Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca described the near two-hour delay to their Club World Cup last-16 clash with Benfica as “not football”.

The Blues appeared on course for a routine 1-0 win after Reece James gave them the lead in the 64th minute.

But the players were called from the pitch and the match suspended after thunderstorms were detected within an eight-mile radius of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The delay lasted one hour and 53 minutes and, with Chelsea’s momentum interrupted, Benfica equalised through Angel Di Maria’s 95th-minute penalty.

Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each found the net in extra time to secure a 4-1 win for Chelsea.

But Maresca made no attempt to hide his frustration at the stoppage, the latest in a string of delays during the competition because of weather. The United States, alongside Canada and Mexico, is set to host the 48-team World Cup in 2026, and Maresca clearly has doubts it should host such events.

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game,” said Maresca.

“We didn’t concede anything; we created chances enough to win the game. And then after the break the game changed completely.

“For me personally, it’s not football. You cannot be inside for two hours. It is something completely new.

“I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend six, seven games that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition.

“This is a fantastic competition. The Club World Cup is top; we are happy to be in the last eight.

“It’s not normal to suspend a game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Probably zero. In Europe, how many games? Zero.

“So two hours inside – people speak with the family outside [to check] if they were good with the security. People eating, laughing, talking on their mobiles. It was two hours. That’s why I said it’s not football.”

Chelsea will face Palmeiras in the quarter-finals in Philadelphia next Saturday.