Brazilian clubs have been flying the flag for non-European teams at the Club World Cup. All four entrants made it out of their groups, Flamengo and Botafogo by securing two of the only three wins over European clubs by the rest of the world. Of the other non-Europeans, only Inter Miami and Monterrey have joined them in the knockout stages. Here are your matchups:
Palmeiras vs. Botafogo
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 28, 2025
Kickoff: 12:00PM EDT / 1:00 PM BRT / 4:00 PM GMT
Quick hits: This is probably the best matchup on paper, simply because as an all-Brazilian affair neither side is the significant underdog that Flamengo and Fluminense will be. That, and these two clubs have a history of epic showdowns in recent years. There was Botafogo’s unbelievable collapse from 3-0 up in 2023, which kicked off one of the most spectacular title meltdowns I’ve ever seen, as they choked away a 13-point lead so hard that they didn’t even finish second, they ended the season fifth. The next year, they almost did it again in the Copa Libertadores round of 16, leading 4-1 after 85 minutes of the second leg only to come within a well-spotted handball of throwing the win away. Last November, Botafogo finally won comfortably, a crucial step towards securing the title they had thrown away the year before.
One of these teams will make the quarterfinal against the winner of Benfica vs. Chelsea, and on paper I’d say it’s likely to be Palmeiras. Botafogo may have engineered one of the greatest upsets in recent soccer memory when they beat the newly crowned Champions League winners on the second matchday, but the underlying stats from their group stage are pretty grim. In terms of expected goals, they got trounced, 2.31 to 6.35, and even in their game against the Seattle Sounders they gave up almost double the xG they created. Their strategy against PSG and Atlético Madrid was to defend compactly and hope to strike on the counter, and between Igor Jesus’ deflected goal and PSG’s 4-0 thrashing of Atleti, that was enough to put them in a position to advance on goal difference with anything short of a three-goal loss to the Spaniards on the final matchday.
Still, they’ve been springing surprises so far, and I’ve seen some warning signs from Palmeiras. All tournament long they’ve kind of looked like they don’t know how to shoot, particularly in their first game against Porto where they were the better team but had to settle for a scoreless draw. Add to that how easily Luis Suárez carved them up in the final group game (and that they lost Murilo with one L in the process) and there may be some vulnerability here.
Flamengo vs. Bayern Munich
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