Chelsea's first opponent will be Los Angeles FC or Club America of Mexico.

To be decided in a single play-off game on 31st May in LA.

https://www.lafc.com/news/lafc-to-face-club-america-in-play-off-match-for-a-place-in-2025-fifa-club-world-cup

On 29/03/2025 at 11:35, The Rising Sun said:

On the FIFA site.

General public admission tickets for our game V Leon start at 83 dollars.

Tickets for Miami V Al Ahly start at.. ........... ....239 dollars !!!

They've dropped the price, and the $83 tickets are very high in the stadium. The reduced price lower level tickets are ~$178 each, before the $50 bs fee nonsense per ticket.

Anyway, hearing very few tickets have been sold for the matches due to pricing and timing of matches (i.e., during middle of work day to appease global broadcasting). When I say very little, like less than 20% of capacity sold so far.

On a somewhat related note I'm curious what happens with Estevao on July 1, assuming his current team are still in the competition. I'm sure FIFA rules prohibit playing for two teams in same competition, but they'll want the marketability of him playing for sure.

Edited May 11, 20251 yr by PhilH930

7 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

They've dropped the price, and the $83 tickets are very high in the stadium. The reduced price lower level tickets are ~$178 each, before the $50 bs fee nonsense per ticket.

Anyway, hearing very few tickets have been sold for the matches due to pricing and timing of matches (i.e., during middle of work day to appease global broadcasting). When I say very little, like less than 20% of capacity sold so far.

On a somewhat related note I'm curious what happens with Estevao on July 1, assuming his current team are still in the competition. I'm sure FIFA rules prohibit playing for two teams in same competition, but they'll want the marketability of him playing for sure.

Thanks for the info mate

Not too long for this tournament to start. People are dismissing it like every new thing and putting it down as a money making scheme but I personally can't wait to see us play again and we'll see a lot of new faces. Especially seeing Estevao play excites me.

Hopefully many of the young lads get to feature for us.

40 minutes ago, evissy said:

Not too long for this tournament to start. People are dismissing it like every new thing and putting it down as a money making scheme but I personally can't wait to see us play again and we'll see a lot of new faces. Especially seeing Estevao play excites me.

Hopefully many of the young lads get to feature for us.

Estevao wont play for us in this competition.

I hope we take it really seriously.

8 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Estevao wont play for us in this competition.

I hope we take it really seriously.

Wasn't he supposed to join the squad? Maybe not eligible to play before July..?

Yes he plays for Palmeiras ..

34 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Estevao wont play for us in this competition.

I hope we take it really seriously.

Has this actually been officially communicated anywhere by the club?

https://footballtoday.com/2025/04/22/chelsea-will-be-without-highly-rated-youngster-estevao-willian-for-club-world-cup/

2 hours ago, Remodez said:

Has this actually been officially communicated anywhere by the club?

I heard the other day. Cant remember where but I know it was a reliable source. Won't take part.

2 hours ago, Remodez said:

Has this actually been officially communicated anywhere by the club?

His agent reckons he'll be playing for Palmeiras for the Club World Cup.

9 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

His agent reckons he'll be playing for Palmeiras for the Club World Cup.

His transfer date is July 1, if I recall correctly. That’s mid tournament and am sure there are fifa rules prohibiting representing two clubs in same tournament. Will be interesting what happens if Palmeiras make it to knockouts beyond July 1 - would we make an exception for marketability or not risk injury.

55 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

His transfer date is July 1, if I recall correctly. That’s mid tournament and am sure there are fifa rules prohibiting representing two clubs in same tournament. Will be interesting what happens if Palmeiras make it to knockouts beyond July 1 - would we make an exception for marketability or not risk injury.

There's a mini transfer window as a result of the Club World Cup that runs from 1st to 10th June. 1st July does seem an odd date.

Maybe there's a clause if Palmeiras make it through to the later rounds? Brazilian clubs take this competition much more seriously than clubs in Europe. I was at the 2012 final and Corinthians came in big numbers!

