Chelsea Discover Their Club World Cup Round of 16 Rivals

Chelsea have secured their place in the FIFA Club World Cup round of 16 following goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Liam Delap and Tyrique George. The trio all found the net during the match against ES Tunis, with Delap registering his maiden goal for the West London outfit.

Enzo Maresca's squad only required a single point on the evening to progress, as Flamengo and LAFC had already been confirmed as group winners and one of the two eliminated sides respectively. Despite struggling to break the deadlock for most of the opening period, Chelsea netted twice during first-half injury time to crush ES Tunis's qualification hopes.

Following Chelsea's defeat to Flamengo, they were destined to finish no higher than second place. However, Group C has delivered an unexpected turn of events. Supporters anticipated a challenging path after their previous loss to the Brazilian outfit, but the concluding Group C fixture changed the knockout bracket.

Chelsea are set to meet Portugal's Benfica in the round of 16. Most observers predicted Chelsea would encounter Bayern Munich following their victories over Boca Juniors and Auckland City. Benfica upset expectations by defeating the German powerhouse in their final group match to claim the top position. Consequently, Chelsea sidestep Vincent Kompany's team and the tournament's leading scorers thus far.

Benfica certainly won't be an easy opponent, though both groups concluded differently than many anticipated before the competition began.

Chelsea will be missing Nicolas Jackson for the Benfica clash after the forward received a direct red card during their defeat to Flamengo. Delap is likely to spearhead the attack once more in Jackson's absence.

The Blues meet Benfica on Saturday, June 28 at 4 p.m. ET (9 p.m. BST).