Category News

Who: Fluminense vs Al Hilal

What: FIFA Club World Cup 2025
Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, United States
When: Friday, July 4 at 3pm (19:00 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 12pm local (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

The first of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals gets under way with the meeting of two mighty continents as South American giants Fluminense take on Asian powerhouse Al Hilal.

As successful as both sides have been in their own continents, however, their appearance in the last eight has come courtesy of both upsetting the odds – and in particular European super clubs – to reach this stage.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the first of the quarterfinals as FIFA’s billion-dollar tournament closes towards its finale.

How did Fluminense reach the quarterfinals?

Fluminense finished second in Group H behind Borussia Dortmund with a win against Ulsan and draws against the German table toppers and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.

That set up a round-of-16 meeting with defeated Champions League finalist Inter Milan.

German Cano’s third-minute strike was followed up by a second from Hercules in the third minute of added time to seal a shock 2-0 win against the Serie A runners-up.

Who did Al Hilal beat to reach the quarterfinals?

Al Hilal secured second spot behind Real Madrid in Group H after draws against the Spanish giants and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, and a win against Mexico’s Pachuca.

A daunting test against defending Club World Cup champions, Manchester City.

A thrilling 4-3 win after extra time sent the Saudi Pro League club into the quarterfinals with one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history.

Who could Fluminense or Al Hilal face in the semifinal?

The winner of this match will face the winner of the second quarterfinal, England’s Chelsea or Brazil’s Palmeiras, in the last four.

That tie will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia immediately after the Fluminense and Al Hilal match.

Who completes the Club World Cup quarterfinal lineup?

Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund complete the quarterfinal lineup, with the winners of those ties facing each other in the semifinals.

Fluminense captain Thiago Silva’s pre-match thoughts

“I think we’ve played very well in this competition. It’s not easy to play against European teams, but the motivation for us is different,” Silva said. “I’m very proud of my team and myself as well, because 10 days ago I had a hamstring injury. Now, we need to recover well because, after three or four days, we have to play again. I’m not young, you know? So I need to recover well. ”

Al Hilal’s Marcos Leonardo’s pre-match thoughts

“I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months,” said Al Hilal’s two-goal hero against Manchester City. “My mother spent 70 days in the Intensive Care Unit. Today, she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her – she was able to watch the match. We have to think about our families – people who want the best for us. If they weren’t watching, I wouldn’t be here today. ”

Fluminense team news

Left-back Rene is suspended for the match following his second booking of the tournament in the win against Inter.

Al Hilal team news

Musab Al-Juwayr made his comeback from a knee injury with a substitute appearance in the win against Man City.

Captain Salem Al-Dawsari is unlikely to feature again in the competition after picking up a hamstring problem.

Next up: #FIFACWC Quarter-Finals. 🔜 pic. twitter. com/T49Cj3bOOy

Head-to-head

This is a first meeting between the sides.

Form guide

Fluminense’s last five games:

W-W-W-D-W

Al Hilal’s last five games:

W-D-D-W-W

Potential Fluminense starting lineup

Fabio; Samuel Xavier, Thiago Silva (C), Freytes, Fuentes; Martinelli, Hercules; Arias, Nonato, Canobbio; Cano

Potential Al Hilal starting lineup

India’s Shubman Gill played a masterful captain’s knock to rescue India with his second century of the series on the opening day of the second Test against England as the tourists finished on 310-5 at stumps at Edgbaston.

Gill was under pressure due to his team selection on Wednesday after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested, but the skipper played a dogged knock and barely put a foot wrong as he wore down the England bowlers while playing confident strokes.

Gill had taken 199 balls to bring up his seventh test hundred, the slowest of his career, but authoritative in the circumstances as he ended the day unbeaten on 114 while he had Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) for company at stumps.

After Ben Stokes won the toss and put India in to bat, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal looked well set for a big score but fell in the second session to the England skipper when he was on 87 to miss out on his second ton in the series.

India have never won a Test at Edgbaston in eight attempts, and when they were reeling at 211-5, England threatened to reopen wounds from the first test at Headingley, where the tourists’ lower order collapsed in both innings.

