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Following their 4-1 victory over Real Betis in the UEFA Europa Conference League final on May 28 in Wroclaw, Poland, Chelsea will take on the victor of Real Madrid vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday. New Jersey is also the location of those two matches.

All four Brazilian teams advanced to the knockout stage of the tournament, including two that advanced to the quarterfinals, and Fluminense of Rio de Janeiro is the last non-European team to be eliminated.

They had previously played in the 2023 final of the previous, smaller iteration of the Club World Cup, but one of their own stopped them from returning.

After making 25 appearances in the Brazilian top division in 2019, Pedro left Fluminense’s development academy to play for Watford and subsequently Brighton & Hove Albion in England. Then, for an alleged $82 million transfer fee, he completed a move to Chelsea this summer.

In his first start on Tuesday, he needed just eighteen minutes to put his old team behind them. He made his debut on the bench in Chelsea’s second-round victory over Palmeiras last Friday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

By swiftly regaining possession of the ball in midfield and playing Pedro Neto down the right, he initiated the attack on his own. Only Joao Pedro at the box’s edge was able to clear Neto’s low cross into the box. After two fast touches, he bent a spectacular right-footed strike past Fabio and into the upper right corner.

The winning goal

His second goal in the 56th minute had an even better finish. Joao Pedro dribbled into the left side of the box after reaching Enzo Fernandez’s outlet ball down the left. He then cut back over one Fluminense defender to strengthen his shooting angle and sent in another fierce shot that hit the underside of the crossbar before finding its way into Fabio’s goal. Later in the first half, Fluminense had two important opportunities to break against them in between those goals.

With Robert Sánchez out of position, Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella slid to deflect Hércules’ attempt off the goal line in the 26th minute. Referee Francois Letexier reversed his initial penalty call in the 36th minute after conducting a video review and concluding that Trevoh Chalobah’s arm had been in a normal position adjacent to his body.

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