Wolves sign Jhon Arias from Fluminense in a deal worth up to £19m including add-ons.

Fluminense 0-2 Chelsea (João Pedro 18, 56) New signing scores twice against boyhood club The talk was mostly about Enzo Maresca wanting to add more guile to his attack when Chelsea signed João Pedro last week. Less was made of the former Brighton forward’s ability to crash through an opposition defence. Then again Fluminense made João Pedro and were probably not surprised to find their former star in scintillating goalscoring form in this one-sided Club World Cup semi-final. Two thunderous finishes from the versatile attacker were enough to ensure that Chelsea will return to the MetLife Stadium to face Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in Sunday’s final. They can make £97m in prize money from this tournament, which is probably just as well given their spending. Continue reading...

Minute-by-minute updates on the action in New Jersey Email Scott | Fifa cuts ticket price to $13.40 for semi The yellow-card situation ahead of the final. There isn’t one. Fifa have wiped the slate clean after the quarters, so the only way a player will miss the final should their team get there is if they manage to get themselves sent off today. Your best behaviour, gentlemen, please. Chelsea make three changes to their starting XI after the 2-1 quarter-final win over Palmeiras. Tosin Adarabioyo, Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro, the latter making his first start for his new club, replace the absent Levi Colwill, Liam Delap and Andrey Santos. Continue reading...

The 40-year-old has led Fluminense with experience and passion. Could he do the same for Brazil next summer? And then there was one. Nobody expected a Brazilian club to reach the Club World Cup semi-finals, and if any team was going to make a deep run in the tournament, it was not Fluminense. After winning the Copa Libertadores in 2023, they narrowly avoided relegation last year and have gone through four managers in less than two years. Thankfully for them, they are now coached by the charismatic Renato Gaúcho, who told us earlier in the tournament: “It’s no use having a team of 500 million reais, because football is decided on the field.” Throughout the tournament he has encouraged Brazilians to take pride in what their teams have achieved, despite being written off due to the wealth of the European sides. Continue reading...

New signing made a bright Club World Cup debut and now eyes Fluminense, one of his former sides, on Tuesday Estêvão Willian was not the only Brazilian attacker to offer a tantalising glimpse of the future during Chelsea’s win against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. There was also a bright cameo from João Pedro, who came on for Liam Delap just after Estêvão’s equaliser early in the second half and proceeded to change the game with his brawn and intelligent link-up play. It was an eye-catching performance from the forward given that his £60m move to Chelsea had been announced two days earlier. What had the 23-year-old been doing during his time off? Lifting logs and existing on a diet of raw steak, presumably. The aggression from João Pedro was startling. He was raring to go after a couple of training sessions with his new teammates and, while he was not involved in the winning goal, his bustling forward play was a vital part of Chelsea reasserting their dominance after Palmeiras pulled the score back to 1-1. Continue reading...

Thiago Silva, 40, will face his former side Chelsea in Tuesday's Club World Cup semi-final. BBC Sport looks at how he defied the odds to reach the top.

Semi ticket cut from $474 to just $13 in New Jersey Sparse crowds plague tournament outside Real games PSG v Madrid semi-final still priced from nearly $200 Fifa cut standard ticket prices for the semi-final between Chelsea and Fluminense at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday to $13.40 from $473.90 earlier in the past week. Fifa has used dynamic pricing for the 63-game tournament. Continue reading...

Switzerland v Iceland follows in second Group A game Player guide | David Squires’ wallchart | Mail Tom Loth though I am to focus too much on the men’s Club World Cup, a quick recap on yesterday’s events, where Real Madrid held off Dortmund to win 3-2 in a crazy game that featured three injury-time goals, while PSG had two men sent off against Bayern Munich but still managed a 2-0 win over the German champions, who also lost Jamal Musiala to serious injury after a contentious challenge from Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG meet Real Madrid in the semis, while Chelsea face Fluminense in the other. Interestingly, Sky Sports News is reporting that tickets for the latter are going for a snip at $13 – pricing as it should be but an issue for those who bought tickets earlier at a higher rates. Partial compensation is being discussed. Continue reading...

Chelsea signing scores for Palmeiras at Club World Cup Italian backs 18-year-old to make immediate impact Enzo Maresca called Estêvão a huge talent after the Brazilian teenager marked his final game for Palmeiras by scoring a brilliant goal in his side’s Club World Cup quarter-final defeat to Chelsea. The 18-year-old winger, who will be playing at Stamford Bridge next season, found himself in the unusual position of trying to knock his next employers out at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday night. Chelsea made it through to a semi-final with Fluminense after a late own goal from Weverton but there was huge excitement around Estêvão after his stunning equaliser at the start of the second half. Continue reading...

Palmeiras face Chelsea for place in semi-finals The Club World Cup by numbers | Email Beau One side of the Club World Cup semi-finals will be all-European. Will the other side be all-Brazilian? Fluminense have booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Al-Hilal, the Saudi team that eliminated Manchester City in the Game of the Century (so far). Can Palmeiras join them and set up the ultimate showdown of Rio vs. São Paulo (aka Carioca vs. Paulista)? Or will this upstart club from London called Chelsea knock them out? Continue reading...

Fluminense 2-1 Al-Hilal (Martinelli 40), Hércules (70); Leonardo (51) Players observe minute’s silence for Diogo Jota and André Silva Brazil’s Fluminense continued their fairytale run at the Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal on Friday in Orlando to book their place in the semi-finals. The tournament underdogs struck first through Matheus Martinelli in the opening half before Al-Hilal hit back after the break when Marcos Leonardo found the net. But Fluminense refused to be denied and regained their lead in the 70th minute through Hércules to secure a memorable win over Al-Hilal in the first meeting between the two clubs. Continue reading...

Pep Guardiola has plenty to think about over the summer after a last-16 defeat to Al-Hilal in the United States A manager rejuvenated is no overblown assessment of Pep Guardiola, whose friendly wave to this correspondent during a morning training session at Manchester City’s Boca Raton camp was emblematic of a man who oozed energy and commitment for the challenge of elevating his side again throughout the Club. World Cup. Immediately after the winding blow of Monday’s 4-3 defeat by Al-Hilal in Orlando, the 54-year-old blended disappointment with a measured optimism, fairly pointing to how if chances had been taken then City would be facing off against Fluminense in Friday’s quarter-final, back at the Camping World Stadium. Continue reading...

Updates from 3pm (8pm BST) game in Charlotte Email Scott with your thoughts Neither of these teams have wowed ‘em yet. In the groups, Inter drew with Monterrey then left it late against both Urawa Red Diamonds and River Plate, while Fluminense’s admittedly entertaining come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Ulsan HD was sandwiched by two goalless draws against Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns. But both know their way around knock-out football: Big Flu won the Copa Libertadores in 2023 while Inter reached the final of Big Cup in 2023 and 2025. So this could still be fun … providing the North Carolina weather doesn’t do a number on us again. Kick-off is at 8pm UK time, 3pm local, lightning permitting. It’s on! Hopefully! Continue reading...

All four Brazilian clubs make last 16 Dortmund tops Ulsan, wins Group F Fluminense completed a full Brazilian contingent in the Club World Cup round of 16 after a goalless draw with Mamelodi Sundowns secured their progress from Group F on Wednesday. Despite being on the back foot for much of the match at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, Fluminense advanced after finishing second in the group with five points, two behind group winners Borussia Dortmund, who edged Ulsan 1-0. Continue reading...