NFL
By Keith Richards
After a brief hiatus, we’re back! Groups A, B, and C are all covered. Today, we move on to Group D of the 2025 FIFA World Cup! As we mentioned in the introduction to this FIFA Club World Cup series, Group D was incomplete. Following a CONCACAF playoff this past weekend, Group D is now complete! Now that the four clubs are set in stone, let’s discuss them!
Group D is an interesting one. You have two historically good clubs from two of the best leagues in the world. Then, you have one big fish in a relatively small pond. Finally, you have one club that’s a baby compared to the other three clubs of Group D. However, they’re already in the conversation of being one of the consistent powerhouses of the league. So, all four clubs will be looking to improve their reputation at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
As always, we will examine each club’s history, discuss how each club is currently performing in its respective domestic leagues, and pick which two teams will advance to the Knockout Stage. So, let’s get right to it.
CR Flamengo – Brazilian Série A
CR Flamengo is now the third club we’ve covered from Brazilian Série A. Historically, they’re not as good as SE Palmeiras. In addition, both Palmeiras and Botafogo have won the Brazilian Série A title more recently. However, Flamengo is the best team in Brazil’s highest-level football league today.
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo’s football club was founded in 1911. Yet, it wouldn’t be until 1964 that Flamengo joined Brazil’s best football league. No club is better than CR Flamengo in terms of longevity in the top division. They have not been relegated to a lower division since 1967, 58 seasons. The only club that comes close to equaling that mark is São Paulo (46 seasons). Still, longevity has not always meant success for Flamengo.
CR Flamengo won its first Brazilian Série A title in 1980. They would go on to be Brazilian football champions in 1982 and 1983. However, the streak of success did not last long. After winning that title in 1983, they suffered three prolonged droughts before winning the league title again. Furthermore, they wouldn’t be runners-up for the league championship during that time either.
The first drought lasted for nine seasons. After winning the Brazilian Série A title in 1983, they would not win another title until 1992. Then, CR Flamengo went on an even more extended drought. It wasn’t until 2009 (17 seasons) that they won the Brazilian Série A title again. Finally, the last drought was 10 seasons. Flamengo won the Brazilian Série A championship in 2019.
Yet, unlike the previous droughts, the latest drought saw the club have more relative success. Before winning the title in 2019, CR Flamengo were runners-up for the title in 2018. The club won the championship again in 2020 and were runners-up again in 2021. Thus, the club is seeing more consistent good play as of late. Since being runners-up in the 2021 season, they have finished 5th, 4th, and 3rd in Brazilian Série A.
In Group D, IFFHS ranks CR Flamengo as the 14th-best club in the world, the highest ranking in Group D. As I said earlier, they currently sit atop Brazilian Série A. If Flamengo can make a deep 2025 FIFA Club World Cup run and win the league, their standing worldwide will undoubtedly improve.
Espérance Sportive de Tunis – Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1
Remember we talked about the big fish in a small pond? Here we are! Meet Espérance Sportive de Tunis aka ES Tunis. The CAF confederation has one league in the top 20 IFFHS league rankings. That league is not Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1. That honor belongs to the Egyptian Premier League. However, ES Tunis cannot help where they play. Where they do play, though, they are the gold standard.
Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 was founded in 1907 and just completed its 108th season. Overall, the distribution of teams that have won the title over the league’s history is better than in some other leagues. 13 clubs have been league champions multiple times. However, that’s where the parity ends. When it comes to who the top club in Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 is, it’s Espérance Sportive de Tunis.
At the end of the 2024-25 season, ES Tunis won its 34th Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 title. Furthermore, the last 16 seasons in Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 have been just pure dominance for ES Tunis. In that 16-season stretch, four clubs have won the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 championship: CS Sfaxien (1), Club Africain (1), Étoile du Sahel (2), and Espérance Sportive de Tunis (12).
Additionally, ES Tunis finished runners-up three times out of the four seasons they did not win the title: big fish, small pond. While ES Tunis has seen recent success in the CAF Champions League, a lack of success in other African competitions does not help its standing as a big fish in a small pond.
Espérance Sportive de Tunis are four-time winners of the CAF Champions League (1994, 2011, 2018, and 2019). However, ES Tunis has never won the CAF Confederation Cup. Their best finish there is the Group Stage in 2015. Finally, they have not won the CAF Super Cup since 1995. In 2018 and 2019, the club finished 5th in the FIFA Club World Cup. That sounds good, but it’s not. Those editions of the competition only had seven clubs.
