Chelsea vs LAFC: All you need to know

Chelsea’s quest for more silverware continues with the opening Group D match of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Here we look to provide all the information you need to know ahead of the game at Georgia’s 75,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The home of MLS Eastern Conference team Atlanta United was also the setting for the Londoners’ 3-0 friendly victory over Club América last summer.

Home-country opponents Los Angeles FC rose to fifth in the 15-club MLS Western Conference with 18 games remaining after Kansas fell 3-1 to Denis Bouanga’s wizardry a week ago.

The Black-and-Gold were losing finalists in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup but secured late entry to this tournament through an extra-time play-off victory against Club América following Club Leon’s removal.

Chelsea, who earned this ticket by winning the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, arrive on a run of eight wins from our past nine matches across all competitions.

The other Group D game between 2022 Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo of Brazil and Tunisian side Esperance, one of the African federation’s highest-ranked teams, kicks off later in Philadelphia at 8am BST.

The winners of this group will face the runners-up in Group C in a round of 16, while the second-placed side must take on Group C’s table-toppers. Finishing third or fourth means elimination.

By 13 July this new quadrennial club competition will have showcased 32 teams and 63 matches in 12 stadiums over 29 days – and crowned one club as definitive world champions.

Chelsea – the Club World Cup history

This is Chelsea’s third appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup since 2000. Of the UEFA participants in this expanded tournament only Real Madrid (six) have featured in more.

In December 2012, the Blues, champions of Europe for the first time, comfortably saw off Monterrey 3-1 in Yokohama, Juan Mata drawing first blood. Spain compatriot Fernando Torres doubled the lead and an own goal put the outcome beyond doubt, the Mexicans’ barely warranting their late consolation.

The final against Copa Libertadores champions Corinthians was a different story. Rafael Benitez’s sluggish side missed a host of chances and the Brazilians’ winner was something of a fluke. When Gary Cahill was dismissed for kicking out, the Blues’ quest to ‘rule the world’ was over.

In early 2022 our all-time leading scorer in this competition, Romelu Lukaku, netted the only goal in the last four clash with Saudi side Al Hilal in the United Arab Emirates.

In the final, Lukaku’s unstoppable header put the Londoners ahead against Palmeiras of Brazil but Raphael Veiga levelled from the spot after a handball. Thankfully, Kai Havertz converted a second penalty to secure a 2-1 victory. The Blues were world champions for the first time and had ‘won it all’.

2025 Club World Cup regulations

There are 32 teams involved in the new format of this decades-old FIFA tournament: 12 from Europe, six South America, a quota of four each from Africa, Asia and Central/North America and the Caribbean and one from Oceania, with host country USA also guaranteed a team regardless of qualification, which is Inter Miami.

The clubs have been separated into eight batches of four, Chelsea contesting Group D alongside Flamengo of Brazil, Esperance representing Tunisia and Los Angeles from host nation USA. The two top-ranked teams from each group qualify for the round of 16 in the knockout stage.

Finishing first in the group would see Chelsea play the runners-up in Group C, which comprises Auckland, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Boca Juniors. Second place would match the Londoners with the Group C winners.

Clubs can name a matchday squad of 26, comprising eleven starters and 15 substitutes including two goalkeepers. Five replacements are allowed in three batches per match plus half-time.

Goalline technology, VAR and a new Advanced Semi-Automated Offside system alerting assistant referees to raise their flag immediately for clear offsides, will be used in this competition.

Players who accumulate two cautions must serve a one-match suspension, but in the knockout phase single yellow cards will be cancelled after the quarter-finals.

The final will take place at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on 13 July. There is no third/fourth place play-off match.

Know this…

English clubs’ international trophies

1 Liverpool - 14

2 Chelsea - 10

3 Manchester United - 8

4 Manchester City - 4

= Tottenham - 4

6 Nottm Forest - 3

= Aston Villa - 3

= West Ham - 3

Despite plenty of friendly games stretching back to 1954, this is Chelsea’s first competitive fixture against a team from the USA.

Enzo Maresca has already used a club-record 39 players this season, surpassing the previous record of 36 from our last campaign.

Midfielder Andrey Santos featured in Opta’s PSG-dominated Ligue 1 Team of 2024/25 while on loan at Strasbourg.

LAFC forward Denis Bouanga has fired off 78 shots in this season’s MLS, ten more than Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (68).

LAFC share their home stadium with women’s team Angel City, who have a co-owner in common with Chelsea Women: Alexis Ohanian.

The Londoners pioneered new match technology in both our previous tournament appearances. In 2012 we were the first English club to trial Hawk-Eye, which detects the ball crossing the line, and in early 2022 the Londoners road-tested the semi-automated offside system, another Premier League first.

The 24-carat gold-plated FIFA Club World Cup trophy was created by Tiffany & Co. Its design and engravings celebrate global football and exploration.

Winners of this tournament are permitted to wear a gold ‘World Champions’ badge on their shirts until 2029.

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