The Group D clash at the FIFA Club World Cup between Flamengo and Chelsea, kicking off at 9:00 PM, is one of the headline fixtures of the evening at the inaugural tournament in the USA. Both the Brazilians and the English come into the match following identical scorelines in their opening wins—Flamengo defeated Esperance, while Chelsea beat Los Angeles 2–0. It’s been two weeks since Jorginho, former Chelsea midfielder and more recently of Arsenal, joined Flamengo. The experienced midfielder knows English football well and has already provided tactical insights to Flamengo’s coach Filipe Luís, who is, of course, also a former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid player. Now 39, Luís has taken on the coaching role at Flamengo and is doing it quite successfully.Filipe Luís’ record with Flamengo is incredible… he has also won three trophies since taking over in September 2024 🏆🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/PSTiKRV8ws— OneFootball (@OneFootball) June 20, 2025 Jorginho played five years for Chelsea between 2018 and 2023, racking up 213 appearances, scoring 29 goals, and delivering 8 assists. He won four trophies during that span—a very fruitful chapter of his career—but now he’s facing a new challenge in Brazil.“I know this will be a very tough, intense match. We know how good Chelsea is, so we’ve prepared for a big battle. Chelsea plays dynamically, with physically strong players. They’ll try to build from the back, break our lines, open up the pitch as much as possible, and make runs into space—they always do. We have to stop them. They have top-class players I had the pleasure to play with, and cheer for. Though, of course, that won’t be the case this time,” said Jorginho.CWC: Chelsea didn’t impress, but three points are three pointsSo far in the tournament, European clubs have failed to beat South American sides. Whether Chelsea can break that pattern against Flamengo remains to be seen. Coach Filipe Luís stated that Flamengo will play “fiercely and without hesitation” and stick to their usual philosophy.“My motto is: never abandon your beliefs. I have mine—I have a very clear idea of what I think about this game. I would never, under any circumstances, change my team because of the opponent. That would be absolutely wrong for the players. We’ll play the way we trained and prepared these past eight months” said Luís.Jorginho leaves Arsenal to join Flamengo almost month before end of contract for one reasonFlamengo is used to dictating tempo and dominating possession, but that might be hard to pull off against the Londoners.“We know this will be a match where we’ll have to make some sacrifices. We won’t always have the ball, we’ll have to run and fight hard. The players understand that—they’ve been doing it since I played alongside them, and now as their coach. The only way to win is for all 11 to push in the same direction. Knowing that’s the path forward, I definitely believe we have a real chance,” the Flamengo manager said optimistically. His Chelsea counterpart, Enzo Maresca, is expected to make some rotations since he brought a 24-man squad to the tournament. New signing Liam Delap, who made his debut against Los Angeles, could be in the starting lineup for the first time tonight.