Right now, Espérance Sportive de Tunis is 185th in the IFFHS club rankings, down 35 spots from the previous ranking. Furthermore, Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 slipped seven places in the IFFHS league rankings, going from 52nd to 59th. Consequently, ES Tunis’s standing suffers. A strong showing in Group D and a deep run in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup probably benefits them more than any other club in the group.
Chelsea FC – English Premier League
Now, we have come to the most well-known club of Group D: Chelsea FC. While ES Tunis has more titles overall, and CR Flamengo plays in a league that’s quickly closing the gap on the English Premier League, Chelsea is one of the Big Six in one of the famous leagues in football history. So, should Chelsea FC be feared based on their name?
Historically, Chelsea has earned its reputation in the English Premier League. Only two clubs have been English football champions more than Chelsea. Manchester United has the most titles with 13. In second place, Manchester City has eight titles. In third place, Chelsea has five titles. However, Chelsea FC has not won an EPL title since the 2016-17 season.
Only two clubs have won the league title since the 2016-17 season: Manchester City (six titles) and Liverpool (two titles). Consequently, opportunities to win a title have been sparse in the 2020s. Conversely, Chelsea has not put much pressure on City and Liverpool to compete for a championship.
While Chelsea started the 2020s well enough, they failed to finish in the top four in the 2022-23 (12th) and 2023-24 (6th) seasons. Nevertheless, Chelsea FC has won major trophies since its last English Premier League title. They were UEFA Champions League winners in 2021, UEFA Europa League winners in 2019, UEFA Super Cup champions in 2021, and UEFA Conference League just this season.
However, the biggest feather in their cap (arguably) is winning the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup. Chelsea has consistently improved since finishing 12th in the English Premier League in the 2022-23 season. The club finished 6th and 4th in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, respectively. So, again, we ask a simple question: Should Chelsea FC be feared based on their name?
To quote a fictional English character, Hermione Granger, “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” Most likely, that’s the mentality of the other three clubs of Group D. However, for Chelsea, they must play with the pride that the weight of their name carries. Chelsea FC is 17th in the IFFHS club rankings, a jump of five spots from last year. CR Flamengo is ranked higher, but Chelsea will look to prove they’re the big man on campus.
Los Angeles FC – Major League Soccer (United States)
Last, but not least, we have Los Angeles FC. LAFC is the last team to qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, as I stated before, Los Angeles is the baby of Group D. Chelsea has been a club since 1905, Flamengo since 1911, and ES Tunis since 1919. LAFC was not founded until 2014. The other three clubs in Group D have at least 100 years of history over Los Angeles.
LAFC rose from the ashes of Chivas USA, which was dissolved in 2014. MLS awarded Los Angeles an expansion after that. Initially, Los Angeles FC was just the placeholder for the club’s name. However, the club’s ownership decided to stick with the placeholder. Thus, LAFC was born. The club’s inaugural season in MLS was 2018. Since then, Los Angeles has been off and running.
LAFC’s inaugural season was good by all standards. They finished third in the Western Conference but lost in the first round to Real Salt Lake. However, the 2019 season for Los Angeles would be much better. In 2019, LAFC won the MLS Supporters’ Shield, reached the Western Conference Final (beating the LA Galaxy in the process), and Carlos Vela won league MVP and Golden Boot.
The 2020 season was not as successful as the 2019 season, but it was still successful overall. Los Angeles was the runner-up in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League and the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup. However, 2021 was not as kind. Los Angeles missed the MLS Cup Playoffs. Yet, the club bounced back significantly in 2022.
LAFC once again with the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2022, on their way to winning their first MLS Cup championship. They would be the runner-up in the 2023 MLS Cup championship match and the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League final. In 2024, Los Angeles won the US Open Cup but fell to their rival, the Seattle Sounders, in the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
After a sluggish start, LAFC sits sixth in the Western Conference, nine points behind conference-leading Vancouver. IFFHS ranks them 194th in Group D, the lowest ranking. However, they have the most significant year-over-year improvement of any other club in Group D. They went from 228th to 194th, a jump of 34 spots. Given their recent form, could Los Angeles FC pull off an upset and make it out of Group D?
The Prediction
This is a difficult group to pick. It’s probably the toughest pick we’ve made so far. Three clubs could make it to the Knockout Stage from Group D. However, we can only pick two. Ok, here goes. Chelsea FC and LAFC will advance. We could be very wrong about LAFC. Yet, even if it’s just CONCACAF, Los Angeles tends to perform well in international tournaments. They’re just finding their form and will shock a lot of people.
Who do you think will make it out of the group? Let us know!
