Chelsea FC will take on Fluminense FC in the semi-finals of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ on Tuesday, 8 July at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. However, the current Blues squad bears little resemblance to the team that secured the club’s place at this tournament.
The Blues qualified for the Club World Cup thanks to 1-0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League final. Today, only two players remain from Chelsea’s all-conquering 2021 side: captain Reece James, and Ben Chilwell. And only one of them, team captain James, features in Enzo Maresca’s Club World Cup squad.
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The Final
Chelsea were the underdogs going into the final. Manchester City had already won the League Cup and were on their way to another Premier League title, their third in four seasons. In Europe, everything seemed to be in place for Guardiola to win his first Champions League crown since leaving FC Barcelona.
Meanwhile, the Blues’ strong start to the season faltered during the Christmas period, leading to the dismissal of club legend Frank Lampard from the role of head coach. The squad, a mixture of veterans and expensive summer signings, was failing to come together at a critical moment.
It was at this point that Thomas Tuchel arrived to change the club’s fortunes. Tuchel’s pragmatism steadied the ship at Chelsea and gave renewed life to a backline comprised of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta. Chelsea climbed the league table, eventually finishing third, but it was in the Champions League that Tuchel had his greatest impact.
In the run-up to the final, the German masterminded wins over Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid, 3-0 on aggregate, FC Porto, 2-1 on aggregate, and the mighty Real Madrid C.F., 3-1 on aggregate. Still, overcoming Guardiola’s City seemed their toughest assignment yet.
The Blues clashed with their northern neighbours in front of a half-empty stadium in Porto due to Covid restrictions, determined to reclaim the trophy they had won nearly a decade earlier.
The game was a tense affair, with clear-cut chances few and far between. But in the 42nd minute, Mason Mount slipped Kai Havertz through on goal with a beautiful through ball. Havertz was initially stopped by an outrushing Ederson, but the ball bounced back into his path and he passed it into an empty net, scoring the game’s only goal. Chelsea were champions of Europe once again.
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Where are they now?
The man who led Chelsea to Champions League glory was dismissed by the Blues after a poor start to the 2022/23 season. Tuchel departed Chelsea having won a Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup, and the 2021 FIFA Intercontinental Cup™, and having reached two FA Cup finals and an EFL Cup final.
After a short stint with FC Bayern München, which included a Bundesliga title, Tuchel was hired as England’s national team coach. He is expected to guide them at FIFA World Cup 26. In his place, Chelsea are led by Enzo Maresca, although Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, Lampard and current USA national team coach Mauricio Pochettino all coached Chelsea between the German’s dismissal and the Italian’s appointment.
Maresca continues to transform the team he inherited, one that is unrecognizable from the team that conquered Europe four seasons ago. Under the Italian, the Blues have reverted to a back four that protects goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Edouard Mendy now plies his trade for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, with Sanchez proving a more suitable fit in Maresca’s system.
Veterans Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, and Cesar Azpilicueta have all moved on to pastures new. The Brazilian is now captain at Fluminense and will take on his old side for the right to play in the Club World Cup final. The latter two both play in Madrid.
Azpilicueta plays a small role for Diego Simeone’s Atleti, while Rudiger is hunting Club World Cup Glory with Real Madrid. In their place, Chelsea now mix and match from English duo Levi Colwill and Trevor Chalobah, and French duo Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana.
Ben Chilwell remains at the club alongside captain Reece James, although James has been hampered by injuries in the last few seasons, and Chilwell has struggled for playing time under Maresca. Spanish UEFA EURO 2024 winner Marc Cucurella is the club’s first-choice left-back, and Frenchman Malo Gusto deputizes for James when he is unavailable.
Holding midfielder Jorginho, who led Chelsea in goals in their 2020/21 Champions League-winning season, is now at CR Flamengo. The nationalised Italian returned to his birth country after a stint with crosstown rivals Arsenal. Meanwhile, the inimitable N’Golo Kante, who won the man of the match award in the Champions League final, now shuttles from box to box for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Chelsea spent over $200 million to turn over their central midfield. Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were brought in from SL Benfica and Brighton and Hove Albion, and have since become a formidable duo in the centre of the park for the Blues. Much of the side’s creativity comes through Fernandez and Englishman Cole Palmer, who now occupies the Chelsea No10 shirt, while Caicedo operates in Kante’s old position.
Palmer operates in a role similar to that once afforded to local lad Mason Mount, who has spent the last few seasons with Manchester United. Meanwhile, German duo Timo Werner and Kai Havertz were moved on after failing to hit the heights expected in the wake of that Champions League win. Chelsea continue to look for an established No9 in the mould of club legend Didier Drogba, and they are hoping Liam Delap and the freshly signed Joao Pedro can help provide the answer.
Even Chelsea’s substitutes from that fabled night in Porto, the likes of Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud, Andreas Christensen and Mateo Kovacic, have been replaced by younger faces such as Romeo Lavia, Marc Guiu, Nicolas Jackson, and Tosin Adarabioyo.
Maresca’s men already have experience winning titles, having captured this season’s UEFA Conference League, and they will be looking to follow the club’s Class of ’21 by securing international silverware.
