This Group D encounter at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played between English giants Chelsea and Brazilian outfit Flamengo at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Here are our preview and prediction for the game.
FIFA Club World Cup 2025 | Group D: CR Flamengo vs Chelsea FC | 23:30 IST, June 20
Both teams got off to a winning start in their opening fixtures. While Chelsea defeated Los Angeles FC by two goals, Flamengo won by the same margin against ES Tunis in their Group D opener.
Chelsea dominated the proceedings from start to finish against LAFC. With a higher-quality squad, there wasn’t much surprise at the Blues creating chance after chance, with forward Nicolas Jackson at the heart of most attacking moves. Jackson was lethal with his movement and duels, only missing that cutting edge. In the 34th minute, he produced a superb through ball for Pedro Neto for Chelsea’s opener. The newly crowned UEFA Europa Conference League champions then killed off the game in the second half when new signing Liam Delap provided a cross for Enzo Fernández to finish from close range in the 79th minute. All in all, it was an emphatic performance from the West London outfit.
As for Flamengo, they defeated ES Tunis by the same margin, and they too dominated the game except for one or two instances where they lost possession cheaply and were threatened by Youcef Belaïli, arguably the opposition’s best player. Flamengo opened the scoring from some superb link-up play that led to Giorgian de Arrascaeta finding the net in the 17th minute. They had a few great opportunities to double the lead, but EST keeper Bechir Ben Saïd kept them at bay with some decent saves until the Flamengo players again combined to produce a magical moment from winger Luiz Araújo in the 70th minute to double the score.
With both Chelsea and Flamengo playing attractive and attacking football, this can turn out to be a great game. Chelsea have some really exciting players in Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, and Liam Delap, while Flamengo have a few promising players of their own in Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Pedro, Luiz Araújo, Everton Soares, and Michael.
Even though Chelsea may have the better squad, Flamengo are by no means pushovers and have the ability to surprise any team with their attacking flair, great passing, and link-up play. Both teams have the firepower to score. While Chelsea’s weakness is their backline, Flamengo also looked a little reckless at the back against EST, which is why we expect this game to end in an entertaining draw.
Score Prediction: Flamengo 2–2 Chelsea
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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