FIFA Club World Cup Roundup: Chelsea Enter Knockouts, Benfica Beat Bayern

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Last Updated:June 25, 2025, 11:11 IST

Chelsea comfortably advanced to their meeting with Benfica with a 3-0 win over Esperance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Tosin Adarabioyo, (center) celebrates with Chelsea teammates after scoring his side's opening goal. (AP Photo)

Chelsea defeated Tunisia’s Esperance 3-0 on Tuesday, setting up a Club World Cup last-16 match against Benfica, who earlier secured a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in scorching heat.

In other matches, underdogs Auckland City achieved a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles FC exited the tournament after drawing with Flamengo.

In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern before 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th minute.

The German champions, who started without Harry Kane and Michael Olise, couldn’t recover in the sweltering North Carolina heat. Kane and Olise came on at half-time, making Bayern more threatening, but Leroy Sane was denied by Benfica’s Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin when through on goal.

A draw would have allowed Bayern to top the group, but a Kimmich goal was ruled out for offside, and Trubin thwarted Sane again while Kane mistimed a late header.

This marked Benfica’s first win in 14 competitive meetings with Bayern, securing first place and a last-16 match against Group D runners-up Chelsea in Charlotte on Saturday.

“I think this was a very fair and important win, historic really," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. “We were as straightforward and assertive as we should be, and I think we were very effective in delivering our strategy today."

Bayern finished second, meaning they will face Brazilian giants Flamengo in Miami on Sunday, with a potential quarter-final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon.

“You could see that it was really tough conditions so respect to both teams for that," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. “Our first half was not good enough for sure; the second half was definitely more the level that we expected and good enough to score one or two or three goals."

As a result, Boca’s draw against Auckland City in Nashville wasn’t enough to qualify, though the Argentine giants were still expected to do better than a 1-1 draw against the New Zealand minnows.

Auckland, who had previously lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica, recovered from a first-half deficit when goalkeeper Nathan Garrow inadvertently deflected a Lautaro Di Lollo header into his own net. Christian Gray equalised with a second-half header to earn the sole Oceania representatives a remarkable point.

“You can’t say we haven’t learned from the experience of being at the tournament. I’m thrilled for the players and the club, it’s wonderful. It’s something to go home with," said City coach Paul Posa. “We’re a tiny club with a huge heart and that’s evident for all to see."

The game was the fifth at the tournament to be suspended due to a weather warning, with play stopping for almost an hour. When the action resumed, not a drop of rain had fallen at Geodis Park.

Chelsea comfortably advanced to their meeting with Benfica with a 3-0 win over Esperance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

New signing Liam Delap opened his account for the club with a deft finish in first-half stoppage time, just after Tosin Adarabioyo had headed the Blues in front. Teenage talent Tyrique George added Chelsea’s third deep into injury time with a low shot that slipped under Esperance goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.

Flamengo, having already secured top spot in the group with wins over Chelsea and Esperance, concluded their first-round campaign with a 1-1 draw against already-eliminated LAFC in Orlando.

Los Angeles forward Denis Bouanga threatened an upset with a cool finish in the 84th minute, but Wallace Yan equalised for Flamengo two minutes later.

On Tuesday, FIFA opened a disciplinary investigation into Pachuca’s Gustavo Cabral after allegations he made a racist comment to Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger. The incident occurred towards the end of Sunday’s game, which Real won 3-1.

With AFP Inputs

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