FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Neto, Fernandez shine as Chelsea beat LAFC 2-0 in tournament opener

Chelsea defeated Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) 2-0 on Monday, June 16, 2025, in their opening group game of the FIFA Club World Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The victory for the London club was powered by goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. Neto opened the scoring for Chelsea, netting the first goal before halftime. The second goal came from Fernandez late in the second half, which sealed the match for the team.

LAFC qualified for the tournament via a one-off play-in game in May 2025. The California club seemed to pose some threat to Chelsea when it asked several questions of the team's defence late in the game, but to no avail, as the team failed to score a single goal. The London club held firm in defence, however, and were simply too tough in attack, with Fernandez adding a second goal for the team to take the sting out of the match in the 80th minute.

The Argentine attacking midfielder was picked out in the penalty area by Blues' fresh signing, Liam Delap. He whipped in an excellent ball from the right side. Fernandez took a first touch and finished from close range past former Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Pedro Neto opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 33rd minute with a cutback after being put through into the box on the right-hand side by Nicholas Jackson. Neto stopped on a dime and sent LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead sliding past him.


The Portuguese attacker then took another touch back towards the goal and drilled it into the back of the net at the near post, past Lloris with his left foot. During the match, Chelsea had 17 shots for the match, six of which were on target, and five came from inside the penalty area.

Cole Palmer, although he looked threatening, failed to trouble the scorers as he wasted his crucial chance to get on the score sheet by ballooning a shot over the top of the crossbar in the second half. Another French World Cup winner came onto the pitch for LAFC immediately after halftime in Olivier Giroud.

The English Premier League outfit held the possession of the ball for the majority of the proceedings. Chelsea’s next outing is against Brazilian outfit Flamengo, who are set to play against African side Esperance de Tunis.