Chelsea vs. LAFC, Club World Cup: Preview, team news, how to watch

Like a movie with three endings, Chelsea’s 2024-25 season just keeps going. We’ve had the top-four finish. We’ve had the Conference League final. Now we have at least three more games to play, and perhaps a few more if (when) we get to the knockout stages of FIFA’s newfangled Club World Cup. (That’s a “when” for manifesting, not a “when” for underestimating.)

Our first group stage game sees us face late-entrants Los Angeles FC, who were granted the opportunity to get Club León’s spot after the Liga MX side were kicked due to their shared ownership structure with fellow qualifiers Club Pachuca. LAFC beat Club América in a one-game playoff to earn their chance against Chelsea, Flamengo, and ES Tunis.

For them, this game, this tournament means everything. Or at least a lot.

For us, it might not mean that much.

But we play to win every game and every competition, and this one is about as competitive as you can get for a summer tournament. If FIFA have it their way, this thing will grow to become as big of a deal as the Champions League or maybe even the World Cup. I doubt that’s going to be the case — the old format, which we won in 2021 (well, 2022), certainly never took off — but I’ve been wrong before.

So, put those vacation plans on hold. Mykonos can wait. A trophy’s calling.

Date / Time: Monday, June 16, 2025, 20.00 BST; 3pm EDT; 12:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA, USA
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela Sáez, with VAR — the new 8-second rule will be in effect for goalkeepers, while assistant referees will be alerted to obvious offsides through their headsets by the semi-automated technology so that they can raise the flag earlier (and hopefully avoid unnecessary situations like Taiwo Awoniyi’s collision with the post); also, there’s a ref-cam that for some reason doesn’t use image stabilization so it’s incredibly shaky when shown on the broadcast
Forecast: Humid and hot, with the usual afternoon thunderstorm; the stadium does have a retractable roof so it’s always comfortable and playable

On TV: Channel 5 (UK); TBS, TUDN (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: DAZN is streaming ALL the games globally; you do have to watch through their website or their App (mobile or smart TV). The games are all free (with a free DAZN account) with the occasional in-game split screen ad, though they will push paid plans in your face and that can be tricky to navigate around sometimes. Paid plans remove the in-game ads. Here’s a link (USA) that should skip past the annoying signup splash page and go directly to their CWC hub.

Hannah Foslien-Imagn Images

Chelsea team news: For logistical, competitive, and transfer-market reasons, we’ve decided to not make too many changes to the squad from the second half of the season, adding only the four new signings that we been already made: Liam Delap, Dário Essugo, Mamadou Sarr, and Mike Penders.

Penders replaces Marcus Bettinelli as the third goalkeeper, with Betts leaving for Manchester City. Fourth goalkeeper Lucas Bergström was released and his place has gone to Gaga Slonina. Chelsea wanted to bring Đorđe Petrović along at first, but Petro has decided to explore his transfer options instead.

Other notable absentees from the 28-man squad registered for the group stage include Wesley Fofana, who’s currently recovering from hamstring surgery, and Mykhailo Mudryk, who’s serving his (officially still just provisional) suspension for a doping ban. And Jadon Sancho has gone back to Manchester United after failing to agree a (lower-paying) contract with Chelsea.

About a third of the squad had been involved in internationals in the last couple weeks, so they’ve had practically no break at all since the Conference League final. That might actually be helpful in avoiding “pre-season mode”.

Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images

LAFC team news: Speaking of no break, LAFC are in the middle of their MLS season, which started at the end of February. The defending Western Conference regular season champions began in fairly poor form, but have now gone unbeaten in their last ten in all competitions (five wins, five draws), including their 2-1 extra-time victory over Club América in the play-in game.

Their main threat is a man named Denis Bouanga, once of AS Saint-Étienee, who’s scored 20 league goals in back-to-back seasons and is on track for a third consecutive. A more familiar, though these days far less threatening name will be Olivier Giroud. He does have three goals in MLS this season, which is three more than last season, but he’s struggled since joining from AC Milan last summer.

Fellow 38-year-old veteran Hugo Lloris will be another familiar name: the former Spurs goalkeeper was an MLS All-Star last season. We might also remember ex-Roma striker Cengiz Ünder from the season he spent on loan at Leicester City a few years ago.

Head coach Steve Cherundolo made over 300 appearances in the Bundesliga (all for Hannover 96 in a remarkable 15-year career at the club) so he’s not blind to the reality of this situation. But he will certainly do his utmost to prepare his team, who will be fired up for the occasion.

“I know our players are competitive, I know our players really want to be here, and I know our players want to show well, and we are prepared for this. But yes […] it’s very clear who the underdog is, and who the favourite is, but we feel fine with that, and we’re comfortable with that. [We] try not to hope, we prepare and have plans for everything that can come our way.”

-Steve Cherundolo; source: ESPN

Previously: LAFC have only been in existence for eight years, so this is unsurprisingly our first ever game against them. This is however the third straight year that we’ve played in Atlanta, after a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in the Premier League Summer Series two years ago and a 3-0 win against Club América in a friendly last year.