After two and a half matchdays at the Club World Cup, European Giants have been put on notice, especially by Brazilian clubs. One of the most important storylines that we have seen present itself throughout this tournament is dominance from Copa Libertadores giants such as Botafogo.

The most shocking upset we have seen from South American clubs was Botafogo defeating European champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a thrilling matchday two clash. Throughout the match, PSG struggled to play their usual aggressive brand of football. Without Balon D’or Ousmane Dembele, PSG has struggled with a clear lack of guile in their attack in the groupstage. PSG dominated in the midfield with Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz helping PSG outpass Botafogo 751-262. However, they were unable to break through the midfield and were not able to feed Kvicha Khvaratskhelia and Desiré Doué up front. PSG had a grand total of zero big chances created. Botafogo did not control the tempo or outperform PSG. However, watching the match told a different story, they were extremely effective with their time on the ball, created one big chance and Igor Jesus found the back of the net to hand the European champions a 1-0 defeat.

In Group D, Flamengo faced off against Chelsea on matchday 2. Pedro Neto opened the scoring for Chelsea in a match that was statistically even, but highlighted South American efficiency in front of the net, as well as the resilience and organization of Flamengo’s defense. Chelsea created five promising attacks, but still conceded three goals. Flamengo’s comeback was fueled by a disastrous six minutes for Chelsea, conceding two goals and seeing Nicolas Jackson sent off two minutes after entering the match. Flamengo then went on to score again with the match ending at 3-1 in favor of the Brazilians. Flamengo went on to win their group with seven points after picking up a draw with LAFC while fielding a majority of reserve players.

Fluminense in Group E highlighted the tactical discipline of Brazilian clubs. They knew that coming into this tournament securing five points from three matches would likely be enough to get them through. They came out flying against Borussia Dortmund, absolutely dominating the match with fourteen shots, five of which were on target. They then went on to face the punching bag of Group E, Ulsan HD. This match gave us the most one-sided 4-2 result we have ever witnessed. Seventy percent of possession and nearly three times as many completed passes from Fluminense, and Ulsan ultimately put three shots on goal, while Fluminense had eight. In the Group E finale they came into the match against an extremely exciting attacking side in Mamelodi Sundowns. They came in with one goal; secure a draw and advance to the knockout stages. They came out and parked the bus and did not let Mamelodi open up their attack and they came away with the 0-0 draw they needed.

Brazilian clubs came in as the champions from the last four Copa Libertadores. Their four teams came to the United States to dominate this competition and they proved that Brazil is one of if not the top league for club football in the world. They came in with four teams, got all four teams through to the knockouts and picked up massive results along the way. This was not the case with other South American teams with Boca Juniors and River Plate both being knocked out in the group stages. Brazilian clubs will see their real test when the knockout stages come around as they try and end Europe’s eleven year winning streak at the Club World Cup, and get back on top for the first time since 2012 when Corinthians took home the title. Stay tuned as the Club World Cup heats up in the final day of the group stages and all of the knockout stages getting capped off on July 12th at Metlife Stadium.

Stats, match results, and standings-Sofascore.com

Grammar check- Chatgpt.com