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The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has taken a new format for the first time, and the tournament has been filled with excitement. It’s safe to say it’s here to stay, and the knockout stage officially begins this Saturday, June 28. The winners of Group C will battle the 2nd place team in Group D, which has pitted Benfica against Chelsea. While most pundits expected the Portuguese side to finish behind Bayern Munich in Group C, they pulled off an upset in the final group-stage match, winning 1-0. Similarly, Chelsea was the favorite to win Group D, but Brazilian side Flamengo dismantled them 3-1 to win the group.
Overall, this was the matchup many expected to see, but not under these circumstances. I’m 2-0 with my FIFA Club World Cup predictions, nailing my best bets for Al Ahly vs Inter Miami and Inter Miami vs Palmeiras, so you’ll want to see my Benfica vs Chelsea prediction for Saturday.
As stated above, Benfica finished 1st in Group C, which was a great accomplishment. The Portuguese side took down the champions of Germany for the first time in their club history, and they thoroughly deserved all 3 points against Bayern Munich. While the Germans had their chances to score, it was 21-year-old Andreas Schjelderup with the lone goal of the game, scoring in the 54th minute. They’re hitting their stride at the right time, as Benfica started the tournament with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors but defeated Auckland City 6-0 before their win against Bayern.
37-year-old Ángel Di María is the leading scorer in this tournament with 3 goals to his name, with all 3 goals coming from the penalty pot. However, Leandro Barreiro Martins has 2 goals, and four other players have found the back of the net. Former Manchester City CB Nicolás Otamendi leads the defense, and Renato Sanches controls the midfield. Now, this side fell 2 points short of winning the Portuguese league to rivals Sporting CP, but they’ll feel like they have a shot of making a run if they can get past Chelsea.
Unlike Benfica, Chelsea started this tournament with a bang, taking down LAFC 2-0 in their opening game. However, Flamengo brought them back down to earth. Pedro Neto opened the scoring in the 13th minute, but the Brazilian side leveled the game in the 62nd minute and took the lead 3 minutes later. ST Nicholas Jackson was subbed on in the 64th minute and proceeded to pick up a red card in the 68th minute, reducing Chelsea to 10 men. Flamengo capitalized on the man advantage, scoring in the 83rd minute. However, the Blues bounced back in their final group-stage match. They dismantled ES Tunis 3-0 and didn’t allow a single shot on target. However, these efforts weren’t good enough to secure 1st place, as Flamengo won the group with 7 points.
Chelsea’s leading scorer is Pedro Neto (2 goals), but Enzo Fernández (1 goal and 2 assists) has been the main playmaker for this squad. However, newly signed ST Liam Delap scored his first goal in a Chelsea shirt against ES Tunis, while Tosin Adarabioyo and Tyrique George each have a goal to their name. It’s been an interesting tournament for Chelsea, as the only team they’ve played on the same level as Benfica has been Flamengo, which obviously didn’t go as planned. However, Enzo Maresca’s squad looked much better in their final group-stage match, and I expect them to take a conservative approach against Benfica.
This game will be extremely interesting, as Chelsea didn’t look their best in their first two matches, but that could be due to a hangover after winning the Europa Conference League. Meanwhile, Benfica battled back from a 2-0 deficit to Boca Juniors and have outscored their opponents 9-0 since falling behind in that game. I expect this game to be extremely cagey, but Benfica should continue to feed Ángel Di María.
The former Manchester United winger has played against Chelsea during his lone season in the English Premier League, and I expect him to attack early and often. He won the man of the match in Benfica’s first two games and has 2+ shots in each of their three group-stage matches. Although he’s on the older side, he’s still capable of making a difference in this match, and the Argentine has 2+ shots in 7 of Benfica’s last 10 contests in all competitions. Expect this trend to continue against Chelsea on Saturday.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.