Overview
Before the round of 16, many people expected this quarter-final match to have the participation of two European giants, Manchester City and Inter Milan.
But this is football, and the two big names in Europe have been left out by weaker opponents Fluminense and Al Hilal. Now, they will fight for a place in the semi-finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, where the winning team will meet Chelsea or Palmeiras.
Fluminense created one of the biggest shocks of the tournament when defeating the Inter Milan giants with a 2-0 victory in the round of 16. German Cano's early goal and Hercles' late goal ended a brave defensive performance to take Renato Gaucho's side further.
The victory over Inter extended Fluminense's unbeaten streak in all competitions to 10 matches (7 wins, 3 draws).
Their quarter-final opponent, Al Hilal, advanced after a dramatic 4-3 extra-time win over Man City. This could be the best match in the league so far.
In a chaotic clash in Orlando, Al Hilal finally sealed the victory with Marcos Leonardo's decisive goal in the 112th minute. As a result, they became the first Asian team to beat a European team at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Like Fluminense, Al Hilal is also in very good form. They are unbeaten in 9 consecutive matches (6 wins, 3 draws) in all competitions since the beginning of May.
The 4-3 win over Man City was the third time they have conceded three goals in that time, despite winning all three of those games.
The way they won against City was particularly impressive. Al Hilal created 3.16 expected goals (xG) in that match. This is the third highest number that The Citizens led by Pep Guardiola have to bear. Only Real Madrid's xG of 3.30 against Man City in February 2025 is higher than in the past 5 years.
Despite having only 31% possession and having less touches than 42 times in the box (29-71), Al-Hilal could still create more big chances than Man City (72) in the match and score 4 goals after 6 shots on target.
The two teams have never met before. However, this will be the fifth meeting between a Brazilian club and a Saudi Arabian club at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Score prediction
Supercomputer Opta believes Al Hilal is the team that is rated higher to continue in this match. They have a 50% chance of winning. Meanwhile, Fluminense's figure is 25.6%, with a 24.4% chance of the match entering extra time.
Predicted result: Fluminense 1-2 Al Hilal
The match between Fluminense and Al Hilal takes place at 2:00 am on July 5 (Vietnam time).
