Who: Chelsea vs Fluminense
What: Semifinal, FIFA Membership World Cup 2025
The place: MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, United States
When: Tuesday, July 8 at 3pm native time (19:00 GMT)
The way to observe: We’ll have all of the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from midday (16:00 GMT) upfront of our dwell textual content commentary stream.
Chelsea will likely be hoping to seal their spot within the 2025 FIFA Membership World Cup (CWC) ultimate with victory towards Brazil’s Fluminense within the opening semifinal on Tuesday.
The Blues are striving to turn out to be the primary facet to win the CWC for a second time however face a formidable process towards the Rio de Janeiro giants, who’re unbeaten within the event.
Right here is all to know earlier than their semifinal showdown at MetLife Stadium, simply outdoors New York:
How did Chelsea attain the semifinals?
Chelsea completed second in Group D to a different Brazilian tremendous membership, Flamengo.
The London-based membership opened their marketing campaign with a 2-1 win over Los Angeles FC, earlier than stumbling to a tricky 3-1 loss towards Flamengo. They certified for the knockout stage with a 3-0 defeat of Esperance de Tunisie.
Enzo Maresca’s facet confronted the Group C winners Benfica within the final 16, beating the Portuguese facet 4-1 after additional time.
The Blues then performed a second Brazilian membership within the quarterfinals, beating Palmeiras 2-1 to qualify for the ultimate 4.
How did Fluminense attain the semifinals?
Fluminense, who certified for the CWC as winners of the 2023 Copa Libertadores, had been unbeaten in Group F, ending second behind Borussia Dortmund with one win and two attracts.
They performed out a 0-0 scoreline with Dortmund of their event opener, then defeated South Korean facet Ulsan HD 4-2. Of their ultimate group fixture, they performed out 0-0 towards Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
Within the knockout section, Fluminense upset Inter Milan 2-0 in Charlotte, then ended the fairytale run of Saudi membership Al Hilal within the quarterfinal, successful 2-1 and reserving their place in Tuesday’s semifinal.
Did Fluminense captain Thiago Silva play for Chelsea?
The inspirational 40-year-old, regarded by many as one of many best defenders of all time, is the previous skipper of Chelsea, having performed greater than 150 matches for the English membership from 2020 till 2024.
Silva was a fan favorite at Stamford Bridge and received three trophies throughout his time with Chelsea, together with the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Tremendous Cup and FIFA Membership World Cup.
Silva is predicted to be within the beginning XI towards his outdated membership.
Head-to-head
This would be the first aggressive assembly between Fluminense and Chelsea.
When did Chelsea win the FIFA Membership World Cup?
Chelsea received the 18th version of the CWC in 2021, hosted within the United Arab Emirates.
The Blues received the ultimate 2-1 towards Palmeiras on the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The event was initially deliberate to happen in late 2021 in Japan, however was moved to February 2022 within the UAE as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Is that this the primary CWC look for Fluminense?
Fluminense made their Membership World Cup debut on the 2023 event in Saudi Arabia, making all of it the best way to the ultimate in Jeddah the place they misplaced to Manchester Metropolis 4-0.
Group information: Chelsea
Chelsea will likely be with out Levi Colwill and Liam Delap after each acquired their second yellow playing cards of the event towards Palmeiras within the quarterfinal.
Moises Caicedo will rejoin the Blues squad after serving his suspension.
On the damage entrance, Romeo Lavia and Reece James had been each held again towards Palmeiras and are questionable heading into Tuesday’s match. Omari Kellyman is unavailable for choice.
Group information: Fluminense
Fluminense will likely be with out Juan Pablo Freytes and Mathues Martinelli – who scored the game-winner towards Al Hilal within the quarterfinal – after each acquired their second yellow playing cards of the event of their last-eight ultimate towards the Saudi membership.
Key defender Rene returns to the membership from suspension and is predicted to reclaim his place within the beginning XI on the expense of Gabriel Fuentes, whom coach Renato Gaucho would possibly redeploy in an attacking midfield position towards Chelsea.
Talisman Jhon Arias ought to once more lead Fluminense’s ahead line.
Central midfielder Otavio was a pretournament scratching after struggling a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in Might.
Doable lineups:
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Nkunku; Pedro
Fluminense: Fabio; Ignacio, Silva, Rene; Xavier, Hercules, Bernal, Nonato, Fuentes; Arias, Cano
What the coaches needed to say
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca mentioned: “I watched some video games that they [Fluminense] have performed. And you’ll see that they’re very well-organised. They’ve some excellent gamers. The supervisor [Gaucho] is doing a improbable job.”
“And once more, it is going to be the identical [in the semi] ultimate. The power from the Brazilian workforce on this competitors has been excessive … In all probability … since you are beginning now the season, whereas we’re ending the season. So, the power is regular. It’s totally different. And we attempt to cope with that differently.”
Renato Gaucho, who has helped Fluminense defy the percentages to knock out Champions League runners-up Inter Milan within the final 16 and Al Hilal within the quarterfinals, spoke after his facet certified for the semifinal towards Chelsea.
“It’s one other step ahead, because of everybody’s efforts. Taking part within the Membership World Cup is a novel alternative … We have no idea after we may have the prospect to take part once more. I dedicate this qualification [victory over Al Hilal] to our followers, and I think about the fantastic ambiance in Rio de Janeiro, simply because it was fantastic right here within the stadium, it was a deserved victory.”
