Club World Cup: A Tie to Rekindle Romance to the Soul

Flamengo vs Chelsea

It must be the football romantic lurking somewhere in the soul of this SBOTOP scribe which makes me intrigued at the prospect of a match-up between a top English side and a top South American club.

Even though all the big money has been in the European game over the past decade or so, a position reflected in the dominance of sides from Europe in the Intercontinental Cup (the battle between the champions of Europe and South America), I retain a feeling that Latin flair can still defeat any outfit on their day.

A preface to next year’s World Cup in the States, this Club World Cup tie in Philadelphia will put that theory to the test.

Talking Points

The difference in spending power between the clubs has never been better illustrated than by the fact nobody raised an eyebrow when João Félix, who joined Chelsea for £45 million less than a year ago, was left out of their 28-man squad for this tournament.

They literally buy and sell as they please, as shown by signing Liam Delap for £30m a few weeks ago, while deciding not to retain Jadon Sancho on a permanent basis, even though sending the winger back to Manchester United triggered a £5m penalty.

The limited nature of the opposition in their group (Flamengo aside) will not stop manager Enzo Maresca from learning more about his players though and, amid speculation linking them to France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, it seems he is already made a decision on his number one not being Robert Sánchez or Filip Jörgensen next term.

The former will start here, just as he did on Monday evening when goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez helped them to World Club Championship 2025 highlights with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles.

Delap could feature from the start too with Maresca, who guided the west Londoners to a fourth-place finish in the recently concluded campaign, expected to make a few changes against a tougher opponent.

Liam Delap shines in his Chelsea debut during the Club World Cup — Liam Delap celebrates Chelsea’s victory at the end of the Club World Cup match against Los Angeles FC

Flamengo also opened their tournament with a 2-0 win, this against Espérance from Tunisia.

The Brazilian side top their domestic league after 11 games and are in excellent form. Unbeaten in 15 of their last 16 matches across all competitions and on a five-game winning streak, they have star quality and some familiar faces.

Giorgian de Arrascaeta has been their standout performer and kept up his fine form by opening the scoring against the Tunisians, bringing his tally to 13 goals in 27 appearances this season.

A Uruguayan international, De Arrasceata has won 15 trophies with Flamengo and is the main link in the side’s attack.

They also have Pedro, recently returned from a serious knee injury and a player who was top scorer and player of the tournament in Flamengo’s 2022 Copa Libertadores-winning campaign.

Overall, his 140 goals and 35 assists in 277 games for the club, amassing 11 trophies along the way, tells its own story.

One player who will need no introduction to the Chelsea faithful is Italian midfielder Jorginho, who made 213 appearances for the Blues before moving to Arsenal.

Flamengo can’t match Chelsea’s spending but they have managed to acquire Jorginho, former Juventus duo Danilo and Alex Sandro as free agents.

Overseeing all of it, Filipe Luis – a former Chelsea defender.

He became Flamengo manager last September, replacing former Brazil coach Tite, and has since led them to the Brazilian Cup, Brazilian Super Cup and the Campeonato Carioca in an impressive first eight months during which they have lost just three times in 45 games.

With the winners of Group D likely to avoid German champions Bayern Munich in the knockout stages, both Flamengo and Chelsea will realise the importance of this tie.

It should be one of the most exciting group games Stateside and one well worth watching.