Chelsea claimed Club World Cup glory as Cole Palmer inspired a stunning 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in New Jersey.

Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain were strong favourites, having thrashed Real Madrid in the semi-finals, but Chelsea scored three times in a clinical first-half display to earn the title of world champions to follow their Conference League win.

Palmer had a hand in all three goals, scoring the first from Malo Gusto’s cut-back with a superb, low finish and adding the second with a near-identical strike only eight minutes later.

He then played in new signing Joao Pedro, who followed up his two-goal performance against Fluminense with a cool finish over Gianluigi Donnarumma as Paris Saint-Germain, who had Joao Neves sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair late on, were left stunned.

The victory, in front of watching US president Donald Trump, sees Chelsea bank around £100m in prize money from what was the first edition of the competition in its expanded, 32-team format.

Paris Saint-Germain came into the game hoping to complete a quadruple, six weeks after thrashing Inter 5-0 in the Champions League final, but could not handle Chelsea’s intensity as Enzo Maresca’s side ruthlessly targeted their left flank.

In a showpiece fixture which featured glitzy pre-match build-up, a fighter-jet fly-past and a lengthy half-time show which extended the interval to 24 minutes, breaching IFAB regulations, Chelsea looked sharper and more dangerous from the start.

After their first-half flurry of goals, they could have extended their lead late in the second when substitute Liam Delap forced two saves from Donnarumma. At the other end, Robert Sanchez also produced some fine stops but the result never looked in doubt, despite the pre-match odds heavily favouring Chelsea’s opponents.

Paris Saint-Germain’s frustration boiled over, first with the Neves red card, awarded after the referee was sent to the monitor, and then when a brawl broke out between the players after the final whistle.

Once the commotion died down, though, it was time for Chelsea’s fans and players to celebrate a triumphant end to an epic season.

In pictures: Trump gatecrashes celebrations

Palmer: We proved our doubters wrong

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer said the victory was made all the sweeter by people writing off their chances in the build-up.

“Obviously it’s a great feeling,” he said on DAZN. “Even better because obviously everyone doubted us before the game.

But to go out there and put a fight on like we did against a great team, it’s good.

“I like finals and it happened again,” he said of his goal, a year, almost to the day, after scoring in the Euro 2024 final.

“The gaffer put a great game plan out. He knew where the space was going to be. I just had to repay him and score some goals.

“He’s building something special. Something important. I feel like we are going in the right direction.”

Maresca: We won the game in the first 10 minutes

Head coach Enzo Maresca said Chelsea had the game won inside the first 10 minutes, despite their opener not arriving until the 22nd minute, and saluted the efforts of his players as he looked forward to a holiday.

“No words for the players,” he said on DAZN. “They deserve it. It’s a good moment.

“For me we won the game in the first ten minutes. In the first ten minutes we set the tempo for the way we want to play. We were very good.

“Unfortunately with the weather conditions it is not easy to do for 90 minutes, but I think we won the game in the first ten minutes.”

On Palmer’s player-of-the-match performance, he said: “Today we found a position for him where there was space to attack.

“I’m happy for Cole but the effort from all the players has been fantastic.”

“Our future is very exciting, but I’m more excited for three weeks off!”

What now for Chelsea?

Chelsea will return to London to begin their pre-season preparations ahead of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign.

They start their campaign by hosting Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday August 17, live on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games

From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.