Edited May 30, 20251 yr by TokyoBlue

32 minutes ago, TokyoBlue said:

There's a mini transfer window as a result of the Club World Cup that runs from 1st to 10th June. 1st July does seem an odd date.

Maybe there's a clause if Palmeiras make it through to the later rounds? Brazilian clubs take this competition much more seriously than clubs in Europe. I was at the 2012 final and Corinthians came in big numbers!

IIRC that mini transfer window was arranged by FIFA last October so it wasn't official back when we closed the deal for Estevão, hence 1st July could be considered a normal date and as far as I know Estevão will play the whole competition for Palmeiras, he even said so that their aim is to win that title.

I do think European teams will treat this one like a really lucrative pre-season tour, trying their best to at least reach the semis, which will already give them around 50m to play with.

6 hours ago, evissy said:

Not too long for this tournament to start. People are dismissing it like every new thing and putting it down as a money making scheme but I personally can't wait to see us play again and we'll see a lot of new faces. Especially seeing Estevao play excites me.

Hopefully many of the young lads get to feature for us.

I've always said that I liked the idea of the tournament, but see no room for it because of how busy the schedule already is. Before the tournament even starts, most of our players will play 2 games for their country, so there will be next to no time to actually prepare for the competition. Also, let's say we manage to get to the final, it will be on July 13th, how do we recover in time for next season? The answer is that we won't. We're basically in a tough sh*t situation. Us and City are at a major disadvantage going into next season because of this tournament. Every other club can rest their players for the next month and a half, but the best we will get will be a week or two. There is almost no chance this won't have a negative effect on us next season.

Also, it 100% is a money making scheme. FIFA all but confirmed that when they said that they weren't happy with how much money UEFA make compared to themselves. They've also put forward the idea of having the World Cup every 2 years.

I also have an issue with how the tournament works. Personally, I don't think it should be 32 teams, 16 would have been enough. 11 European teams is also too many. It should be 4 at most, one spot for the previous 4 Champions League winners. They've basically guaranteed that a European team will win it every time by having so many in there. The majority of the teams outside the European teams are Championship level at best, and even then, they may not even be that level.

Any news on when we arrive for it? I wonder if the players are taking a short break before they join up with the others.

16 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I've always said that I liked the idea of the tournament, but see no room for it because of how busy the schedule already is. Before the tournament even starts, most of our players will play 2 games for their country, so there will be next to no time to actually prepare for the competition. Also, let's say we manage to get to the final, it will be on July 13th, how do we recover in time for next season? The answer is that we won't. We're basically in a tough sh*t situation. Us and City are at a major disadvantage going into next season because of this tournament. Every other club can rest their players for the next month and a half, but the best we will get will be a week or two. There is almost no chance this won't have a negative effect on us next season.

Also, it 100% is a money making scheme. FIFA all but confirmed that when they said that they weren't happy with how much money UEFA make compared to themselves. They've also put forward the idea of having the World Cup every 2 years.

I also have an issue with how the tournament works. Personally, I don't think it should be 32 teams, 16 would have been enough. 11 European teams is also too many. It should be 4 at most, one spot for the previous 4 Champions League winners. They've basically guaranteed that a European team will win it every time by having so many in there. The majority of the teams outside the European teams are Championship level at best, and even then, they may not even be that level.

I agree on the size of the tournament but time will tell how this goes down. I think fans will not go there in big masses but let's see. It is in North America.

If players want to play this I am fine with them using their spare time playing there. Otherwise I agree on the number of games.

But every time there is a new thing it is always..what is this again? There is not prestige, I hate it and so on. After 10 years no one remembers that.

Funny enough this is easily the most lucrative tournament players will participate this season. Most of them anyway.

Interesting to see whether teams prefer to play youth or best players.

13 minutes ago, evissy said:

I agree on the size of the tournament but time will tell how this goes down. I think fans will not go there in big masses but let's see. It is in North America.

If players want to play this I am fine with them using their spare time playing there. Otherwise I agree on the number of games.

But every time there is a new thing it is always..what is this again? There is not prestige, I hate it and so on. After 10 years no one remembers that.

Funny enough this is easily the most lucrative tournament players will participate this season. Most of them anyway.

