João Pedro made an instant impact on his Chelsea debut, scoring twice against former club Fluminense to seal a 2-0 victory and fire the Blues into the FIFA Club World Cup final.
The 23-year-old forward, who joined Chelsea from Brighton in a £55 million deal just six days ago, started in place of the suspended Liam Delap and wasted no time justifying his price tag. His goals not only secured Chelsea’s spot in Sunday’s final against either Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain, but also earned the club £25 million in prize money, significantly offsetting his transfer fee.
João Pedro opened the scoring with a stunning long-range strike after 18 minutes, breaking the deadlock and forcing Fluminense to open up. His second – a powerful finish into the roof of the net after cutting in from the left – sealed the result and marked a dream debut for the Brazilian, who respectfully opted not to celebrate against his former side.
The win marked Chelsea’s response to an earlier group stage defeat by Flamengo and highlighted their growing confidence under new manager Enzo Maresca. João Pedro became the first Chelsea player since 2016 to score twice on his competitive debut.
Cole Palmer was instrumental throughout, frequently dropping deep to link play and compensate for the midfield’s lack of incisiveness. With Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández also contributing, Chelsea managed to dominate possession and exploit the space left behind by a retreating Fluminense defence.
Veteran defender Thiago Silva, now 41 and captaining Fluminense, struggled to cope with the pace of Chelsea’s attack. Often dropping into a deep sweeper role in an attempt to read the game, Silva’s experience helped produce a goal-line clearance from a Christopher Nkunku effort, but he was ultimately overwhelmed by the intensity of João Pedro and substitute Nicolas Jackson.
Fluminense, who had defied expectations to reach the semi-finals despite a poor domestic season, exited the tournament as Brazil’s most successful side. Their campaign capped a strong showing for Brazilian clubs, with all four representatives reaching the knockout stages. Flamengo stunned Chelsea in the group stage, Botafogo beat PSG, and Palmeiras narrowly lost to the Blues in the quarter-finals — collectively underlining the strength of Brazilian club football.
Meanwhile, the tournament also featured the growing impact of “RefCam”, with referee Francois Letexier overturning a handball penalty against Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah after a VAR review. The real-time footage from the official’s perspective offered insight into the decision-making process and added a new layer of transparency to officiating at the highest level.
With João Pedro’s arrival adding versatility to Chelsea’s already flexible forward line, Maresca now has multiple attacking options at his disposal. João Pedro can play as a No. 10 or centre-forward, Palmer is equally comfortable out wide or centrally, while Jackson, Delap and a host of wingers give Chelsea depth heading into Sunday’s final.
