CWC: Flu are stonger than Man City, as Hercules takes them to semis

With the name Hercules, you could be nothing but a hero!

And that's precisely what Fluminense's Hercules did in the FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final clash on Friday night, scoring a winner in a 2-1 win against Al Hilal.

Hercules, who had scored in the victory over Inter, came off the bench at the interval to score the decisive goal and push his side on the verge of the finals. Interestingly, if Palmeiras beat Chelsea in a few hours - in that case - a Brazilian team will be guaranteed a place in next week's final as Fluminense and Palmeiras would face off in the semi-final.

Matheus Martinelli broke the deadlock five minutes before the break with a fantastic finish past Yassine Bounou.

Fabio, Fluminense's 44-year-old goalkeeper, denied Kalidou Koulibaly an instant equaliser, before Al Hilal were awarded a penalty 45 seconds later. However, the referee, Danny Makkelie, voided it after a VAR review, which didn't prevent the Saudi side from equalising, as Leonardo headed it home from close range.

That wasn't the last one, however, of the night as Hercules struck to force his team back ahead and secure the major win for his team.

FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP 2025

1/4 finals

Friday

Fluminense - Al Hilal 2-1 (1-0)

/Martinelli 40, Hercules 70 - Leonardo 51/

Saturday

04:00: (4.00) Palmeiras (3.40) Chelsea (1.98)

19:00: (2.20) PSG (3.80) Bayern (3.00)

23:00: (1.65) Real Madrid (4.30) Dortmund (4.80)

***odds are subject to change***