The 2025 FIFA Club World is hotting up, literally: Fluminese FC and Chelsea FC are meeting in a Semifinal matchup at MetLife Stadium on a sweltering July afternoon when the thermometer will read 93 degrees, and the humidity will make it feel even hotter. Welcome to the semitropical climate that is the wetlands of New Jersey.
The 3 pm ET kickoff time is geared for the European television audience, but they might be treated to a delay as thunderstorms are expected in the region. For the uninitiated, stadium seating is cleared of all spectators should lightning strike in the area — that means 82,5000 fans filing into the concourses, then retaking their seats 30 minutes later. A weather delay is no fun, but it's done for good reason — at the same time that MetLife was cleared earlier in the tournament, a 15-year-old was struck by lightning in Central Park. He's fine, thankfully. But it serves as a reminder why MetLife might need to pause play and clear the bowl.
But a soccer game will be played to its conclusion, no matter the possibility of delay. It will see Brazil's overachieving Fluminense look to upset another European heavyweight in England's Chelsea, the high-payroll squad that's as impressive as it is inconsistent.
The winner will face the winner of tomorrow's showdown between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, also to be played at MetLife, in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final, which will be played at (you guessed it) MetLife: Here are five things you should know about Fluminense vs Chelsea.
Oliver Strand
Hudson River Blue Staff
1. Low-scoring Fluminense will try to keep it close
This Fluminense squad isn't exactly a goal machine. The team has 15 goals in 11 league games in Série A, well off the pace of the 24 goals scored by league-leading Flamengo. In the FIFA Club World Cup, Fluminense has eight goals in four games, with four of those coming against South Korea's Ulsan HD FC. That's significantly less than the 12 goals scored by Chelsea, the 12 goals scored by Paris Saint-Germain, and the 11 goals scored by Real Madrid.
But that's OK. While Fluminense doesn't score a lot, the team doesn't allow many goals, either.
2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Results | Semifinal Teams
| Club | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSG | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1 | +11 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +8 |
| Real Madrid | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 |
| Fluminense | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 |
Fluminense has three clean sheets this tournament, after playing Germany's Borussia Dortmund and South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns FC to scoreless draws in the Group Stage, then shutting down Italy's Inter Milan 2-0 in the Round of 16. Only PSG, which has allowed just one goal, has a better defensive record this tournament.
Give credit to Fabio, Fluminense's 44-year-old goalkeeper, who got his professional start in 1997, and is emerging as the competition's cult hero after earning Player of the Match honors in two of these four games.
Oliver Strand
2. Chelsea is vulnerable, but finds a way to win
Chelsea got here by beating Brazil's Palmeiras 2-1 on the Fourth of July. It might sound like a paradox, but the result was both 100% deserved and more than a little lucky.
Chelsea dominated early, running circles around Palmeiras and jumping to a 1-0 lead in the first half. But the Brazilians roared back at the start of the second half, and evened the score when Estêvão, the 18-year-old Palmeiras attacker that Chelsea signed in May for for a fee that reportedly could reach $67 million if certain incentives are met according to The Athletic, scored a stunning goal from an impossibly tight angle.
It remained tight despite Chelsea controlling possession for the rest of the match. The game was decided in the end by an own goal from Palmeiras defender Giay in the 83rd minute. It was a game that Chelsea should have won, but the club's $2 billion squad was incapable of closing out on its own.
Oliver Strand
3. Fluminense's Dangermen: Hercules and Jhon Arias
Hercules leads Fluminense in goals, with two in this tournament. The speedy, compact Brazilian midfielder scored an insurance goal against Inter Milan, and came off the bench to score the game-winner against Al-Hilal. Will head coach Renato Portaluppi start Hercules in the hope that he scores early and puts Chelsea on the back foot? Or will he save him for later in the game, when his fresh legs on a sweltering day could give Fluminense an extra gear?
Winger Jhon Arias is unlucky to have scored only once this tournament. The 27-year-old Colombian was the best player on the field in the tense 4-2 win over Ulsan, when he scored once, had two shots blocked, and created six chances. He came close to finding a goal against Dortmund in the opening Group Stage game, and had two shots on target against Inter Milan.
If Hercules and/or Arias find a way to score – and if Fabio can work his middle-aged magic once again – then Fluminense could once again advance after doing just enough to win.
Michael Battista
4. Chelsea's Dangerman: Cole Palmer
Neto is Chelsea's leading scorer, with three goals this tournament, but this team revolves around Cole Palmer. If the mercurial 23-year-old midfielder is on his game, Fluminense will be in trouble.
He was the best player on the field in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Palmeiras, when he created a goal out of nothing. Palmer received the ball in the attacking third, carried it into the top of the box, then fired an ice-cold finish past the diving goalkeeper. Chelsea fans will like their chances if that version of Palmer shows up today.
But they might be in trouble if it's the Palmer that faced Flamengo in the Group Stage, when Chelsea lost 3-1. That Palmer was contained by an aggressive and energetic defense that limited him to 12 passes and zero shots. Chelsea jumped to an early lead in that game but were outplayed by a determined Flamengo that had 52% possession and put nine shots on target.
Michael Battista
5. The X-Factor: The fans, the air
Our European friends are learning that professional soccer shouldn't be played on an afternoon in July in the American Northeast. Or the American South, or the Midwest, or really anywhere but in the Pacific Northwest.
That creates an x-factor for a game like this one that doesn't exist in Major League Soccer, an organization that knows to schedule almost all summer in the evening. Too late: Fluminense and Chelsea will be kicking off at a time when most New Yorkers know to take it easy. Which team that adjusts better to the sun, heat, and humidity will instantly have a significant advantage.
Another advantage will go to the team that can pack the 82,500 seats at MetLife. If there's anything we learned this tournament, it's that Brazilian fans bring the noise, which would seem to give Fluminense the advantage. But are there enough Fluminense fans who are free at 3 pm ET on the Tuesday after a holiday weekend, and who are within striking distance of New Jersey? Brazilian fans aren't just vocal, they're tribal, and there's a good chance that the tens of thousands of Palmeiras and Flamengo fans who came out in force for earlier games against Chelsea could be rooting for the London club in this round.
Seats in the third tier were selling for around $55 on Ticketmaster last night, significantly less than the $167 for tickets to the PSG vs Real game tomorrow. We'll see if Fluminense can turn MetLife into the Maracanã.
Sorry to break it to the Chelsea fans who make the trip to MetLife, but it won't be Stamford Bridge.
Matthew Mangam
