Chelsea vs. Benfica and the never-ending Club World Cup match: How players outlasted Charlotte weather delay

BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM, CHARLOTTE — "Benfica could score the most unpopular goal in football history here."

Those were the prophetic musings of one journalist in the Bank of America Stadium press box as the match between Benfica and Chelsea resumed in the 87th minute as they prepared to contest the final few passages of play in Charlotte on Saturday.

Or so they thought. Hoped, maybe.

Fans, players, staff, and media had just endured a one-hour, 53-minute weather delay, without a drop of rain having actually fallen in the venue itself. With storms surrounding uptown Charlotte, and lightning strikes within the 10-mile limit, the match could not continue safely.

"I mean, yeah," said Chelsea captain Reece James, who scored their first goal early in the second half, when asked if that was one of the craziest games he's ever played in. "It wasn't probably the most enjoyable, we got to 85 minutes and then had to sit and wait for quite a long period. It's quite disruptive when you're in the flow of the game, lots of substitutions, trying to get warm and stay warm."

MORE: Full match schedule, results, and fixture list for 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

With a spot in the lucrative Club World Cup quarterfinals on the line, those in the stadium and watching around the globe could do nothing but wait.

Meanwhile, in the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/UZPsVkNvHr

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 28, 2025

And wait they did. "It's a joke," Maresca said after the game. "It’s not the same game if you stop it for two hours. I understand the stoppage for safety reasons, but Charlotte is probably not the right place to play such a game of football [if there was such a risk]."

Fans huddled in crowded concourses, with a surprising number of supporters from both sides holding onto hope of a return to play soon. Without information, they could only remain steadfast while seated on the concrete hallways under cover.

"It was in the back of my mind that the game might not get completed," James said.

Sure enough, the players were rushed out onto the pitch to finish the match before another storm cell brewing to the south caused even more delays. The squads emerged from the dressing rooms to an entirely empty stadium, but soon the fans began streaming back to their seats from the concourse.

"It was quite surprising because when we first came out, it looked like everyone had gone home," said Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia after the match. "But then they all came out and supported us, which was a nice feeling

It was then that Angel Di Maria brought everyone's worst fears to reality. Indeed, through four of the six added minutes at the end of regulation, Malo Gusto was judged, on VAR review, to have committed a handball offence on Nicolas Otamendi's headed effort on goal. It felt harsh, as Gusto was eyes closed and his back to the effort, with the ball striking the back of his arm, but it certainly affected the shot, and his arm was up above his head in an unnatural position.

As Di Maria slid the ball into the centre of the goal, Robert Sanchez helplessly diving to his left, Benfica had drawn level and an additional 30 minutes of extra-time loomed.

A match that had kicked off at 4 p.m. local time on the East Coast of the United States was still going nearly four hours later. It was 7:47 when the game restarted, 7:49 when Benfica substitute Gianluca Prestianni was sent off for a second yellow card, 7:56 when Di Maria scored his equalizer, and 8:25 p.m. when Christopher Nkunku bagged the sloppiest winner perfectly befitting of the occasion.

— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 29, 2025

Nkunku's strike brought with it the emotions of triumph on such an unusual occasion, as Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca went streaking down the touchline in jubilation to join the player celebrations.

A few minutes later, Pedro Neto put the game away with a breakaway goal to make it 3-1 Chelsea. Then Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall did the same to make it 4-1. Then Maresca brought 20-year-old Argentine defender Aaron Anselmino on for his senior Chelsea debut — because why not at this point?

"Probably, yeah," said Lavia when asked if that topped the list of wacky games he's experienced. "Probably the craziest game I've ever been in, yeah."

Finally, mercifully, four hours and 38 minutes from the opening whistle, referee Slavko Vincic brought the match to its conclusion with Chelsea advancing to the quarterfinals by a 4-1 score.

— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) June 29, 2025

"Please don't misunderstand me," Maresca clarified after slamming the tournament for playing in Charlotte. "It's a fantastic competition, the Club World Cup. It's top. We are happy to be in the last eight. We are happy to win all these kinds of things.

"But we have had six or seven games suspended; it's not normal to suspend a game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero, probably. In Europe, how many games? Zero. We are here two weeks and they already suspended six or seven games. There is some problem for me, personally.

"When you are two hours inside and you try to keep players in the game, but for two hours they are speaking with the family outside for safety reasons, they are eating something, they are playing and laughing. How can you keep them two hours inside, focused? It's a joke."

It'll be no joke for Benfica, who go out of the competition and miss out on over $13 million in prize money simply for advancing from the Round of 16 to the quarterfinals. For Chelsea, they bank that cash and move on to face Palmeiras in the next round, hoping that Philadelphia can convince Mother Nature to be less chaotic for their next match on Friday — which just so happens to be July 4th.