But Jadeja walked in to steady the ship and consolidated the innings with a 99-run partnership with Gill as the all-rounder rotated strike without taking any undue risks, propelling his skipper towards triple figures.

As England eagerly waited for the new ball, Joe Root bowled the 80th over in a bid to surprise the set batters, but after four dot balls, Gill executed two fine sweeps to bring up a second century in the series.

Earlier, India lost opener KL Rahul cheaply when he played on a rising delivery from Chris Woakes while Karun Nair, who was promoted up the order, fell for 31, caught in the slips just before lunch after playing some exquisite drives.

Jaiswal saw off the new ball early on in cloudy conditions, but once the lush green outfield was bathed in sunshine, he got into his groove and scored at nearly a run a ball, with Josh Tongue bearing the brunt of his onslaught.

Gill took the majority of the strike in the second session while Jaiswal watched on, and that was when Stokes made the breakthrough.

Having scored a century in the opening test, Jaiswal was on 87 when he sliced at a wide delivery and was caught behind by an ecstatic Jamie Smith to leave India on 161-3.

That brought Rishabh Pant to the crease and the wicketkeeper-batter, who smashed two centuries in the first test, launched spinner Shoaib Bashir over the deep mid-wicket boundary for the first six of the match.

Bashir had the last laugh, however, as Pant (25) lived dangerously and the batter made another attempt to clear the ropes, only to find Zak Crawley in the deep, opening the door to the lower order.

Nitish Kumar Reddy came in and lasted six balls when Woakes struck again, tempting the India batter to leave a superb delivery that nipped back in and hit the top of off stump to send the bails flying.

England had named the same team and India made three changes, resting Bumrah as they manage his back issues through the series – a decision that baffled former players and coaches.

At least eight people have died across Europe as an early summer heatwave grips much of the continent, triggering health alerts and forest fires and forcing the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant.

Authorities in Spain’s Catalonia region said about 14,000 people were ordered to stay indoors due to two wildfires that broke out almost simultaneously in the province of Lleida.

In one of the blazes near the city of Cosco, “two people were found lifeless by firefighters,” the fire and emergency service said in a statement on Wednesday.

The exact cause of the fire was unclear, but the service said the recent heat, dry conditions and strong winds increased the intensity of the flames.

Tuesday’s fire in the Catalonia region burned several farms and affected an area stretching about 40km (25 miles) before being contained, officials said.

On Wednesday, Spanish officials reported two more people died due to the heatwave in Extremadura and Cordoba.

Spain is in the midst of an intense heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places, and several heat records were set for the month of June.

France also experienced its hottest June since 2003.

Its energy minister reported two deaths linked to the heat with 300 others taken to hospital on Wednesday.

Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of central France, and Catherine Vautrin, the health and families minister, said authorities should remain vigilant.

“In the coming days, we’ll see the consequences, particularly on the most vulnerable, and I’m thinking particularly of the elderly,” she said.

Two men over the age of 60 also died from the heat on beaches in Sardinia in Italy, the ANSA news agency reported.

In Germany, temperatures were forecast to peak at 40C (104F) in some areas, making it the hottest day of the year. Fire brigades were also tackling several forest fires in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony on Wednesday.

Storm warnings issued

Italy, France and Germany have also warned of the risk of powerful storms due to excessive warming in unstable atmospheres.

Violent storms in the French Alps late on Monday triggered mudslides, disrupting rail traffic between Paris and Milan.

The Swiss utility Axpo shut down one reactor at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant and halved output at another on Tuesday because of the high temperature of river water.

Water is used for cooling and other purposes at nuclear power plants, and restrictions were expected to continue as temperatures are monitored.

Scientists said heatwaves have arrived earlier this year, spiking temperatures by up to 10C (50F) in some regions as warming seas encouraged the formation of a heat dome over much of Europe, trapping hot air masses.

Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a cause of climate change, they said, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet’s hottest on record.

“Extreme heat is testing our resilience and putting the health and lives of millions at risk,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, told the Reuters news agency.