Top 10 Stories in European Football in 2025
Image Credit: Marco Castro
In remembrance of this year, we look back at 10 events men’s football throughout Europe and North America that helped shape 2025 and that will remain in people’s memories for years to come.
Newcastle United won the 2024-25 EFL Cup title after defeating Premier League (EPL) rivals Liverpool FC by a 2-1 score. The Magpies’ triumph was their first major top-flight title since 1955, when they last won the FA Cup. Although EFL Cup runners-up won the 2024-25 EPL title, Newcastle finished in fifth place, thereby clinching a berth for the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the second time in three seasons.
Barcelona returned to world-class form, reaching the UCL semifinals and, more importantly, sweeping the domestic competitions and running away with the 2024-25 LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España titles — all at the expense of archrivals Real Madrid, which endured a rare year without earning a single trophy.
Bologna FC hoisted the 2024-25 Coppa Italia title, winning their first major top-flight trophy for since 1974, when they last won the Coppa Italia. The year 2025 was a consecutive breakout year for I Rossoblù, having clinched their a first UCL berth since 1964 in 2024.
Tottenham Hotspur won the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League (UEL) title after a 1-0 victory against league rivals Manchester United, snapping their 17-year trophy drought in all competitions and their 41-year drought in continental competitions. Despite being the two best UEL clubs, it was a difficult 2024-25 season for both clubs in the EPL. United and Tottenham finished their respective 2024-25 league campaigns in 15th and 17th place. Exactly one week after Tottenham’s UEL triumph, EPL and London rivals Chelsea FC won the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League title after beating LaLiga club Real Betis 4-1 in the final, thereby becoming the first club to win all three active European continental club competitions.
Crystal Palace earned the 2024-25 FA Cup and 2025 FA Community Shield (English super cup) titles. These trophies represent the club’s first major top-flight trophies in their 120-year history. Most impressively, The Eagles won the FA Cup in spite of several major departures, including that of Bayern Munich star forward Michael Olise, and won the Community Shield in spite of such departures as that of midfielder Eberechi Eze.
Former first division mainstays Sunderland AFC and Hamburger SV (Hamburg) clinched promotion to the EPL and Bundesliga, respectively. Sunderland clinched promotion to the EPL via the EFL Championship promotion playoffs, winning their semifinal matchup against Coventry City 3-2 on aggregate after extra-time and then defeating Sheffield United 2-1 in the final. Hamburg clinched promotion on the penultimate 2. Bundesliga matchday after crushing SSV Ulm 6-1 in their final home match of the season. Both clubs returned to compete their respective countries’ first divisions for the first time since 2017-18.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) earned their long-awaited UCL title, defeating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final. The 2024-25 season ended with the PSG becoming the first French club to win a treble: the league title, the domestic cup title and the UCL. By the end of the year, PSG became the third club to win six trophies in one year, joining FC Barcelona (2009) and Bayern Munich (2020). This year was also a year to remember for several PSG players, namely 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, Golden Glove winner (and now-Manchester City goalkeeper) Gianluigi Donnarumma and Coach of the Year winner Luis Enrique.
The newly expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicked off in the United States, with 32 clubs from all continents competing for the new trophy (which apparently stayed behind in the Oval Office). The tournament culminated in Chelsea FC shocking PSG with a 3-0 victory in the final, preventing them the chance to become the first club to win seven trophies in a single year.
SSC Napoli won the 2024-25 Serie A and 2025 Supercoppa Italiana (Italian super cup) titles. After a title-clinching victory against Cagliari (2-0, home) on the final 2024-25 Serie A matchday and consecutive Supercoppa clean-sheet victories — 2-0 against AC Milan in the semifinal and 2-0 against Bologna FC in the final — Napoli win two major trophies within a calendar year for only the third time in club history. The two previous instances occurred in 2014 (Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana) and 1986 (Serie A and Coppa Italia).
