.” 

The game was delayed by 10 minutes at the start because both team buses got caught in traffic and arrived at the Meadowlands later than scheduled. But it took PSG less time than that to capitalize on two Madrid breakdowns in the back by the ninth minute. 

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Ousmane Dembélé slipped in behind the defense and made a move around goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, and the ball found its way to a wide-open Ruiz in the center of the box for a left-corner finish barely five minutes into play. 

Barely three minutes later, Dembélé cruised in alone following a mis-kick giveaway by veteran center back Antonio Rüdiger to double the lead. 

Ruiz made it 3-nil in the 24th minute with a left-footed goal through a screen off a feed from Achraf Hakimi. 

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PSG had a potential fourth goal called back when Dembélé was ruled offside early in the second half, but they finally netted the exclamation point on Gonçalo Ramos’ turnaround shot in the 87th minute. 

“Sometimes a defeat like this is necessary — a wake-up call to fix things,” Courtois said. “We weren’t even close to their level today.”