And he had support. Marc Cucurella was one of Chelsea’s better players on the day and came mightily close to giving them a first-half lead — twice — when he shot on target and was denied first by a block on the line from Antonio Silva and then by the hand of Trubin.

An opening round victory over Los Angeles FC set them on the right path but a hugely disappointing and fiery 3–1 defeat to Flamengo in their subsequent outing threatened their place in the last 16. Fortunately, ES Tunis posed little resistance in Chelsea’s final Group D outing, with a 3–0 victory confirming their progression.

Chelsea FC have vehemently criticised hosting the FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. after a 2-hour delay in the 86th minute of their 4-1 win over Benfica after FIFA’s weather protocol was triggered. The match being played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte was stopped due to a storm threat,