Chelsea and Fluminense march on in CWC

by Staff Reporter

Saturday Jul 05, 2025. 11:00

Nicolas Jackson’s Chelsea kept their Club World Cup title ambitions alive with a 2-1 win over Palmeiras in their quarter-final clash at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, July 5.

The Blues got off to a flying start in Philadelphia when Cole Palmer opened the scoring on 16 minutes, but Estevao gave the Big Green hope with an equaliser eight minutes into the second half.

However, Enzo Maresca’s side booked their semi-final ticket after Malo Gusto’s shot from an acute angle took a deflection and went in off Weverton with seven minutes left on the clock.

Having already beaten two Brazilian teams in the knockout stages, the UEFA Conference League champions will now face Fluminense in the last four on Tuesday, July 8.

This, after the Tricolor maintained their unbeaten record in the United States courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Kalidou Koulibaly’s Al-Hilal at the Camping World Stadium on Friday, July 4.

Goals in each half from Martinelli (40′) and Hercules (70′) in Orlando saw the Sao Paulo giants reach the semi-finals for the second time, having gone one step further on their debut two years ago when they lost 4-0 to Manchester City in the final.

Marcos Leonardo (51′) had restored parity for the Blue Waves early in the second half, but their bid to qualify for the last four a fourth time ultimately failed.