Can Estevao Willian play for Palmeiras against Chelsea in Club World Cup quarter-final?

Chelsea and Palmeiras will lock horns in the quarter-finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup on Friday, July 4, in Philadelphia. The Blues booked their spot in the last eight following a 4-1 win over Benfica after 120 minutes of football. Palmeiras also edged out their fellow Brazilian side Botafogo after 120 minutes of play to set up a clash with Enzo Maresca’s men.

The upcoming encounter could see Stamford Bridge-bound Estevao Willian play against Chelsea. The Blues confirmed the signing of the Palmeiras academy graduate in June 2024 and announced that he would join the club in the summer of 2025 upon his 18th birthday. With two days left until both teams meet, a lot of Blues faithful will want to know if Willian will be eligible to play against them.

To date, Palmeiras has played four games in the ongoing Club World Cup, and Estevao Willian has featured in all of them. He was most recently in action against Botafogo and was withdrawn from the game after 64 minutes.

Chelsea are on the verge of signing Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens from Brighton & Hove Albion and Borussia Dortmund, respectively. Unlike Pedro, Gittens will not be allowed to play for the Blues in the Club World Cup if he were to join them before the tournament comes to an end. This is because he had already played with Dortmund in the competition.

The situation with Estevao Willian is, however, unique. There is nothing in FIFA’s rules that prevents the 18-year-old from playing against Chelsea in the upcoming quarter-final match in Philadelphia. Since the turn of the year, Willian has made 36 appearances for Palmeiras across competitions.

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“It’s not football” – Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on two-hour Club World Cup delay

Enzo Maresca did not hold back while speaking after Chelsea’s match against Benfica in the round of 16 of the Club World Cup. The match was halted four minutes from time due to adverse weather conditions.

Maresca said after the game (via GOAL):

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game. After the break, the game changed completely. For me it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended. I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition. “The problem is that when the game is suspended, it’s not football. Guys, it’s not football. You suspend the game, it’s not football. It’s completely something different. They [Benfica] scored because they need to chase. We are inside, we are winning. You go outside, mentally different. It’s difficult. We had an hour and a half, two-hour stop. Then it started completely different. It’s not the same game because you break the tempo. So two hours inside; people speak with the family outside, if they were good, the security. People eating, people laughing, people talking on the mobile. It’s two hours. That’s why I said it’s not football. It’s something that you struggle to understand. But we tried to go out, continue in the same way, knowing that it was difficult. It’s not random that for 85 minutes, we didn’t concede nothing. And then for five minutes, we conceded a few chances. Why? It’s because it started a completely different game.”

Chelsea will be without Moises Caicedo in the clash against Palmeiras after he picked up a suspension for his booking against Benfica.

Edited by Nived Zenith