SUMMARY
- Erling Haaland suffered a minor setback in his foot after the loss against Aston Villa on December 7.
- The European and South American champions will meet in the final, which is the last edition in its current format.
The injury list for Manchester City is the major talking point, as the UCL champions are set to face Brazilian club Fluminense in the Club World Cup final. Among the absentees, Erling Haaland is the most notable name, as the striker faces a race against time to nurse his stress issue in his foot.
Erling Haaland suffered a minor setback in his foot after the loss against Aston Villa on December 7. The striker missed the following Premier League matches against Luton Town and Crystal Palace, as well as the UCL clash against FK Crvena Zvezda.
🚨❌ Erling Haaland and two other Man City stars banned from Club World Cup final due to bizarre FIFA rule. pic.twitter.com/yqMMxq4472
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 20, 2023
Haaland has traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup but hasn’t trained, as per the comments from Pep Guardiola after their semi-final win against the Urawa Red Diamonds. Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Kevin de Bruyne were all missing from the 23-player squad in the semi-final, which ruled them out for the final as well.
As per FIFA rules, players who weren’t part of the semi-final squad cannot be added to the final match-day squad. The rules force Guardiola to rest Haaland again, but it was very unlikely that he would have risked Erling to feature in the match against Fluminense, where they are the heavy favorites.
How to watch the FIFA Club World Cup final
The final of the Club World Cup is set to take place on December 22 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The European and South American champions will meet in the final, which is the last edition in its current format.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET in the USA and Canada, 6 p.m. in the UK, and noon in Mexico. The match is only available on TV in the UK, where fans can watch the action on TNT Sports. As for streaming, fans in the UK can stream the final on Discovery+, while fans across other countries can stream the final for free on FIFA’s streaming platform.
The FIFA Club World Cup final is set ⚔️
Manchester City will face Fluminense this Friday pic.twitter.com/dU8Nb7v97q
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 19, 2023
The match is available all around the world without any restrictions, as FIFA wants this competition to reach as many fans as possible. FIFA will host the next edition of the tournament in 2025, where it will be expanded to 32 teams.
Guardiola started the semi-finals without a recognized center forward, as he dropped Julian Alvarez to the bench. The Argentine might return to the lineup, as Guardiola previously stated that the competition is important for the club and the players. Marcelo’s Fluminense are ready to spoil the party for the English club, as they comfortably walked into the final with a 2-0 victory over Al-Ahly.