Chelsea makes their debut tonight at Club World Cup. As part of Group D, the London team will face Flamengo on Friday June 20 and Espérance de Tunis on Wednesday June 25, but their debut is tonight, Monday June 16 at 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST, against one of the few local favourites: Los Angeles FC.
With Chelsea being one of the best Premier League sides, Flamengo being the most successful Brazilian team of the 21st century, winner of the Libertadores in 2019 and 2022, and Espérance Sportive de Tunis being one of the best Arab teams, winning the CAF Champions League in 2011, 2018 and 2019, LA FC comes ad the underdog of the group. After all, the club was founded just eleven years ago, although they went on to win MLS Cup in 2022, and the Supporter's Shield for best regular season in 2019 and 2022.
Curiously, among LAFC squad we find Olivier Giroud, who was Chelsea's top scorer in Champions League 2021, which the Blues won. Giroud entered the team as Designated Player, outside of the salary cap. LA FC team includes international players like French goalkeeper and Tottenham legend Hugo Lloris, Spanish right-back Sergi Palencia, and Colombian defender Eddie Segura.
The Black and Gold team are actually a last-minute addition to the competition, as they joined only when Mexican club León was disqualified. LA FC won a play-in match against Mexican side Club América, with a win in the last minute to push the match to extra-time. Their reason to be there was being Concacaf Champions League runner-up in 2023.