Vitinha was threatening the top 10 during the last set of B/R Ballon d'Or rankings, but the Portuguese has fully joined the conversation after the Club World Cup. To get an idea of the 25-year-old's influence on the French champions, consider the 771 passes he made during the tournament with an accuracy of 94 percent, per FIFA.

Paris looked good in the opening round, only losing to Botafogo while winning Group B. Then, they hammered the likes of Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to get the final match, outscoring their opponents 10-0 in the knockout stage thus far.

The tournament delivered spectacle and a clear warning: hosting the world's biggest sporting event next summer will take more than world-class stadiums.