FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Chelsea, Benfica advance to knockout stage as Groups C and D wrap up

Two groups played their third and final matches at the Club World Cup on Tuesday, with Benfica and Chelsea punching their tickets to the knockout stage. Bayern Munich and Flamengo had both already clinched advancement.

Here’s how it all went down:

FIFA Club World Cup results

Benfica 1, Bayern Munich 0

Despite the constant pressure from Bayern Munich through almost 100 minutes, Benfica managed to maintain their brick-wall-like defense to protect their 1-0 lead. A 13th-minute goal from Andreas Schjelderup put Benfica on the board as Bayern dominated in all aspects but scoring. The German giants controlled 73% of the possession and fired 13 shots, with four on-frame. Benfica had seven shots with four on target, which proved sufficient for them to win the group with 7 points.

Auckland City 1, Boca Juniors 1

Boca Juniors’ 41 shots were not enough to break the deadlock with Auckland City despite being highly favored to win. With 10 of their attempts hitting the target, Boca got on the scoreboard due to an own goal from Auckland’s Nathan Garrow in the 26th minute (though Garrow’s heroics also kept Auckland in for the draw). Christian Thomas Gray eliminated the error with a goal for the club from New Zealand. Auckland shot three attempts on goal, with two on target to split the points.

Chelsea 3, Esperance Sportive de Tunis 0

Chelsea took the lead in first-half stoppage time then added another two minutes later. The latter goal was striker Liam Delap’s first with his new club after coming over on a £30 million signing from Ipswich Town earlier this month. Chelsea controlled possession so much that Tunis had more offsides calls than shots, and zero shots on goal.

LAFC 1, Flamengo 1

LAFC came so close to picking up its first win in the Club World Cup on its final night of group play. Dénis Bouanga scored the first goal of the night in the 84th minute after a slow back-and-forth where Flamengo missed several clear goal opportunities. But just two minutes later, Wallace Yan followed suit after he flew past a trio of defenders with a perfect equalizer. That gave Flamengo the Group D win, and set up a match with Bayern Munich next. LAFC will miss the knockout stage after finishing last in the group.

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