In the immediate aftermath of Chelsea’s Club World Cup final victory, the headlines should have belonged to Cole Palmer. To Enzo Maresca. To a team that dismantled PSG on the biggest stage, three goals to none, earning the title of world champions in a performance as assertive as it was stylish.
Instead, history will remember something else.
Donald Trump, front and center on the trophy stage, flanked by Gianni Infantino and surrounded by confused footballers who had no idea why a former U.S. president was in their team photo. The boos from MetLife Stadium rang loud and long. Cole Palmer admitted, “I was a bit confused.” Reece James was seen asking Trump if he planned to step aside. He didn’t.
And why would he? Trump’s alliance with Infantino and FIFA had been building for months. The governing body opened a new office in Trump Tower. The original Club World Cup trophy was displayed in the Oval Office. Infantino called Trump a “big fan of soccer” and credited the White House for FIFA’s success. This was not a last-minute cameo. It was a campaign photo-op pre-arranged with the full support of the sport’s most powerful executive.
The spectacle that unfolded was predictable. A footballing coronation turned into a political tableau. Trump stood with the team, medal around his neck, smiling for the cameras while Chelsea’s players had to angle their celebration around him. It was deeply awkward. It was also entirely by design.
The game became a backdrop
The final had been intriguing. Palmer’s two goals and one assist. Maresca’s tactical masterstroke. Sánchez’s key saves. It should’ve been a coming-out party for a new Chelsea. But the image that will endure isn’t of Palmer scoring in his custom boots or James lifting the trophy. It’s Trump, shoulder-to-shoulder with players he doesn’t know, celebrating a victory that had nothing to do with him.
This wasn’t a rogue intrusion. It was institutionalized. The ceremony opened with a U.S. military flyover. The Star-Spangled Banner was played before kickoff. Security delays reportedly pushed back the start of the match. FIFA didn’t just allow the final to be politicized. They helped stage it.
And if this was a dress rehearsal for 2026, maybe we’ve seen enough.
The World Cup is coming to the U.S. next summer. Trump, back in office, chairs the White House World Cup task force. He’s made it clear he wants to be visible. FIFA, under Infantino, has made it clear they’re fine with that. But football is not a tool for nationalism. It doesn’t belong to presidents, kings, or billionaires.
It belongs to the players who earned that stage. To the fans who traveled and tuned in. To the clubs, the supporters, and the kids who dream of lifting trophies, not alongside politicians, but in spite of them.
Chelsea played like world champions. But their moment was shared, involuntarily, with a political brand that doesn’t understand football and doesn’t care to. For Trump, the photo was the point. For Infantino, it was partnership. For Chelsea, it was theft.
And for everyone watching, it was a warning for the World Cup 2026 and albeit other major sports events.
