EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Nearly 70 minutes of the FIFA Club World Cup final had passed when Cole Palmer perceived there was a moment to acknowledge the magnificence of what was transpiring.
Chelsea substitute Liam Delap’s sizzling shot forced a brilliant save from Paris Saint-Germain keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the ball rolled over the end line for a corner kick, and it was obvious the title soon would belong to the Blues.
Chelsea fans comprised the largest portion of the audience at MetLife Stadium, and the largest section of them were seated in the West end zone. Palmer looked in their direction and began to gesture, raising his arms toward the sky: The world champions — and the man who made it happen — deserved as many standing ovations as could be squeezed into the time remaining, as well as the celebration after the final whistle.
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Chelsea’s 3-0 margin of victory against overwhelming favorite PSG long had been established, and Palmer was as intrinsic to that dominance as Al Pacino to “The Godfather Part II.” This was not the biggest match he’d ever played, but it was the biggest in which he starred. This edition of Chelsea is as much his team as anyone’s.
“These are the games where we expect Cole to appear because they are big games, big moments,” Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca told The Sporting News. “And once again, he showed how good he is.”
Not every emerging soccer talent enjoys a moment of transition to stardom this profound. Some of that is the nature of the sport. The biggest championships are often won without a "Big Game." Your team has the most points at the end of the season, you win.
Even when the winner is crowned through a title match, most of these ascents will play out over the course of the event. Spanish teenager Lamine Yemal had an entire month at last year’s Euros to demonstrate he was extraordinary.
Palmer was named the player of the tournament Sunday, handed a trophy by U.S. President Donald Trump, but this award was almost entirely about one afternoon. — which is not a criticism. It’s just that he was so good against PSG, no one’s previous performances could have mattered. A golden ball hardly seems a sufficient recognition.
This was the stuff of legends.
“To score the goals was a great feeling,” Palmer said, “but I think the way the team showed fire out there … the gaffer’s gameplan was spot-on.”
Palmer produced a massive moment on a grand stage a year ago, when his late goal for England against Spain in the Euro 2024 final tied a match that seemed out of reach even though his team trailed just 1-0. England lost that one not long afterward, but he showed he would embrace any challenge presented to him.
This situation was somewhat similar, though Chelsea entered a far less likely winner, and excellence on this afternoon was even less likely. PSG had won the UEFA Champions League final with a 5-0 destruction of Inter Milan, then wrecked Real Madrid in the semifinals by a 4-0 margin. The press designed by manager Luis Enrique had bothered or broken some serious teams, but after the first 10 minutes of this game, Chelsea had established which team was in charge — and that was before Palmer began conjuring goals.
“I think we won the game in the first 10 minutes,” Maresca said. “The message to the team was: Let them understand we are here to win the game. And I think in the first 10 minutes, the team showed we were there to win, and it set the tone.”
On the road to the UEFA Champions League title, the left side of PSG’s defense, particularly left back Nuno Mendes, had swallowed Liverpool great Mohamed Salah, Barcelona prodigy Yemal, and Arsenal’s established Bukayo Saka.
PSG seemed almost too confident about that reputation and too frequently allowed Palmer and right back Malo Gusto enough space to gain comfort in attacking along that sideline.
“Analyzing them, we saw that was a good opportunity exploit that space,” Maresca said. “We created an overload to that side. It was just the gameplan. As we said many times, we plan to use different gameplans for the players to be in position they can give everything. Today, it worked quite well.”
Palmer scored with his favored left foot in the 22nd minute, from just above the top of the box after Gusto pounced on an opponent’s bungled header and drove the ball forward. He tried to shoot, but when he recovered the deflection, he found Palmer with an easy pass.
The second goal game in the 30th minute from almost the same spot, but this one was mostly his magic. When he arrived at the box, he delivered an arresting fake that spun midfielder Vitinha away from the goal, and a second move threw central defender Lucas Beraldo off balance to open the shooting lane to, once again, the inside of the far post. He followed his “Cold Palmer” celebration, hugging his shoulders as though it were 23 degrees in New Jersey, not 83.
One might have expected some extra attention after those two beauties, but in the 43rd minute, Beraldo had an opportunity to at least try to close on him as he completed a 30-yard dribble to the top of the box. That never happened. And neither did Beraldo intervene when dazzling young striker Joao Pedro cut by him for a perfect feed from Palmer.
“I think we attacked more toward their left side because Cole was there,” Joao Pedro told TSN. “And you guys know, he can decide the game like he did.”
This was a big week for Palmer even before he owned Sunday. He was featured on typically gigantic Manhattan billboards in a Nike campaign that includes such football greats as Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and the United States women's national team's Catarina Macario. Palmer saw his likeness -- posed as if he were the villain in a horror film -- in multiple locations.
"I've seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden," Palmer said. "That's a nice feeling, to be obviously alongside that type of people."
It’s not hard to imagine Palmer as a skinny teenager because he’s a skinny 20-something now. He was physically unimpressive enough that some coaches in Manchester City’s academy wanted to release him, but they were overruled by the program’s director. That became a $54 million decision when his contract was sold to Chelsea in 2023.
Now, with City falling to third place in the Premier League and Kevin De Bruyne having lost his grip on their attack, that transaction is looking a lot like a $54 million mistake.
Palmer has shown he is someone around whom Chelsea can build a future. "People doubted us, they didn't believe in us,” he said following the game. “People talk … about us all season. But let me tell you, Enzo Maresca is building something special at this football club.”
Palmer requires no such prominence with England’s loaded squad, but when they arrive in the States in a little less than a year for the World Cup — the final will be right here, on this same pitch — perhaps new coach Thomas Tuchel will have found a place for him.
Palmer has 12 caps for his national team but only five starts to date. The player who conquered the world on this day could help his country do it in a year and a week, but not from a seated position.
