Sixty-two games down, one game to go, 192 goals scored and almost 2.5million people through the turnstiles. The Club World Cup has thrown up more questions than answers, but when it comes to identifying the best team on the planet, there is surely no debate.Any lingering doubts were blown away in the stifling heat of East Rutherford, New Jersey, as Paris Saint-Germain stunned Real Madrid and their vast ranks of supporters by rushing into a 2-0 lead inside the first nine minutes of Wednesday’s semi-final.The piece de resistance came in the 24th minute, a flowing move that ended with Achraf Hakimi charging down the right wing and finding Fabian Ruiz for a sublime third goal.
Fabian Ruiz scores PSG’s third goal (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)It felt like FIFA could have crowned PSG as world champions there and then — even if there was more than an hour to play against Madrid, even if there is still a final to come against Chelsea on Sunday. Since the turn of the year, they have scaled heights that have surprised even their coach, Luis Enrique, winning the club’s first Champions League title in spectacular style and now looking hell-bent on doing the same with the Club World Cup. Fabian Ruiz called their 4-0 victory “perfect”. Luis Enrique preferred “beautiful”.PSG’s “flashy bling bling” period, as described by their president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, saw them land some of the game’s glitziest stars — Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, to name the obvious three — but not the shiniest trophies, as successive coaches struggled with the egos and the individualistic tendencies of so many big-name players.By contrast, the young, new-look squad assembled shrewdly by sporting director Luis Campos and guided expertly by Luis Enrique has become what the head coach calls a “reference” for other teams. They have a midfield that passes the ball beautifully and fights tigerishly to win it back when they lose it, full-backs and wingers who are quick and enterprising in everything they do. They lost Mbappe, their all-time record goalscorer, to Madrid last summer, but in his absence, the team has become much more balanced, a model of cohesion and on-pitch chemistry.The contrast with Real Madrid’s journey over the same period is hard to resist. This time last year, the Spanish club had just been crowned European champions for the 15th time, but something has gone awry. If this tournament is to be seen as signalling the end of last season — as their new coach Xabi Alonso was understandably keen to suggest — then it was a campaign in which they lost 15 games out of 68 in all competitions, as opposed to just two defeats in 55 the season before.Sections of the crowds at this tournament have appeared more fixated on individuals than on the team, which is perhaps not surprising when FIFA has individual player walk-outs before kick-off. Almost without exception, the Madrid players were more loudly received at MetLife Stadium, with the biggest cheers of all coming for Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Mbappe. But the cult of the individual is anathema to most modern coaches: even if the players are supremely talented soloists, including PSG wingers Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, they are expected to work relentlessly for the team.
