Chelsea began their FIFA Club World Cup 2025 campaign with a 2–0 victory over Los Angeles FC on Monday night in Atlanta, earning an early advantage in Group D. The Premier League side secured all three points in their opening match with goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández. Chelsea tops the group with three points and a plus-2 goal difference, ahead of Brazil’s Flamengo and Tunisia’s Espérance de Tunis, who are yet to play.
Meanwhile, LAFC sits at the bottom of the table with no points and a minus-2 goal difference. New signing Liam Delap debuted for Chelsea in front of thousands of empty seats at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Midfielder Dário Essugo also made his first appearance for the club, which has now won eight of its last nine matches, including the UEFA Europa Conference League final.
Chelsea next faced Brazilian side Flamengo in Philadelphia on Friday (19:00 BST), while LAFC take on ES Tunis in Nashville (23:00). Group D will conclude the following Tuesday, with Chelsea facing Espérance and LAFC playing Flamengo. Elsewhere, Boca Juniors held Benfica to a 2–2 draw and currently sit second in Group C, behind Bayern Munich, the German champions who demolished Auckland City 10–0 on Sunday.
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Both Boca and Benfica ended the match with ten men after straight red cards were shown to Andrea Belotti and Nicolás Figal, respectively, in a heated encounter that saw the Portuguese side recover from a two-goal deficit. Boca will next face Bayern on Friday in Miami, while Benfica takes on Auckland City in Orlando, Florida. Meanwhile, Brazilian giants Botafogo launched their campaign with a hard-fought 2–1 win over Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders in Group B at Lumen Field.
Early goals from Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus gave the South Americans control, but a deflected second-half strike from Cristian Roldan set up a nervy conclusion. Despite intense late pressure, Botafogo held firm, with goalkeeper John producing a crucial stoppage-time save to deny Seattle a dramatic equaliser. The result places Botafogo second in Group B on goal difference, behind Paris Saint-Germain, who earlier thrashed Atlético Madrid 4–0. Botafogo now prepares to face PSG, while Seattle will meet Atlético on Thursday.
