Christopher Nkunku scored off a rebound in additional time and Chelsea went on to beat Benfica 4-1 in a Club World Cup Round of 16 match on Saturday (June 28, 2025) at Bank of America Stadium that was delayed for 2 hours due to lightning and took almost 5 hours to full.
Chelsea advances to play Palmeiras within the quarterfinals on Friday (July 4, 2025) in Philadelphia. Palmeiras beat Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday.
Nkunku’s tiebreaking goal got here within the 108th minute with Benfica taking part in a person down after Gianluca Prestianni acquired a purple card. Moisés Caicedo’s left-footed shot from the left facet of the field was saved within the middle of the goal by Anatolii Trubin, however an alert Nkunku was there to bury the deflection into the highest proper nook earlier than being mobbed by teammates.
Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added insurance coverage targets in additional time for the ultimate margin.
Players heat up after a climate delay within the Club World Cup spherical of 16 soccer match between Benfica and Chelsea in Charlotte, on June 28, 2025.
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AP
Reece James scored on a free kick within the sixty fourth minute to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead.
But with 4 minutes left, the match was stopped due to lightning and delayed for 2 hours. When the groups returned, Chelsea was known as for a handball in stoppage time when the ball hit Malo Gusto’s hand.
Angel Di Maria transformed the penalty to even the match.
After dominating a lot of the first half, the English membership lastly broke via when the 25-year-old James laced a right-footed shot into the underside left nook of the web.
The Portuguese facet had an opportunity to tie it within the 78th minute, however Gianluca Prestianni despatched a right-footed shot from the correct facet of the field simply left of the goal. Prestianni held his head in his fingers in agony after the miss.
In the closing minutes, gamers had been pulled off the sector and followers instructed to search cowl due to lightning strikes within the space, though it didn’t rain on the stadium.
Only a number of thousand followers returned for the conclusion.
Chelsea entered with a 3-0 document in opposition to Benfica and managed the tempo within the first half with a 5-1 edge in pictures on goal. But regardless of possessing the ball greater than 60% of the time, the Blues headed to locker room at halftime in a scoreless tie.
The match was not properly attended.
More than half of the decrease bowl of 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium was empty and all however a number of hundred seats within the higher deck had been remained unclaimed because the occasion continues to wrestle with ticket gross sales within the United States even because it moved into the knockout spherical.
Key second
James’ goal gave Chelsea momentum after it failed to convert some first rate seems within the first half.
Takeaways
Benfica appeared content material to play protection a lot of the match and check out to make the most of its few probabilities. But the offense couldn’t capitalize on the alternatives it generated.
Noteworthy
It was the primary two Round-of-16 knockout video games on the house of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Inter Milan meets Fluminense on Monday, with the winner dealing with both Bayern Munich or Flamengo within the quarterfinals.
What they mentioned
“For 85 minutes we were in control. After the break, the match changed. It’s not the same game. You suspend a game (for two hours), to me that’s not football. I struggle to understand it. … We have been here two weeks and they have suspended six or seven games, so something is not working here.” — Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
“In the first half our objective was to come forward although we were facing a very tough side.” — Benfica coach Bruno Lage.
Chelsea coach Maresca says U.S. ‘‘is not the right place’‘ for Club World Cup
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca criticized FIFA for holding the Club World Cup in the United States after his club’s match against Benfica was delayed for two hours due to lightning and took nearly five hours to complete.
Fans were told to vacate the seating bowl of Bank of America Stadium with four minutes left in regulation, although it never rained at the venue. Chelsea went on to beat Benfica 4-1 in extra time.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca waves to the gang on the finish of the Club World Cup spherical of 16 match between Benfica and Chelsea in Charlotte, N.C., June 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP
If “they are already suspending six, seven eight games, probably there is something that is not working well,” Maresca mentioned, including that the United States “is not the right place to do this competition.” Extreme warmth has been a problem all through the match, with temperatures approaching 100 levels Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) at some venues throughout daytime matches scheduled to accommodate European tv audiences. Several matches have been delayed by rain.
After the prolonged delay on Saturday, Benfica made a late push and scored the equalizer on a stoppage-time penalty.
Chelsea captain Reece James mentioned gamers “had to sit and wait for a long period, and it’s quite disruptive.” With the expanded Club World Cup serving as a dry run for subsequent 12 months’s 48-team World Cup within the United States, Canada and Mexico, FIFA has been criticized over pitch circumstances and match scheduling in addition to its dealing with of the climate.
