Benfica and Chelsea do battle at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in an all-European last-16 match-up at the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday.
The winners of this contest are guaranteed to face a Brazilian opponent, either Palmeiras or Botafogo, in the quarter-finals on July 5.
Match preview
Benfica's Andreas Schjelderup celebrates his goal on June 24, 2025
Competing at the Club World Cup for the first time, Benfica secured top spot in Group C after accumulating seven points from their three fixtures, with a 2-2 comeback draw with Boca Juniors on matchday one followed by successive wins over Auckland City and Bayern Munich.
Four days after hitting Auckland for six in Orlando, the Eagles travelled over 500 miles to Charlotte and secured a slender 1-0 victory over Bayern on Tuesday, courtesy of a 13th-minute goal from Andreas Schjelderup and an inspired goalkeeping display from Anatoliy Trubin in sweltering temperatures reaching 37 degree Celsius.
Primeira Liga runners-up Benfica surprised many by pipping Bayern to first position in Group C, but head coach Bruno Lage has suggested that his team were overlooked prior to their first ever competitive win over the Bundesliga champions and has urged supporters to “believe more in the work we are doing”.
Had Benfica finished second in their group, they would have come up against Brazilian giants Flamengo in the last 16, but a new kind of challenge awaits this weekend against a Chelsea outfit whom they have lost against in each of their previous three meetings.
The Eagles were most recently beaten by the Blues in the 2013 Europa League final - conceding a 90th-minute goal to lose 2-1 in Amsterdam - and this is one of 21 defeats they have suffered across 40 encounters with English opposition (W11 D8).
Chelsea's Liam Delap at the Club World Cup, June 2025
After suffering a 3-1 defeat to Flamengo on matchday two, Enzo Maresca was seeking a response from his Chelsea side and made eight changes for Wednesday’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Esperance Tunis in Philadelphia.
Summer signing Liam Delap scored his first goal for the Blues on the stroke of half time shortly after Tosin Adarabioyo headed home an opener, and substitute Tyrique George added a late third with virtually the last kick of the game to help the Premier League side secure their place in the knockout rounds.
By finishing second in Group D, Chelsea are now on the opposite side of the draw to Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid - should the latter win Group H - but Maresca has insisted that Benfica are “a top club, with a top manager and top players” and the Blues must be at their best if they wish to prevail in Saturday’s “tough” contest.
Chelsea have earned around £28m from their topsy-turvy Club World Cup campaign thus far - almost covering the £30m forked out to sign Delap - and they can pocket close to £100m if they managed to go all the way and win the newly-expanded tournament for the first time since 2021.
The West Londoners will back themselves to progress to the quarter-finals and get the job done against Benfica this weekend, as they have won 11 of their previous 15 competitive encounters with Portuguese opposition (D1 L3), scoring 23 goals in the process.
Benfica Club World Cup form:
D W W
Benfica form (all competitions):
D D L D W W
Chelsea Club World Cup form:
W L W
Chelsea form (all competitions):
W W W W L W
Team News
Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez on June 24, 2025
Benfica are still having to cope without long-term absentees Alexander Bah and Manu Silva, while midfielder Florentino Luis has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury sustained on matchday one and is set to remain sidelined.
However, Andrea Belotti is available to return from suspension and will attempt to force his way into the starting lineup ahead of leading marksman Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored his 30th goal of the season on matchday two against Auckland.
Still going strong at 37 years of age, Angel di Maria has scored three goals in as many games at the Club World Cup - all penalties - and he is set to link up with Schjelderup in the final third, while Lage will weigh up whether to recall Orkun Kokcu or stick with Renato Sanches alongside Leandro Barreiro in midfield.
As for Chelsea, Wesley Fofana recently linked up with the first-team camp in the United States, but the defender remains unavailable for selection as he continues to recover from a long-term thigh injury.
Nicolas Jackson will serve the second and final game of a two-match suspension, so Delap is set to continue to lead the line, while Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto could be recalled to start in attack at the expense of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Christopher Nkunku.
Enzo Fernandez is posed to start against his former club in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, while Reece James, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella could all return to line up alongside Tosin in a four-man defence, protecting Robert Sanchez between the sticks.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Aursnes, Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Barreiro, Sanches; Di Maria, Prestianni, Schjelderup; Pavlidis
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Delap
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We say: Benfica 1-2 Chelsea
If Chelsea are to replicate their poor second-half display from the defeat to Flamengo last week, then they could be in for a difficult ride against a buoyant Benfica outfit who will back themselves to pull off another upset after getting the better of Bayern last time out.
A closely-contested battle could be on the cards in Charlotte, but if Maresca is to name a strong side and the Blues find their groove in the final third, then they should have enough to edge past their Portuguese counterparts into the quarter-finals.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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