Club World Cup round of 16 game in Philly will be an all-Brazilian affair

Palmeiras is the São Paulo rival of Corinthians, who hosted the Birds’ game in Brazil last year. They will meet fellow Brazilian side Botafogo at the Linc Saturday in what should be the best atmosphere yet.

Palmeiras' green-and-white colors should make the team and its many fans feel right at home in Philadelphia.Read moreAdam Hunger / AP

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Updated June 24, 2025, 5:27 p.m. ET

Published June 24, 2025, 12:47 p.m. ET

The first week of the Club World Cup in Philadelphia was highlighted by fans of one of Brazil’s big clubs, Flamengo, creating a great scene.

This weekend, the city will welcome two more Brazilian giants.

Palmeiras of São Paulo and Botafogo of Rio de Janeiro will meet in the round of 16 at noon on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. Both teams have big fan bases, especially Palmeiras, whose supporters put on a show in New York’s Times Square before their opener at MetLife Stadium. A few days later, they did it again on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Palmeiras might feel especially at home, since its jerseys are green and white. Some Eagles fans might remember that’s what sparked a controversy when the Birds played in São Paulo last year at the home of Palmeiras’ fierce rival, Corinthians.

In the group stage, Palmeiras tied Portugal’s Porto, beat Egypt’s Al Ahly, then came from behind in dramatic fashion to tie Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and take first place in the final minutes. The first two of those games were in the Meadowlands, and the last was in Miami, which allowed Palmeiras’ fans to stay together on the East Coast.

Botafogo played its group stage out west, in Pasadena, Calif., and Seattle, and had its own share of drama. Botafogo finished second in a group that ended in a three-way tie with France’s Paris Saint-Germain, the newly crowned Champions League winner, and Spain’s Atlético Madrid.

Each team had six points, with two wins. The first tiebreaker was head-to-head results, and they each had one win and one loss against the other. The second tiebreaker was goal difference in those games: PSG beat Atlético, 4-0, Botafogo beat PSG, 1-0, then Atlético beat Botafogo, 1-0.

That left PSG’s goal difference at plus-3, Botafogo is at 0, and Atlético is at minus-1 — making the Spanish club the first big European team to be knocked out.

Palmeiras and Botafogo have multiple former MLS players on their squads. The former’s are Facundo Torres (Orlando City) and Micael (Houston Dynamo); the latter’s are Jefferson Savarino (Real Salt Lake) Santiago Rodríguez (New York City FC), Elias Manoel (New York Red Bulls), and Gregore (Inter Miami), although he’s suspended because of yellow card accumulation.

Fans also will see a trio of Brazilian phenoms. For Botafogo, striker Igor Jesus could be moving to England’s Nottingham Forest this summer. For Palmeiras, 18-year-old winger Estêvão will join Chelsea after the tournament, and forward Vitor Roque has rebounded from being a bust at Barcelona.

It was not lost on fans in Philadelphia that had Miami held on for the win over Palmeiras, Messi and company would have won their group and come here. That would have brought the world’s most famous player to the Linc for the first time. He has played twice at Subaru Park against the Union, and missed Argentina’s March 2024 game at the Eagles’ home because of an injury.

On top of that, had Botafogo tied or beaten Atlético, PSG would have come here and become the first reigning European champion to play a game in the region since Chelsea faced the MLS All-Stars at Subaru Park in 2012.

There still will be a great scene here with the two Brazilian clubs. There certainly will be a thunderous atmosphere, no matter the crowd size — and it should be pretty big.

But if you’ve lamented what could have been with PSG-Miami, you’re forgiven. At least there are other big games as consolation: England’s Chelsea vs. Tunisia’s Espérance on Tuesday night, and Spain’s Real Madrid — the world’s most popular club team — against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg on Thursday.

The Palmeiras-Botafogo winner will stay in town for a July 4 quarterfinal against either the Group D winner or the Group C runner-up. The former is Portugal’s Benfica, which upset Germany’s Bayern Munich, 1-0, in 97-degree heat in Charlotte, N.C. The latter will be decided by the Chelsea-Espérance result. Chelsea would get the spot with a win or a tie.

That round of 16 game also will be played Saturday (4 p.m.) in Charlotte. PSG-Miami will be played the next day at noon in Atlanta.