With Chelsea FC claiming FIFA Club World Cup™ glory, the Premier League side have achieved success in every major competition they have entered and can rightfully lay claim to the assertion that they have won it all.
Here, FIFA looks back at previous occasions the Stamford Bridge side won major trophies for the first time.
Division One (1954/55)
Chelsea’s first major honour came in the shape of the Division One title – which England’s top league was then called – as Ted Drake led a Roy Bentley-inspired team to glory in the club’s 50th-year anniversary. They followed up their league win by claiming the 1955 Community Shield.
Another seminal moment in the Blues’ history came 49 years later when they won the rebranded English top-flight. By this time, the competition was known as the Premiership (now Premier League) and the arrival of Jose Mourinho and a raft of new signings elevated Chelsea to new heights. Anointing himself as ‘The Special One’, Mourinho built a team on solid foundations with goalkeeper Petr Cech, William Gallas, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Co only conceding 15 goals in a 38-game season — a record which still stands two decades on.
Further up the park, Frank Lampard proved a potent attacking asset from midfield, scoring the goal that sealed the title at Bolton Wanderers, while new arrival from Marseille, Didier Drogba, led the line as Chelsea took their place at the apex of English football.
English League Cup (1964/65)
Ten years on from their maiden title win, the English League Cup would head to London after Chelsea defeated Leicester City over a two-legged final. A 3-2 victory in the first leg saw Bobby Tambling and Terry Venables both get on the scoresheet — two colossal names of the English game. A goalless draw in the second leg meant that Chelsea lifted the famous three-handled trophy.
FA Cup (1969/70)
Chelsea and Leeds played out a marathon FA Cup final five years later that saw the Blues eventually run out winners after two matches and extra time. A 2-2 draw in the first bout at Wembley, played in front of a reported 100,000 spectators, sent the final to a replay at Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
The sides once again couldn’t be split in 90 minutes, with Peter Osgood cancelling out Mick Jones’ early opener for Leeds. Chelsea eventually sealed their first FA Cup victory with a 105th-minute winner from defender David Webb, one of his 21 goals in 230 games for the club.
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1970/71)
That FA Cup triumph gained the Blues entry into the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup which they would lift at the first time of asking. Victory over Manchester City in the semi-finals set up a showpiece match with Real Madrid, with Osgood on target in both the 1-1 draw and the 2-1 replay win to secure the trophy.
UEFA Super Cup (1997/98)
The Blues met Los Blancos in another European bout 37 years later, as they did battle in the UEFA Super Cup. Chelsea hero Gus Poyet smashed home a late winner at Monaco’s Stade Louis II.
UEFA Champions League (2011/12)
Chelsea had come close to lifting the Champions League four years earlier only to be cruelly denied by Manchester United on penalties in the Russian rain. That only seemed to fuel the club’s thirst for the big trophy and to kick off the 2011/12 campaign he appointed one of the hottest young managers in Europe, Porto’s Andre Villas Boas.
The Blues topped a group section containing Bayer Leverkusen, Valencia and Gent before overcoming Napoli 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling last-16 tie. Despite their promising European exploits however, Chelsea’s league form suffered and Villas-Boas was dismissed before the quarter-final stage.
In stepped assistant Roberto Di Matteo, who helped navigate a tricky tie against Benfica 3-1 on aggregate. He then would go on to mastermind a stunning win over Barcelona in the semis. The west London side played most of the second leg in the Nou Camp with ten men but still progressed, with Fernando Torres’ iconic breakaway goal deep into stoppage time sealing a 3-2 aggregate victory.
After overcoming the mighty Catalan juggernaut it seemed Di Matteo’s men were ready for any opponent in the final and they didn’t come much tougher than FC Bayern München in their own back yard at the Allianz Arena. Without the suspended captain Terry, Chelsea went 1-0 behind with just seven minutes left when Thomas Muller scored for the Bavarians.
The Premier League outfit once again didn’t know when they were beaten, and star strike Drogba equalised with a bullet header before scoring the winning penalty in the shootout as Chelsea became the 22nd side to win the European Cup.
UEFA Europa League (2012/13)
Fresh off the back of their Champions League success, Chelsea followed it up by securing another continental trophy and another first for the club by winning the Europa League. Beginning the campaign in the Champions League, they dropped into the competition after finishing third in their group behind Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk.
In a twist of the club’s coaching situation a year earlier, Di Matteo was relieved of his duties during the campaign and replaced midway through the group stage by Rafael Benitez. The Spaniard had European pedigree of his own, winning the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool and he took the reins as they powered past Sparta Prague, Steaua Bucharest, Rubin Kazan and FC Basel to set up a final in Amsterdam against Benfica.
Having defeated the Portuguese giants in their successful Champions League run 12 months before, they repeated the feat in dramatic fashion as Branislav Ivanovic netted a 92nd-minute winner to make it back-to-back European triumphs.
FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ (2021)
The Blues’ trophy conquest continued by winning the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ (previously known as the FIFA Club World Cup). The COVID-delayed tournament, played in the United Arab Emirates, was decided by a 117th-minute Kai Havertz penalty, as the Blues sunk Palmeiras.
UEFA Conference League (2024/25)
The 2024/25 season was the first time that Chelsea competed in the UEFA Conference League. They qualified after defeating Swiss side Servette over two legs and went on to win every game in the group phase, including an 8-0 thumping of Armenian outfit FC Noah. One defeat in 13 saw the Blues march on to the final where they downed Real Betis 4-1 as Enzo Maresca recorded European success in his first season as Chelsea boss.
FIFA Club World Cup™ (2025)
The Blues made history by picking up the final honour of the 2024/25 season, becoming the first-ever winners of the groundbreaking FIFA Club World Cup. A loss to CR Flamengo was the only blemish on a tournament that culminated in a stunning 3-0 win over reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
