Reece James Praises Chelsea's Maturity After Club World Cup Win

Chelsea captain Reece James praises team's growing maturity after 4-1 win over Benfica in the Club World Cup.

Reece James pleased with Chelsea's maturity after extra-time win over Benfica

Chelsea captain Reece James attributed the team's extra-time win over Benfica to their growing maturity. The match was marked by a lengthy delay due to a thunderstorm, with play suspended for nearly two hours starting at the 85-minute mark, but Chelsea held their composure to secure the victory.

Chelsea secured a 4-1 win over Benfica in the Club World Cup round of 16, with captain Reece James scoring one of the goals. James praised the team's resilience, saying, “We've come a long way. It's difficult to be so close to the end of the match and then have a kick in the teeth. To pick yourself up, brush yourself down and score a few goals probably shows how far we've come, and everyone has played a part today.”

“It was a very difficult game with a lot of interruptions. The climate wasn’t the best, the pitch wasn’t the best, it was hard to play, and we got into 85 minutes, and we stopped for a long period of time.”

Two of Reece James' three goals in 2025 have been on direct free kicks 😮

This one vs. Benfica in the Club World Cup was unreal 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/39KocVVOGw

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) June 29, 2025

“It takes a lot out of the players to cool down and then restart that engine again, but we’re happy we got the job done.”

On his goal, James said: “As I was walking over and I was speaking to the centre-backs, and I asked them what they wanted. They said a shot, cross or in-swinger, and I said no problem.

“When I got to the ball and saw the goalkeeper's positioning, he showed me too much of the goal. So I just decided to shoot and it went in.”