Lee Kang-in (24, Paris Saint-Germain) received support from his former team Mallorca but was unable to participate in the Club World Cup final. He watched the match from the bench.
On the 14th (Korea Standard Time), PSG suffered a 0-3 defeat to Chelsea in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA. Lee was listed on the substitution list but did not get the chance to play.
Support for Lee Kang-in before the match also drew attention. The Spanish La Liga team Mallorca posted side-by-side photos of Lee from his time at Mallorca and wearing a PSG uniform on the club's official social media account. The accompanying message read, "Good luck." This reflects the hope for Lee's success.
However, PSG could not overcome Chelsea's defense. They conceded 2 goals to Cole Palmer and 1 goal to João Pedro, allowing three goals in the first half.
PSG made a series of substitutions right at the start of the second half. Bradley Barcola, Gonçalo Hamus, Warren Zaire-Emery, and Seni Mavulu were brought in. However, Chelsea's defense remained solid, and they could not find a way to mount a comeback. In the second half, they also faced the setback of João Neves being sent off, losing their momentum in the chase.
Even though PSG captured titles in Ligue 1, the French Super Cup, the Coupe de France, and the UEFA Champions League (UCL) earlier this season, they failed to add the Club World Cup title and thus missed out on achieving a 'quintuple'.
This Club World Cup was the first tournament expanded from 7 teams to 32 teams. The total prize money is approximately $1 billion (about 1.266 trillion won). The winner's prize alone reached $40 million (about 55 billion won), which is more than 100 times the prize money for the K League 1 champion.
Chelsea made history by winning the first 32-nation format Club World Cup organized by FIFA.
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (no unauthorized reproduction or redistribution), Mallorca social media account
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