Chelsea: Shocking new report reveals full crippling impact of Club World Cup on injuries

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Evening Standard

·16 December 2025

Chelsea: Shocking new report reveals full crippling impact of Club World Cup on injuries

Chelsea hardest hit by injuries as new findings show Club World Cup impact

The impact of Chelsea’s gruelling run to Club World Cup glory has been revealed, with data showing the Blues suffered more injuries than any other European team at the tournament.

Chelsea were crowned world champions after they defeated Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the final in New Jersey on July 13.

That brought an end to an exhausting 2024-25 season for Enzo Maresca’s team, who played 65 games spread out across a season that lasted all of 51 weeks.

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After their short summer break, Chelsea soon returned to Cobham for pre-season training. Levi Colwill suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his first session back which has ruled him out for the majority of this season.

They have also had to contend with injuries to the likes of Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia, and star man Cole Palmer, who has played just seven times in all competitions because of a persistent groin injury he came into the season carrying.

Cole Palmer is among the Chelsea players who have been dealing with injury issues this season

Nick Potts/PA Wire

A new report into injuries suffered by Premier League teams, published by Howden on Tuesday, now reveals the extent of Chelsea’s injury hangover following their draining Club World Cup run.

The 2025 Men’s European Football Injury Index found that between June, when the tournament started, and October, three months after it had ended, Chelsea suffered the most injuries of all nine European teams participating in the tournament.

The figure of 23 separate injuries represented a concerning 44 per cent increase compared to the same period in the 2023-24 season, when they played fewer games in fewer competitions.

Manchester City reached the round of 16 at the Club World Cup before being knocked out by Saudi side Al Hilal. Despite incurring no injuries during the tournament, they suffered 22 injuries in the three months that followed, between August and October.

The report also found that Premier League forwards under the age of 21 sustained an injury every 120 minutes, on average, over the course of last season.

The data included in the report raises further questions about the impact of an increasingly saturated football calendar.