Chelsea v LAFC: Club World Cup
Update:
Date: 2025-06-16T18:00:24.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: It's hard to know what to feel here, isn't it? On the one hand, a confected competition, staged for impure reasons, by men of questionable character, in a country undergoing a fascist takeover, skewing domestic competitive balance yet further, while players trudge through yet more games; on the other hand, FOOTBALL.
LAFC did not qualify for this competition automatically, by winning the Concacaf Champions League; rather, they won a play-in after León, former Concacaf Champions League winners, were disqualified for infringing club ownership structure rules. But here they are so here we are, the fifth-best side in the Western Conference, we'll never sing that.
Facing them we have none other than the reigning Conference League champions – who, in fairness, did actually win the Champions League to make it into this tournament. And Chelsea are, in various ways, a prime example of the vain, venal, narcissistic decadence it represents … but how exciting might it be if, suddenly, they click?
Kick-off: 3pm local, 8pm BST
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