Flamengo became the latest team to pull off a major upset against a European giant at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, this time taking down Chelsea. After the emphatic 3-1 victory over the Premier League side, the Brazilian club didn’t hold back in celebrating the win, firing off a series of pointed messages directed at both Chelsea and Cole Palmer.
Matchday 2 in Group C took place Friday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Chelsea opened the scoring early. Pedro Neto capitalized on a loose ball following a scramble in the middle of the pitch and calmly finished a one-on-one chance in the 13th minute. Both sides created multiple opportunities as the match went on, but Flamengo’s persistence paid off in the second half.
In a stunning three-minute stretch between the 62nd and 65th minutes, Flamengo turned the match around with quick goals from Bruno Henrique and former Real Madrid midfielder Danilo. After Nicolas Jackson was sent off with a red card in the 68th minute, the Brazilian side sealed the upset in the 83rd minute to secure a shocking 3-1 victory — another setback for a European club in the Club World Cup.
The Flamengo English-language X account already heated up the preview posting a video captioned: “Chelsea fans in SHOCK as they find out what real fans look like.” The post immediately caught the attention of Chelsea supporters online, sparking a heated back-and-forth as the win was consumed. Eventually, Flamengo’s official account deleted multiple tweets following the backlash.
One of the more pointed jabs came when the Flamengo account wrote: “Chelsea is just a small neighborhood in London.” Another reply to Chelsea fan account @CFC_Dubois, who had called Flamengo a “small club” after Chelsea’s early lead, was a simple but cutting: “Easy W.”
The account also took aim at Chelsea’s own social media posts. In response to Chelsea’s “The lion’s always king” post, accompanied by an image of a bird flying away after the Conference League final win over Real Betis (nicknamed “Canaries“), Flamengo responded with an image of a vulture standing on a lion stamp, captioned: “When the lion dies, the vulture becomes king.”
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Cole Palmer also caught in the crossfire
Cole Palmer, one of Chelsea’s standout performers this season, found himself in Flamengo’s sights as well. After a quiet performance against the Brazilian side, Flamengo’s account mocked the English star, posting: “Too hot for ‘Cold Palmer’” — a play on his nickname — alongside a weather graphic showing Philadelphia’s temperature at 29°C (84.2°F).
However, after a few minutes, Flamengo’s social media team began deleting many of the posts — likely realizing the tone crossed a line for an official club account engaging with rival fans, players, and the opposing club.
