Fluminense vs Chelsea live updates: Club World Cup semifinal team news, predictions and latest

The U.S. national anthem was played around 10 minutes ago — to a baking hot stadium containing only a sprinkling of people prepared to brave the heat.

Four sprinklers are dousing the pitch too, and little wonder in these temperatures.

A few forced changes for Fluminense and one tactical one — here is how they line up:

Starting XI: Fabio; Guga, Ignacio, Silva, Santos, Rene; Hercules, Bernal, Nonato; Arias, Cano.

The big news from that Chelsea line-up is Joao Pedro being given his first start for Chelsea since he recent move from Brighton.

The Brazilian came off the bench in the quarter-final win against Palmeiras and looked sharp. He replaced Liam Delap in that game and has done the same today after the former Ipswich striker was suspended for yellow card accumulation.

The club's other No. 9, Nicolas Jackson, is back in the squad but only makes the bench after serving his two-match ban.

Here is the team Enzo Maresca has selected for today's game, making three changes from Friday's win:

• Starting XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Tosin, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Nkunku, Palmer, Neto; Pedro.

There has been lots of criticism over the kick-off time being set at 3pm (ET) for these matches given the heat and humidity in New Jersey at this time of year. And the forecast for today only supports those critics.

It is currently 92F (33C) in East Rutherford, New Jersey with AccuWeather stating that it feels like 111F (43C) given the humidity is up at 58 per cent.

And if that wasn't enough to put you off, there is a severe thunderstorm watch in the area for the rest of this afternoon and some of this evening.

There will be a cooling break in both halves, but it is hard to imagine the quality of the game will not be affected.

FIFA made the decision to use a new match ball for the last three games of this Club World Cup.

The red and blue version used during the group stage and the first two rounds of the knockouts has been swapped out for this shiny new blue and gold one.

A very nice upgrade, I think.

The scene, as Chelsea’s players flocked to Estevao at the final whistle at Lincoln Financial Field, was telling. There was a language barrier between them, but Cole Palmer and Liam Delap asked their Portuguese team-mate Dario Essugo to tell the Brazilian teenager just what they thought of him.

That Club World Cup quarter-final in Philadelphia on Friday night was Estevao’s last game for Palmeiras before he joins Chelsea in a transfer worth an initial £29.3million ($40m) and potentially £49m depending on how well he performs for the London club. The stunning goal he scored, thrashing the ball past Robert Sanchez from a tight angle, was a parting gift to the Palmeiras fans as well as the perfect getting-to-know-you to his new team-mates and supporters — well, perfect once Chelsea emerged victorious on the night, anyway.

“Congratulations, Chelsea,” Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira told reporters after the game. “You have an amazing player.”

There was a slight note of caution.

“He is a kid that is 18 years old, so Chelsea need to take care of him,” Ferreira said. “They need to embrace him because in the beginning, for sure, he will make mistakes. I am sure Chelsea have all the conditions to support him. He’s a fantastic player, but he needs the help, for sure.”

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Chelsea were drawn against Benfica in the last 16 after the Portuguese side beat Bayern Munich to top spot in Group C. Reece James scored a brilliant free kick which looked to be sending his side pretty easily into the quarter-final but a two-hour weather delay changed the game.

The two teams returned to the pitch with just a few minutes left of the game and Benfica forced extra time after Angel Di Maria converted a penalty deep into stoppage time. Fortunately for Chelsea, Gianluca Prestianni was sent off two minutes into extra time so Enzo Maresca's men were able to streak away and they ultimately won 4-1.

Palmeiras, starring incoming youngster Estevao, awaited in the quarter-final. Chelsea took the lead for the fifth time thanks to a nice finish from Cole Palmer but they were pegged back by a superb Estevao effort.

With the game creeping towards extra time, a Weverton own goal won it for the Premier League side to secure their semi-final place.

Chelsea, coming into the tournament having won the Europa Conference League, enjoyed the benefit of arguably the easiest draw of any European teams at this Club World Cup.

They got off to a good start by beating LAFC 2-0 thanks to goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez but had their progress checked in their second match.

They took the lead against Flamengo but a chaotic six-minute period saw them go behind on the scoreboard and then lose Nicolas Jackson to another red card. Flamengo scored again to make it 3-1 to move top of Group D.

