Trump's trophy celebration and everything else you missed from the (weird) Club World Cup final

New York Times

21 hours ago

The FIFA Club World Cup final was unlike any football showpiece event we have ever seen before.
The Americanisation and politicisation of the event at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was incessant, overwhelming and completely in keeping with the last few weeks.
Then the utterly unassuming Cole Palmer just ignored it all and stole the show anyway.
Here are our weirdest moments from a surreal night…
A pre-match ceremony, a half-time show and an inexorably long wait for the post-match trophy presentation prolonged the night by what felt like several hours.
Here is a timeline of events…
8.08pm BST; 3.08pm EST: The match kicks off nine minutes late.
8.59pm: Half-time.
9.23pm: Second half begins.
10.14pm: Full time.
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10.43pm: The trophy presentation begins.
10.58pm: Chelsea lift the trophy.
There had been a noticeable load of boos when he first appeared on the big screen before kick-off — and for the national anthem — but when President Donald Trump took to the pitch for the trophy presentation, this happened…
Trump booed loudly as he takes the stage for the Club World Cup trophy presentation pic.twitter.com/bNSIhtc8nk
— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 13, 2025
It was indicative of a number of fairly absurd cameos from the President, who had earlier appeared on DAZN in a manner that resembled him being held hostage and being told to say he was having a great time.
Stay tuned for our exclusive interview of President Donald Trump coming after the final whistle🎙️
Catch the @fifaclubworldcup Final | July 13 | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/oWbj5S3FRM
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 13, 2025
During that interview, which was screened after the trophy presentation, Trump called football a 'growing sport' like it's a new game called padel or something, and was then asked if America could start dominating the football/soccer world (what this question was based on is unclear).
'We're doing very well on the other stage, the political stage, the financial stage,' Trump replied, before going on to talk about Qatar, NATO and the U.S. being the 'hottest country in the world' which was not a reference to temperature. That's a no, then.
He was then asked about sport being a unifying, powerful tool. President Trump said: 'It's about unity, about everybody getting together, a lot of love between countries.
'I guess it's the most international sport, it really can bring the world together.'
A novel idea.
At least it appeared that way when he didn't leave the stage as Chelsea captain Reece James waited patiently to hoist the trophy aloft.
As Trump's new best mate Gianni Infantino headed off the stage after the pair had delivered the trophy into James' hands, Trump decided to stay, standing next to keeper Robert Sanchez.
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Cue confusion. Palmer put his arm out in a 'WTF' manner, James seemed to ask if he was going to leave and Marc Cucurella stared inquisitively and starting cackling when James spoke to him, before the captain went for it and Infantino returned to usher Trump through the crowd of Chelsea players and off the back of the stage.
Trump then proceeded to wave to the crowd as he made his way off the field, while being booed and jeered some more.
It was all completely bonkers and akin to… nope, there is literally absolutely nothing this been akin to in the history of football or the world. It's a totally unprecedented occurrence.
Palmer was the hero of this Trumped-up (double meaning) occasion in so many ways. As everyone around him lost their heads and just said how amazing and wonderful and glorious everything was, Palmer was beautifully himself.
It's hard to imagine someone getting less caught up in the moment than Palmer, who was asked about his incredible record in finals after the game (scoring in the 2024 Euros final for England against Spain, turning the Conference League final on its head, scoring two and setting one up here), to which he merely replied: 'I like finals.'
He then continued saying exactly what came into his head by adding: 'Everyone's talked a lot of shit about us all season but I feel we're going in the right direction.'
Everybody should be a little bit more Cole Palmer than they were yesterday.
Williams was wearing the most outlandishly daft gold-tinted Adidas tracksuit, singing the official anthem for the tournament called 'Desire', which contains some of the most cringeworthy and completely meaningless lyrics ever committed to music.
'You've got the ball and you're driven by desire. Aim high, fly by, destiny's in front of you.
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'It's a beautiful game and the dream is coming true (viva soccer…FIFA!!!).'
Those lyrics are genuine, by the way. And the anthem really caught the imagination of the crowd, who loved singing along with him.
The crowd are loving every minute of Robbie Williams pic.twitter.com/Wv2FTfYVaG
— RJV (@jiffington) July 13, 2025
Halfway through the song Williams was joined on stage by Italian singer Laura Pausini, whom he proceeded to cradle in his arms after stroking her hair.
The Trump/Infantino bromance gets chummier by the week and in a touching moment which fittingly reflected their burgeoning friendship, Infantino kept a winner's medal aside and appeared to gift it to Trump at the end of the trophy ceremony.
There's at least another year of this to go before the World Cup next year.
PSG went down fighting at the final whistle and coach Luis Enrique was at the centre of it, appearing to push or slap Chelsea forward Joao Pedro in a scuffle that also involved his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, full back Achraf Hakimi and Chelsea's Andrey Santos.
Luis Enrique and his players have deservedly had so many plaudits over the course of a glorious season which included Champions League glory at the end of May, but they were outplayed by Chelsea in the final and they lost their composure and their dignity in the closing stages, with midfielder Joao Neves sent off for pulling Cucurella's hair before Luis Enrique took matters into his hands after the final whistle.
The coach and his goalkeeper were led away by PSG staff members before tensions could escalate further.
'At the end of the game there is a situation that I believe is totally avoidable by everyone,' the PSG coach said afterwards. 'My goal and intention, as always, is to try to separate the players so that there are no more problems. Avoidable situation.
'There is a lot of tension, a lot, a lot of pressure and from there, there is a series of pushes by many people that I think we should all avoid and that should not happen again. But I repeat, my intention as always, to avoid any situation that goes further.'
Another thing to get used to for next summer is a half-time show. They're having one at the World Cup and they had one here, which was fairly normal apart from the fact it was held in the top tier of the stadium, not on the pitch, meaning those in the stadium could only see tiny figures moving around unless they watched the big screen.
Chris Martin curated the show which featured J Balvin, Tems, Doja Cat, Emmanuel Kelly and then Coldplay playing A Sky Full of Stars, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact their guitars weren't even plugged in.
If you missed all the pre-match and half-time music, the fact Coldplay and Robbie Williams were heavily involved tells you absolutely everything you need to know.
(Additional contributor: Oliver Kay)