Nearly 27 years after facing off in a friendly, Chelsea play Flamengo in our first competitive match against each other.

Our previous meeting was in the pre-season Gelderland Tournament in Arnhem, Netherlands. We won 5-0 with our goals coming from Gianluca Vialli, a brace from Dan Petrescu, Gustavo Poyet and Roberto Di Matteo.

This will be our third competitive game against a Brazilian side, having lost the first to Corinthians in the 2012/13 FIFA Club World Cup final and won the other against Palmeiras in the 2021/22 final.

This match will pit current Flamengo manager Filipe Luis against Chelsea, a club he made 26 appearances for in all competitions in 2014/15, scoring one goal against Derby County in December 2014 in the League Cup.

Chelsea stats and Philadelphia history

Chelsea return to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia nearly 21 years since our first visit.

On that occasion, we played against a Carlo Ancelotti-led AC Milan in August 2004, in Jose Mourinho’s first season at Chelsea. The Blues lost 3-2 to the Rossoneri with future Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko netting the 87th-minute winner.

Our only other match there was the opening game of the inaugural Premier League Summer Series against Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2023.

A 65,128 crowd witnessed a 4-3 Chelsea victory with our goals coming from Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson.

Starting with Fulham away on 20 April this year, Chelsea have won nine of our last 10 matches across all competitions, only losing to Newcastle in that run. We have kept clean sheets in five of those games.

Pedro Neto’s goal against Los Angeles was his 15th goal contribution (seven goals, eight assists) since the start of the 2024/25 season. He is the sixth Chelsea player with at least 15 goal contributions in that time, tied with Arsenal for the most such total of any Premier League team.

Enzo Maresca has currently used a club-record 41 players this season, surpassing the previous record of 36 from our last campaign.

Trevoh Chalobah’s next appearance will be his 100th game for the club.

If selected, Marc Cucurella will be the first Chelsea player to play 50 Blues games this season.

Flamengo stats

Formation: Club founded in 1895, football team launched in 1911
Ground: Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro (Capacity 78,838)
Major honours: Copa Libertadores (1981, 2019, 2022), Recopa Sudamericana (2020), Intercontinental Cup (1981), Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A (1980, 1982, 1983, 1992, 2009, 2019, 2020), Copa do Brasil (1990, 2006, 2013, 2022, 2024)
2024 league finish: Third in Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, first in Campeonato Carioca
Colours: Red and black

Flamengo qualified for the Club World Cup by winning the Copa Libertadores in 2022.

2025 season so far

Serie A: currently first after 11 out of 38 matches
Campeonato Carioca: winners
Copa do Brasil: currently round of 16
Copa Libertadores: currently round of 16

Flamengo’s top scorer in all competitions is Giorgian de Arrascaeta with 13 goals.

During the current year, Flamengo have retained their regional Carioca title and won the Supercopa do Brasil by beating league champions Botafogo.

Flamengo are unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions (seven wins, two draws) and have lost one of their last 20 Brasileiro Serie A games (12 wins, seven defeats).

Former Blue Jorginho joined Flamengo from Arsenal earlier this month and made his debut in their first group match against Esperance on Monday. He recorded his first assist at club level in over a year.

Our 2012 Champions League winner, David Luiz, spent three years with the Rio club and was part of the side that sealed their qualification for this Club World Cup by lifting the Copa Libertadores in 2022. He departed last December at the end of his contract.

Under the previous format of the FIFA Club World Cup, Flamengo have faced Premier League opposition once before when they were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool in the 2019 final in Qatar.

Flamengo have won their last five matches and kept a clean sheet in their last four.

Last five results

Botafogo (Copa do Brasil home) - W 4-2

Palmeiras (Serie A away) - W 2-0

Tachira (Copa Libertadores home) - W 1-0

Fortaleza (Serie A home) - W 5-0

Esperance Tunis (CWC neutral) - W 2-0

Club World Cup first game line-up

Monday 16 June

Flamengo 2 Esperance Tunis 0

Team (4-2-3-1): Rossi; Varela, Ortiz, Pereira, Lucas; Pulgar, Jorginho (Allan 74); Gerson (c) (Plata 65), De Arrascaeta (Michael 73), L Araujo (Everton 90+1); Pedro (Henrique 64)

Booked: Henrique 84
Goals: De Arrascaeta 17, L Araujo 70

Chelsea's game against Flamengo kicks off at 7pm UK time on Friday. You can watch that and every other game at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 live for free by signing up with DAZN here.