The football world was thrown into surprise over the weekend after FIFA, the global football governing body, announced that all previous winners of the Club World Cup, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Liverpool — have been stripped of their titles.
According to reports from the Daily Mail, FIFA has officially reclassified the past winners of the tournament as “FIFA Intercontinental Champions,” meaning they are no longer recognized as world champions.
FIFA now recognizes Chelsea as the first and only official world champions following their 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2025 edition of the newly expanded Club World Cup.
The Chelsea team, now coached by Enzo Maresca, dominated PSG in the final last week. The tournament, held in the United States, featured 32 clubs from six football confederations for the first time in history — marking a new chapter for global club football.
With this decision, Chelsea becomes the only club recognized by FIFA as a true *Club World Champion* under the updated tournament format.
The Club World Cup will return again in 2029. So far, teams like PSG, Egypt’s Pyramids FC, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, and Mexico’s Cruz Azul have already qualified based on their continental wins.
The change in title recognition has sparked debate among fans, especially supporters of former titleholders like Real Madrid and Manchester City. FIFA, however, maintains that the new format reflects a more inclusive and competitive structure that properly defines a “world champion” at the club level.
