Chelsea crowned world champions after Kai Havertz penalty sink Palmeiras

Chelsea can finally call themselves champions of the world. Nine years on from losing in the final of this competition to Corinthians, they were determined to make history and the celebrations were joyous when the full-time whistle blew and they had ended their long wait to win the only trophy to have eluded them in the Roman Abramovich era.

Perhaps it had to be this way. It seemed Chelsea would need a penalty shootout before Kai Havertz, the man who scored the only goal when Thomas Tuchel’s side won the Champions League, stepped up to make history with three minutes to go. César Azpilicueta, the first Chelsea player to have won every club trophy, had won a penalty and Havertz was nerveless from the spot, finally ending Palmeiras’s stout resistance.

Chelsea had led through Romelu Lukaku’s goal, only to concede a penalty to Raphael Veiga. Palmeiras, who finished with 10 men after Luan’s late red card, gave everything as they looked to become world champions for the first time. This was an occasion to savour, even though Fifa’s official cheerleaders would not be swayed from their doomed attempts to silence the Brazilian din with some ludicrous pre-match entertainment.

Memo to Gianni Infantino: Palmeiras’s 15,000 supporters needed no help creating an atmosphere. The noise was deafening long before kick-off, most of the ground decked out in green and white, and initially there was a sense of Chelsea trying to draw the sting, their approaching seemingly to calm the crowd by hoarding possession and taking few risks on the ball.

As the opening period wore on, though, the more it felt as if Chelsea were being too polite. Tuchel, who was on the touchline after flying to Abu Dhabi on Friday, did not see enough urgency. He had