Chelsea have now won the Club World Cup twice, with their previous trophy lift coming in 2021

The sight of Reece James lifting the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, alongside his teammates, sparked scenes of wild celebrations for Chelsea and their fans.

While the relative success of the FIFA Club World Cup as an event amongst fans and pundits remains disputed, for those on the pitch, it was a clear opportunity to assert themselves as the best team on the planet.

Heading into the tournament, the likes of PSG, Real Madrid and Manchester City were all being backed for world glory, but it was Chelsea – who only qualified for it through their 2021 Champions League triumph – who managed to lift the trophy.

The cyclical nature of football however means that Chelsea will have little to no time to bask in that glory, with plenty of sports betting bonus offers being drawn up for the upcoming Premier League and Champions League seasons.

Winning a tournament such as this will feel like a huge scalp for Chelsea, who have endured a couple of tough campaigns both domestically and in Europe and they are now seen as potential challengers once more with many football betting sites.

Lavish spending in the transfer market continues to dictate the narrative around Chelsea but with seemingly unlimited resources and a manager in Enzo Maresca who is engaged with the project, plenty of optimism is building at Stamford Bridge.

Premier League Priority

It has now been almost a decade since Antonio Conte’s Chelsea won the Premier League title back in 2017, which is the last time the Blues reigned supreme domestically.

An era of dominance from Manchester City and to an extent Liverpool, has seen Chelsea’s standing in the Premier League dip somewhat and for a club with such spending power, it seems implausible that they haven’t been able to sustain an EPL challenge.

Having finished 4th, 6th and 12th in the past three seasons, Chelsea have never looked like winning the Premier League title and managers such as Thomas Tuchel, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino have all struggled to crack the code at Stamford Bridge.

Winning the Club World Cup should give Chelsea plenty of confidence ahead of the 2025/26 season and Enzo Maresca will want to see his side compete over 38 games this term.

Champions Liverpool have spent big and look to be the team to catch, while perennial winners Manchester City and upstarts Arsenal should also be in the mix.

Yet across all of those clubs, Chelsea have spent by far the most money in the past few seasons and have the biggest playing squad, making them contenders for Premier League glory next term in the eyes of many onlookers.

Champions League Calling

Remarkably, Chelsea’s plight in recent seasons saw them playing in the Europa Conference League last season – the third tier of European football.

The Blues romped to the title, showing impressive squad depth throughout but their return to the Champions League next term will warm the hearts and minds of Blues fans moving forwards.

Having won the Champions League on two occasions (2012 and 2021), they are well versed in the rigours of battling for European honours and Enzo Maresca will want to see his side step up and challenge at Europe’s top table.

One huge advantage Chelsea should have in the Champions League is their squad depth, with so many exciting players on their books, the Blues should be able to shuffle the pack and keep things fresh in both the Champions League and the Premier League.

Champions of the World

The relative status of the FIFA Club World Cup is a questionable one in the metric of which team is the best on the planet but following their win in New Jersey, Chelsea are technically world champions.

Confidence has sometimes been lacking amongst this young Chelsea squad, but winning tournaments and trophies will surely give them a real sense of belief.

Big money and big name signings such as Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro are all carrying the weight of expectation at Stamford Bridge and they look to now be revelling in their roles.

Young and emerging talents such as Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens have also been brought in this summer, as Chelsea look to plan for the future too.

It has been a tough decade or so for Chelsea fans but following their FIFA Club World Cup success, the Blues look ready to challenge amongst Europe’s elite once again this season.