Interesting to see whether teams prefer to play youth or best players.

Good points.

Let's not forget that when Chelsea qualified for the very first European Cup in 1955, everyone said it was a joke tournament.

Stupidly we were persuaded to not accept the invite as English Champions, and Real Madrid won it.

Edited May 31, 20251 yr by TokyoBlue

16 hours ago, Sunspear_88 said:

Any news on when we arrive for it? I wonder if the players are taking a short break before they join up with the others.

Didn't Tuchel call up a number of our lads

2 hours ago, evissy said:

I agree on the size of the tournament but time will tell how this goes down. I think fans will not go there in big masses but let's see. It is in North America.

If players want to play this I am fine with them using their spare time playing there. Otherwise I agree on the number of games.

But every time there is a new thing it is always..what is this again? There is not prestige, I hate it and so on. After 10 years no one remembers that.

Funny enough this is easily the most lucrative tournament players will participate this season. Most of them anyway.

Interesting to see whether teams prefer to play youth or best players.

I am not sure what this bit means. This isn't players opting to play out of their free time. They're under contract and have to play if selected. Even if they don't play they may well have to travel as part of the group.

Whilst I am looking forward to it, I do think that @Scott Harris is right that we and City are at a disadvantage. This will be one season where a big squad will help. The problem we have is the major drop off in quality within the squad as was evidenced in the final.

28 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

I am not sure what this bit means. This isn't players opting to play out of their free time. They're under contract and have to play if selected. Even if they don't play they may well have to travel as part of the group.

Whilst I am looking forward to it, I do think that @Scott Harris is right that we and City are at a disadvantage. This will be one season where a big squad will help. The problem we have is the major drop off in quality within the squad as was evidenced in the final.

I mean if the players are excited to play that tournament I think it is fine enough. Footballers usually like to play football. It is more of a problem to coaches and managers if they play too many games.

Channel 5 have now got the rights to show selected games live. in the UK . ... Free.

All information is on their website.

Edited May 31, 20251 yr by The Rising Sun
Info

Channel 5 will show 23 Fifa Club World Cup matches this summer after agreeing a UK sublicensing deal with global rights holder DAZN.

The free-to-air broadcaster will show 15 group games, four last-16 ties, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.

The remaining 40 matches at the expanded 32-team tournament, which takes place in the United States between 15 June and 13 July, will be also be shown free-to-air on DAZN's platforms.

DAZN had secured exclusive rights to broadcast the tournament in a deal said to be worth around 1bn euros (£829m) in December 2024.

Premier League sides Chelsea and Manchester City are two of 12 European teams involved in the event, with Real Madrid also present.

A £775m prize pot will be split between the 32 teams, with the tournament winners earning up to £97m.

On 30/05/2025 at 08:54, evissy said:

Not too long for this tournament to start. People are dismissing it like every new thing and putting it down as a money making scheme but I personally can't wait to see us play again and we'll see a lot of new faces. Especially seeing Estevao play excites me.

Hopefully many of the young lads get to feature for us.

Well, it actually IS a money making scheme dreamt up by FIFA in response to the income that EUFA raises from its own tournaments ( Europa Leagues, Champions League, Euros etc).

This, alongside constant concerns from clubs about players having to play too many games ! .

Edited May 31, 20251 yr by The Rising Sun
Information

5 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

Channel 5 will show 23 Fifa Club World Cup matches this summer after agreeing a UK sublicensing deal with global rights holder DAZN.

The free-to-air broadcaster will show 15 group games, four last-16 ties, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.

The remaining 40 matches at the expanded 32-team tournament, which takes place in the United States between 15 June and 13 July, will be also be shown free-to-air on DAZN's platforms.

DAZN had secured exclusive rights to broadcast the tournament in a deal said to be worth around 1bn euros (£829m) in December 2024.

Premier League sides Chelsea and Manchester City are two of 12 European teams involved in the event, with Real Madrid also present.

A £775m prize pot will be split between the 32 teams, with the tournament winners earning up to £97m.

They must have been really struggling to sell this tournament if a deal like that can happen this close to the tournament starting.