Overview
Fluminense is the only non-European team remaining in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals.
The Brazilian team played excellently when reaching the semi-finals, passing the group stage before defeating Inter Milan in the round of 16 and Al-Hilal in the quarter-finals.
Matheus Martinelli helped Fluminense take the lead in the match against Al-Hilal, then Marcos Leonardo equalized early in the second half. However, Hercles came off the bench to score the decisive goal with 20 minutes left.
Fluminense will face Chelsea - the team that defeated Benfica and Palmeiras in the knockout round.
The Blues had to do their best in the quarter-final against Palmeiras. Esteao equalizes for Brazil after Cole Palmer puts the Premier League side ahead. However, Agustin Giay's own goal with only 7 minutes left in the match was the end to help Chelsea win.
The only time Fluminense faced an English team at the FIFA Club World Cup was a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the 2023 final.
However, they entered this match in excellent form. The 2-1 victory over Al-Hilal in the quarter-finals extended their unbeaten streak in all competitions to 11 matches (8 wins, 3 draws).
In fact, Leonardo's equalizer was the first goal Fluminense conceded in the second half of a match since May 18, ending a streak of 8 consecutive clean sheets in the second half.
That is partly due to the brilliance of veteran centre-back Thiago Silva. The former Chelsea player is still in good form despite being 40 years old. The Brazilian centre-back will aim to prevent his former team from scoring at the MetLife Stadium.
Jhon Arias will be the one Chelsea need to keep an eye on. Arias created five chances against Al-Hilal, his second match with at least five chances created in this year's tournament (6 chances against Ulsan).
Arias also made three passes to break the opposition defence, more than any other player in the match.
Meanwhile, this will be Chelsea's third match against Brazil at this year's FIFA Club World Cup, after a 1-3 loss to Flamengo in the group stage and a 2-1 victory over Palmeiras in the quarter-finals.
Coach Enzo Maresca currently has many attacking stars, but Cole Palmer is still the main factor. The Englishman scored his first goal in the quarter-finals.
Pedro Neto also impressed in this tournament. He is one of only three players to have dribbled more than 10 times and created more than 10 chances, along with Arias and Savinho of Man City.
Predicting the result
Chelsea are the team that is rated much higher to reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 with an 81.3% chance. Meanwhile, the chance of Fluminense creating a surprise is only 18.7%.
Score prediction: Fluminense 2-3 Chelsea
Expected lineup:
Fluminense: Fabio, Ignacio, Silva, Fuentes, Xavier, Hercles, Bernal, Nonato, Fuentes, Arias, Cano.
Chelsea: Robert Sanchez, gust, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella, Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Nkunku, Joao Pedro.
The match between Fluminense and Chelsea takes place at 2:00 am on July 9 (Vietnam time).
