Five of the best FIFA Club World Cup finals | OneFootball

The FIFA Club World Cup final takes place this evening as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain compete to be crowned world champions.

FIFA have expanded the tournament to a 32-team competition in 2025, with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain progressing to tonight’s decider at the MetLife Stadium.

Ahead of the final, we’ve remembered five of the best Club World Cup finals.

Five of the best FIFA Club World Cup finals

AC Milan 4-2 Boca Juniors (2007)

AC Milan beat Boca Juniors in a 2007 decider that featured six goals and two red cards.

Filippo Inzaghi had been the hero of Milan’s win in the Champions League final against Liverpool, scoring both goals, and repeated the trick in Yokohama. Inzaghi opened the scoring on 21 minutes, but Boca levelled within a minute through Rodrigo Palacios’s header.

The Italian side’s quality began to shine through after the break. A 10-minute burst saw Alessandro Nesta put Milan back ahead before Kaka doubled the advantage with a solo run and finish.

Inzaghi’s second made it 4-1 to the European champions, though Kakha Kaladze’s red card made things interesting. Boca pulled a goal back through Pablo Ledesma on 81 minutes, only for the midfielder to also see red late on.

Barcelona 2-1 Estudiantes (2009)

Barcelona’s treble-winning side of 2008/09 were a formidable outfit but the all-conquering Spaniards survived a scare to win the Club World Cup that year.

Estudiantes threatened a huge upset in the decider, as Mauro Boselli fired the Argentineans ahead.

Barcelona dominated the game but were unable to break down their stubborn opponents. An 89th-minute Pedro equaliser eventually bailed Barcelona out to force extra-time before Lionel Messi’s goal won it in the added period.

Pep Guardiola’s side won a record sixth piece of silverware of the season in Abu Dhabi. The Catalan side had also claimed La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League and European and Spanish Super Cup titles.

Corinthians 1-0 Chelsea (2012)

South American sides won the first three editions of the Club World Cup, but have since won just one of the last 17 deciders in a Europe-dominated tournament.

That sole victory came in 2012, as Corinthians claimed the title. The Brazilian side beat Chelsea in a hard-fought contest in Japan, courtesy of Paolo Guerrero’s header.

In front of 30,000 travelling Brazilian fans, Corinthians became the first South American team to win the title twice.

Real Madrid 4-2 Kashima Antlers (2016)

Real Madrid needed extra-time to beat Kashima Antlers in an entertaining 2016 final.

The decider looked to be going as expected when Karim Benzema opened the scoring for the Spaniards inside nine minutes, only for Gaku Shibasaki to turn the game on its head.

The Japan international scored either side of half-time for Kashima Antlers but Cristiano Ronaldo levelled from the penalty spot.

In extra-time, the reigning Ballon d’Or holder scored twice to complete his hat-trick and ensure Real Madrid took the trophy.

Real Madrid 5-3 Al-Hilal (2022)

The highest-scoring final of all time, Real Madrid overcame Al-Hilal in an eight-goal game in 2022.

The Spanish side were rarely troubled but Al-Hilal showed determination to keep issuing a response.

Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde put the European champions 2-0 ahead before Moussa Marega offered an Al-Hilal response.

The two teams continued to trade punches and Karim Benzema scored a third for Real. Valverde and Vinicius then netted second goals, before Luciano Vietto scored for the Saudi side. Another effort from Vietto added respectability to the scoreline for Al-Hilal but it was not enough to prevent Real from winning a record-extending fifth Club World Cup title.

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