Enzo Maresca said scorching conditions in Philadelphia have made it almost impossible for Chelsea to train before facing Espérance on Tuesday night.
Chelsea’s head coach had no desire to make his players expend too much energy as they prepared on Monday for their final game in Group D in temperatures of 36C at Subaru Park. The session was shorter than usual and staff tried to cool the squad down by putting fans and water sprays on the pitch.
Yet it remained impossible for Chelsea to do much physical work given that forecasters said the heat index, or “feels like” temperature, was at 41C (106F) owing to the humidity, with a heatwave covering much of the central and eastern areas of the US expected to become even more testing as the week progresses. Local authorities have urged people to avoid strenuous activity.
“It is almost impossible to train or to make a session because of the weather,” Maresca said on Monday. “Now we are trying just to save energy for the game. This morning’s session has been very, very, very short. It’s been just about tomorrow’s game, planning for tomorrow, and that’s it. We are going to try to do our best. We will try to win tomorrow.”
Predictions that the temperature will drop to 34C when Chelsea and Espérance, the Tunisian champions, kick off at 9pm local time on Tuesday will be counteracted by it being expected to feel like 40C. “We have the cooling break during the game which helps a little,” Maresca said. “Tomorrow will be our 60th game of the season. The ones who had international games had even more. We try to give them as much time as possible for recovery.”
Chelsea need to respond after losing against Flamengo last Friday. They need to draw with Espérance to avoid an early exit and know that victory against the Tunisian champions will not be enough to top the group, meaning Maresca’s team are likely to face Bayern Munich in the last 16 in Charlotte on Saturday.
Maresca rotated against Flamengo and will make more changes against Espérance. Reece James is a doubt after missing training through illness and Nicolas Jackson is suspended. Maresca said Chelsea are partly using the tournament to experiment with new ideas as they have a shortened pre-season but he insisted that the club’s owners have not spoken to him about the potential for the winners of the Club World Cup to earn £97m in prize money. “The owners just want the best for us and for the players, game by game,” the Italian said. “They are not talking about the final reward in terms of money.”
Maresca’s comments come after critics warned Fifa that it should postpone the fixture on Tuesday between Bayern Munich and Benfica owing to the risks faced by players and spectators from extreme heat. The heat index when the teams walk out in Charlotte at 3pm local time is likely to exceed 41C, according to forecasts monitored by the organisation Fossil Free Football. “Fifa must act to protect players, fans and the future of its flagship summer tournaments,” a Fossil Free Football spokesperson said. “That means postponing this match but also dropping polluting sponsors, turning away from petrostate partners and stopping the endless expansion of its competitions.”
The expanded Club World Cup has been beset by challenges related to hot weather, with players and coaches complaining about the conditions and fans reporting insufficient shade and access to water at the Paris Saint-Germain v Atlético Madrid match, which was played in the uncovered Pasadena Rose Bowl at noon on the opening Sunday. According to data compiled by the Guardian, 12 of the tournament’s 32 teams have averaged gametime temperatures of 30C (85F) or greater, with every team having played two matches at the time of writing.
The Group C match between Bayern and Benfica will be played at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is customarily used by the Carolina Panthers NFL team and offers no cover over the vast majority of its 75,000 seats.
Asked about the prospect of playing in such high temperatures, Bayern’s striker Harry Kane said: “I’m not too bothered by the heat. In football, you have to adapt. For me and the other England boys here, this is really useful. We’ll be more used to what we’ll face next year, and I’m sure the conditions will be quite similar.”
Fossil Free Football has criticised what it calls Fifa’s “business as usual” approach to the tournament. The governing body has introduced no new measures to deal with the prevalent heat and has not accepted requests by the international players’ union Fifpro to increase the number of cooling breaks for players or lower the temperatures at which they can be taken.
A Fifa spokesperson said: “Fifa’s top priority is the health of everyone involved in football, and Fifa’s medical experts have been in regular contact with the clubs participating in the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 to address heat management and acclimatisation.
“Fifa will continue to monitor the weather conditions in coordination with the venue teams to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.”