Chelsea vs. Benfica weather delay: Updates, restart time for Club World Cup match held up by lightning

BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM, CHARLOTTE — The match between Chelsea and Benfica in the Round of 16 at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup appeared to be almost at its conclusion.

A free-kick goal from Reece James had the Premier League side 1-0 up with time ticking down. It didn't seem as if Benfica were mustering much of a comeback, and they were running out of opportunities.

Then, in the 87th minute, a weather system moved into the area and halted the match.

The Sporting News has the latest on the weather delay at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte as the sides wait around hoping to resume the match soon.

Why was the Chelsea vs. Benfica match delayed?

A storm system in the vicinity of Bank of America Stadium caused the match to be delayed.

As the stadium public address announcer instructed the fans to leave their seats and take cover under the concourse, the referee halted the match and told the players to leave the pitch.

When will the Chelsea vs. Benfica match resume?

7:38 p.m. ET: The match is set to resume imminently. There is a weather system coming up from the south which threatens further delays, so FIFA has requested the teams retake the pitch soon to get the match going quickly and hope to finish.

The players have agreed to a shortened 7-minute warmup to try and squeeze the game in before that new system arrives.

— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) June 28, 2025

What are the weather delay rules at the FIFA Club World Cup?

FIFA rules state that the players cannot return to the pitch until there are 30 minutes without a lightning strike within a 10-mile radius of the stadium.

Each time a lightning strike inside that radius is logged, the timer resets.

Then, the players will need 15 minutes to warm up so they can return to the pitch in a safe manner, as returning to high-level play at the end of a one-goal match would be asking for injuries.