Club World Cup: Can Chelsea Build On Their Conference League Success?

History-making Blues

After coming from behind in Wroclaw to beat out Real Betis to the Conference League title, Chelsea became the first team in history to win all five available European trophies:

• Champions League (2012, 2021)
• Europa League (2013, 2019)
• Conference League (2025)
• Club World Cup (2022)
• UEFA Super Cup (1998, 2021)

As you can see from the above, Chelsea are former champions in the Club World Cup and have racked up a total of eight European trophies (nine if you count the abolished Cup Winners’ Cup). Only Liverpool ranks higher than Chelsea among the English clubs with 13 European trophies. It’s a testament to how far Chelsea have come in the last two decades and they’ve truly established themselves as a European powerhouse.

Chelsea’s 2024-25 season: a solid foundation

It was an interesting season for Enzo Maresca in his first season in charge of Chelsea. They experienced a fast start to the season before hitting a cold patch in the winter period. They would finish strong though, winning five of their last six Premier League fixtures to clinch a top-four spot.

In the Conference League, Chelsea faced little resistance all the way up until the final. It was looking like Real Betis would pull off the upset before the Blues hit the Spanish side with four unanswered goals in the second half to win 4-1.

This Chelsea squad is young but loaded with potential. They were the youngest average age squad in the league last season and also went on to field the youngest starting 11 in Premier League history during the 2024-25 season. Expectations will be high going into the 2025-26 campaign but last season should serve as an excellent foundation to build upon, as you can see in our Chelsea vs LAFC prediction.

2025 Club World Cup: Group D

Turning our focus now to the 2025 Club World Cup, let’s take a look at Chelsea’s group stage opponents to further assess their chances:

Here’s a look at the group stage matches that Chelsea have scheduled (all times British Summer Time):

• Chelsea vs LAFC - 16 June, 20:00
• Chelsea vs Flamengo - 20 June, 19:00
• Chelsea vs ES Tunis - 25 June, 02:00

Chelsea have received a favourable group stage draw, with Brazilian side Flamengo likely to provide the biggest competition. Chelsea should be able to handle both Tunisian club ES Tunis and MLS side LAFC fairly easily.

Unsurprisingly, many of the top online betting sites have Chelsea as the favourites to top the group. The oddsmakers also think that Chelsea could be capable of a deep run and potentially even winning the competition as they come in at around the fifth favourites, behind PSG, Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Find out more about the Club World Cup

Chelsea’s squad: players to watch out for in the 2025 Club World Cup

As with the rest of the competing teams, Chelsea are required to “bring their best players” to the 2025 Club World Cup as per FIFA’s rule, which means we’re sure to see close to a full-strength team. So, who should fans be keeping an eye on? Below we’ve highlighted three interesting players to monitor:

Cole Palmer

The architect behind the Chelsea's Conference League final comeback and the unquestioned star of the team is Cole Palmer. Palmer contributed the assists on the first two second half goals to pull Chelsea back when it was looking like they might falter at the final hurdle. He had another highly-productive season in 2024-25, registering 15 goals and 11 assists in 46 matches. Palmer is averaging 0.73 goal involvements per game in his 90 career appearances for the Blues (40 goals, 26 assists).

Andrey Santos

After a storming 2024-25 campaign with Strasbourg in Ligue 1, 21-year-old Andrey Santos now returns to Chelsea with the intention of breaking into the first team. Santos, a classic box-to-box midfielder, has seen his transfer value more than double after his time on loan in France. He will provide a more attacking option in Chelsea’s double pivot as he showed an excellent knack for breaking forward, timing his runs into the box and finishing off attacking moves at Strasbourg. Santos scored an impressive 11 goals and provided five assists in 34 matches across all competitions.

Liam Delap

The latest addition to the Chelsea squad is former Man City and Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap, who joined the club on a £30 million transfer.  Delap was one of the few bright spots in Ipswich’s doomed relegation season as he scored 12 league goals and provided two assists with very limited service. Now playing in front of the likes of Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto, the 22-year-old should see an increase in those scoring numbers. It will be fascinating to see how Delap ingratiates himself with the squad and the Club World Cup is the perfect way to kick off his Chelsea career in style.

Check out our Chelsea vs LAFC prediction