Chelsea were able to confirm progression to the knockouts with a comfortable 3-0 win against Esperance, taking them into the knockouts as runners-up.

It was a haze of maroon euphoria after Fluminense's win against Al Hilal but Thiago Silva, their leader whose words inspired them to another underdog victory in the last round against Inter Milan, broke the circle slightly early.

Some players were hugging like velcro, others had flags draped around them. Some swung club scarves like a lasso.

Not Silva. He was stoic, walking alone towards the tunnel, sipping from a water bottle, his mind already focused on the semi-final. A picture of tranquility that makes his spine-tingling team talk four days earlier look like it was delivered by a different person.

Control is his superpower.

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Despite being on that less daunting side of the draw, Fluminense faced a tough test in the last 16 against beaten UEFA Champions League finalists Inter.

But the Brazilians were up to the task and struck twice to cause one of the upsets of the tournament. German Cano scored inside three minutes before Hercules doubled the lead, and secured the victory, in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

And they were underdogs again in their quarter-final against Al Hilal. But, once again, they upset the odds. Martinelli opened the scoring with a brilliant strike before super sub Hercules scored another goal off the bench, which turned out to be the winner after Marcos Leonardo had equalised for the Saudi Arabians.

Fluminense were handed a rather favourable draw for this tournament and made sure to take advantage of that.

They were unlucky in their Group F opener against Borussia Dortmund, outplaying the Germans but failing to score in a goalless draw. Fluminense then came from behind to beat Ulsan HD in a six-goal thriller.

They could have confirmed top spot with victory over Mamelodi Sundowns in their last group game but failed to score again in a goalless draw. In the end, they had to settle for second place behind Dortmund, but that handed them a place in the 'easier' side of the draw.

Speaking at training earlier in the week, Joao Pedro was asked about his decision to move from Brighton up to west London.

💬 “I think Chelsea is a big club and my dream was always to play for a big club and to win trophies. Chelsea have a great team, a young team and I think that's why I came here.

“When I left Watford I was in the Championship, then I went to Brighton. If you watch the group stage of the Europa League I was top scorer and I'm ready for a new challenge. That's why I joined Chelsea.”

Like Thiago Silva, Joao Pedro is in line to face his former club today.

The newly signed Chelsea forward came through the academy at Fluminense, joining them as a defensive midfielder in 2011 before making his first-team debut eight years later at the age of 17.

The Brazilian only spent a season in the first team before moving to Watford in 2020. He made 36 first-team appearances for Fluminense and scored 10 goals.

Like his counterpart, Enzo Maresca will be forced into at least two changes for today's game given a couple of his players earned suspensions in their last match.

Liam Delap and Levi Colwill were both shown their second yellow cards of the tournament in the quarter-final so are banned for today's game and will need to be replaced in the starting XI.

The good news for Maresca and Chelsea is that Moises Caicedo has returned from his suspension and is available for selection.

Joao Pedro was given a debut in that last match, so is likely to be given his first Chelsea start in the absence of Delap.

The appropriately named Hercules has been the hero for Fluminense in each of their last two wins.

In both games, he has come off the bench and scored a vital goal. Against Inter, he scored a late equaliser while he got the winner against Al Hilal in the quarter-final.

Despite his newfound reputation as a super sub, the 24-year-old started Fluminense's first four matches. He will surely be set for his fifth start of the tournament given Martinelli's suspension.

Initially, there looked to be some worry over Thiago Silva's during the incident for which he was booked in the last match, but it turned out just to be an injury to his nose so he will be fit to play.

Fluminense will be without one of his centre-back partners, though, as Juan Pablo Freytes is suspended after receiving his second yellow card of the tournament in the last round. The same was true of Martinelli, who scored a superb opening goal, and he will miss out today.

Thiago Silva has impressed so far at this tournament despite only being a couple of months from his 41st birthday — his manager, Renato Portaluppi, was full of praise for him when he spoke yesterday.

💬 "Thiago is a monster on the pitch. He is a major World Cup player and has helped us a lot. He is essentially a coach on the pitch, and he knows European football and Chelsea really well.

"His experience has been critical."