Chelsea defeated Benfica 4-1 in the last 16 of the 2025 Club World Cup after goals from Reece James, Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Diewsbury Hall. Maresca said that although they had successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, the match was interrupted by weather problems, which also caused the team to face a more difficult challenge after the game resumed.

Reece James scored a free kick in the 64th minute of the second half to help Chelsea take the lead 1-0. However, in the 86th minute, the game was interrupted for two hours due to weather problems.

Shortly after the game restarted, Gusto touched the ball with his hand while trying to clear the ball, giving Benfica a penalty kick. Later, Di Maria scored the penalty kick, helping Benfica to tie the score at 1-1. In the 108th minute of extra time, Benfica goalkeeper Trubin made a mistake when blocking Caicedo's shot, and Nkunku immediately made a supplementary shot to help Chelsea take the lead again with 2-1.

In the 114th minute, Pedro Neto scored after receiving a pass from Caicedo, helping Chelsea expand their lead to 3 to 1. In the 117th minute, Palmer assisted Dewsbury Hall to score a lob, helping Chelsea to change the score to 4 to 1. In the end, Chelsea eliminated Benfica 4 to 1 and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

Chelsea coach Maresca said, "I am very happy because we have entered the quarterfinals of this extraordinary event. In the first 85 minutes of the game, we did not allow the opponent to get any chances, and we also created enough opportunities to win the game. The team played very well. This is one of our best performances in the past two weeks or even the past month."

"The game was great for 85 minutes, but then it was interrupted for two hours and then the game became different because the rhythm was disrupted. We waited for two hours and we tried to continue playing the same way after the game was restarted, but it was difficult.

Maresca continued, "We didn't give the opponent any chances in the first 85 minutes. This didn't happen by chance, but eight minutes after the restart we gave the opponent a chance."

Reece James: We have made great progress

"They need to keep chasing points, while we are the leading side. But after the break, the mentality will definitely be different when we return to the court, which is really difficult."

In addition, Chelsea captain Reece James said, "Being able to pick ourselves up and get a few goals shows how much progress we have made. This was a very difficult game with a lot of interruptions. We held on until the 85th minute and then stopped playing for that long."

"It takes a lot of energy for the players to restart after the cool down, but we are happy to have done the job. We focused on training and keeping our legs fresh, and listened to some music to keep the atmosphere. In extra time we played well and scored the key goal."

When talking about the feeling of scoring from a free kick, Reece James shared, “I spoke to the centre-backs and asked them how they wanted me to do it and they said shoot, cross or inswing.”

"Then I saw the position of the opposing goalkeeper and he gave me a lot of space. So I decided to shoot directly and I actually scored."