Flamengo have been one of the most successful teams in Brazilian footballing history and nearly won the Club World Cup in 2019, only losing out to Liverpool in extra-time.
They will be looking to impress in this new expanded version of the tournament and get their campaign under way against ES Tunis.
Team news
Gonzalo Plata has been passed fit for Flamengo for this game but Nicolas de la Cruz is a major doubt after missing training.
Gerson is set to move to Zenit St-Petersburg after this tournament but still should feature.
Roger Aholou has been ruled out by Tunis with a muscle injury but central defender and captain Yassine Meriah has returned from a long-term knee injury.
The stats
Flamengo have not been losing at half-time in any of their last 15 matches and have not lost by two or more goals at any time in their last 47.
The Brazilian side have only conceded four times in their 11 Brazilian top flight games this season.
Esperance have conceded 11 times in their six Club World Cup games in their history.
Prediction
This Group D match sees two teams who have tended to dominate their country’s footballing landscape face off but Brazilian side Flamengo should be far too strong for their Tunisian counterparts ES Tunis.
Under former Chelsea full-back Filipe Luis, the Scarlet and Black have impressed by winning the Copa do Brasil, Supercopa do Brasil and Campeonato Carioca in his first year in charge.
They have started in rock-solid form this season too as they currently top the Brazilian Serie A and have a game in hand on most of their rivals.
The majority of their success has come down to their rock-solid defensive foundations, having only conceded four times in their 11 league games — although they are easily the leading scorers too — and they are fancied to shut out their opponents in their Club World Cup opener.
ES Tunis have played six games on this stage before, winning just one, and while they dominate domestically, their CAF Champions League efforts have been slightly disappointing recently.
Flamengo are a big step up on the level of teams that they usually play against, five of their stars were in Brazil’s last national team squad, and the South Americans are taken to keep the Red and Yellow at bay.