A Brazilian, an Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Spaniard; only four teams remain from the original 32 in this revamped Club World Cup: Fluminense, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid are the semifinalists. Below, we will review how their quarterfinal matches unfolded and the key facts from their respective games.
How the quarterfinals played out
This stage opened with the clash between Fluminense, who had just pulled off a shock against Inter Milan with a solid 2-0 win, and Al-Hilal, who had done the same against Manchester City after a hard-fought match that went to extra time and ultimately ended 4-3 in their favor.
From the very start, the match was very even and physical, marked in the opening minutes by fouls, yellow cards, and the goalkeepers of both teams. This deadlock was broken at the 40th minute with a stunning goal into the top corner by Matheus Martinelli, following a poor clearance by the Arab defense.
Needing to turn the situation around, the Asian team adopted a slightly more attacking approach, which quickly paid off at the start of the second half with a goal by Marcos Leonardo in the 51st minute. From then on, the match became a constant back-and-forth that once again highlighted the goalkeepers, especially Bonnou, who made a spectacular one-on-one save against Germán Cano after another glaring defensive error.
Gradually, Flu began to tilt the match in their favor with fresh players (3 substitutions compared to 0 for Al-Hilal) and more aggressive pressing. These tactical decisions by Renato Gaucho paid off in the 70th minute with a goal by Hércules. Although the Arab team tried everything to equalize, they couldn't break through Fluzao's defense and their goalkeeper Fábio, ending with a 2-1 final score and the Brazilians advancing to the semifinals.
Hours later, another team from the same country would seek their ticket to the next round: Palmeiras, who would have their rematch with Chelsea after the 2021 Club World Cup final. Verdao came into this match after beating compatriot Botafogo by the narrowest margin, while Chelsea had just demolished Benfica in extra time by 4-1 after a nearly two-hour match interruption.
With more determination than football, Verdao found themselves depleted in the opening minutes of the match and suffered an early goal by Cole Palmer in the 16th minute. The rest of the first half was a real ordeal for the São Paulo club, who could barely create any clear scoring chances and held off the Londoners' attacks as best they could.
In the second half, Estêvão, one of the few standouts for the Brazilian team and a future Blues player, scored a true stunner in the 53rd minute to level the score. Despite regaining hope with this goal, Chelsea continued to thoroughly outplay Palmeiras, who were playing with a makeshift defense due to disciplinary suspensions.
Nevertheless, the English side would only regain the lead in the 83rd minute, when Giay slightly deflected a shot from Malo Gusto, resulting in an own goal that left Weverton with no chance. With this 2-1 victory, Chelsea will face Fluminense in the semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket, Paris Saint-Germain would fight for a place in the semifinals against Bayern Munich, thus replaying the 2020 Champions League final. The European champions arrived after a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter Miami featuring Lionel Messi, while the Bavarian team had a straightforward victory over Flamengo by 4-2.
Undoubtedly, this was the most evenly matched game of this stage. The first half was a true reflection of this, as there were no truly clear chances until stoppage time, when Upamecano put the Germans ahead 1-0. However, his goal was disallowed by VAR for a previous offside.
In the second half, Bayern suffered the significant loss of Musiala, who sustained a fracture of the fibula in his left leg and several strains in some of the ligaments near his ankle after a collision with Donnarumma.
