On July 4th Premier League giant Chelsea F.C. took on Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras of the Brazilian “Série A” Soccer League at 9pm in South Philly. The packed Lincoln Financial Field had a different feel late at night during some international football.
I attended as a mere curious spectator, barely informed on the intricacies of the FIFA Club World Cup, and was utterly entertained by a great “football” match and the bells and whistles that came with it. This match up was the Quarter Finals for the Club World Cup and had much larger stakes than most of the crowd understood.
Both teams had secured themselves $13.125 million by making it to the Quarter Finals, however the winner of this match stood to make $8 million more for their club by advancing to the Semi-Finals. Finalists stand to make $30 million and the winners will take home a $40 million purse.
Beyond the money, this was 18 year old sensation Estevao Willian’s final game playing for his native country Brazil and with Palmeiras. At minute 52 near the start of the second half Estevao scored the tying goal making the score 1-1. The entire stadium cheered, because the 18 year old is leaving Palmeiras to join the opposing team, Chelsea.
Ultimately, Chelsea came out on top after Malo Gusto deflected a ball off of a Palmeiras defender for an “own goal” putting Chelsea up 2-1 with 8 minutes left to play.
The game was exceptional, tickets were as cheap as $11 the day of, and the fans were loud. There was an unexpected amount of Italian pride and symbolism in the crowd. At one point the fans in the endzone celebrating Palmeiras unveiled massive streamers making duplicates of the Italian flag throughout the stands. A young Brazilian fan explained to me that “we have a lot of Italians.” As it turns out Palmeiras was “Founded by Italian immigrants and the descendants of Italians on the 26th of August 1914.”
This was an unexpected international connection that I would have never considered or learned about if it weren’t for the FIFA Club World Cup.
The international love of soccer is not something I’d ever fully considered. I’ve attended a Premier League game in England, I watch soccer on Saturday mornings with a cup of coffee more weekends than I don’t – but the worldliness of the game is something that never clicked for me until July 4th, 2025.
The intrigue of a British team playing against a Brazilian team founded by Italians on America’s Day of Independence is something that the American mind would never consider interesting until you see it. The FIFA Club World Cup made me excited for the World Cup to come to Philadelphia. This was the soft launch to see if Americans would care, and for me it was successful.
The biggest failures of the night were the merch team for the FIFA Club World Cup which sold a hideous offering of hats and shirts without much reference to the specific game we were attending. The merchandise for a seemingly important tournament was noticeably half-assed. I purchased a $43 scarf, it is ugly but I wanted something other than the aluminum cups fans were forced to drink out of. (It was a “pour-only” event, I used to work at the Linc and pour nights stink.)
Lastly, the score and game clock were only visible in an extremely small font in the top right corner of the jumbotron as if you were watching the game on television. Many people around me could not see how much time was left in the game.
Better merch, a couple score bugs on the ribbon around the stadium and the Linc is all set for the FIFA World Cup in 2026!
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