Fluminense 2-1 Al Hilal: FIFA Club World Cup result as Martinelli and Hercules fire Fluminense into the final four after riveting quarter-final

Fluminense became the first team to advance to the semi-finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup with a nail-biting 2-1 triumph over Al Hilal in a gripping contest that both sides had chances to win, before super sub Hercules scored to seal victory for the South Americans.

Hercules netted from the bench against Inter Milan in the last 16 and after Renato Gaucho made the bold decision to introduce him for goalscorer Martinelli at half-time today, the gamble paid off when Hercules finished off a move he started and rifled a shot past Yassine Bounou with 20 minutes to go.

Martinelli opened the scoring after 40 minutes with a cracking shot into the top corner after Joao Cancelo had mistakenly kept the ball in play to prevent a corner, igniting a game that had started sluggishly.

However, Al Hilal exploded out of the blocks in the second half and the set-piece combination of Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly, which was dangerous all night, finally bore fruit when the centre-back got a free header that Marcos Leonardo pounced on to turn past a stranded Fabio and draw level with Angel di Maria at the top of the tournament scoring charts.

Al Hilal may feel unlucky not to have had the chance to add to their tally from 12 yards after a penalty awarded for a foul on Leonardo was overturned by VAR in first-half stoppage time, which was followed by another video check on a more borderline challenge on Koulibaly was over very quickly in the dying seconds.

But they also did not display the same ruthlessness as their opponents in Orlando, meaning Fluminense will face Chelsea or Palmeiras on Wednesday with a place in the final on the line.

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Flu are through! A brilliant contest goes the way of the Brazilian side who ultimately took their chances a little better when it really mattered.

Al Hilal will feel they weren't done any favours by referee Danny Makkelie but this remains a strong return on a tournament where many fans didn't even think Simone Inzaghi's side would escape the group stage, let along knock out a European champion.

That is huge from Fabio! Milinkovic-Savic flicks a header on for Leanardo who overruns the pass, meaning the bouncing ball is fair game for Koulibaly and the goalkeeper.

Fabio has no hesitation in throwing himself at the Senegalese studs and though the ball remains alive, he eventually gathers and that could be it!

The ball drops to Koulibaly in the box and his first shot finds air, yet he remains closest to the ball until he flings himself to the floor.

While there may have been slight contact to his heel, it was nowhere near enough to floor the man mountain who is booked for diving for good measure!

Al Hilal are just pinging cross after cross into the Fluminense penalty area, and the leaders can't take any pressure off.

Koulibaly remains a deadly threat from Neves' pinpoint deliveries, this will be corner number 12...

While Koulibaly looked like he had a strong case there, Makkilie and the VAR disagrees. Inzaghi makes his final changes, chucking on Hamad Al-Yami and Musab Fahd Aljuwayr for Cancelo and Malcom, their first chance to make a difference will be a corner.

Koulibaly believes he was floored by Thiago Santos, and in fairness the Fluminense man did have his arms wrapped around the towering centre-back for at least five seconds.

However, the ball drops to Hercules who looks set to break clear for a two-on-two before a tap-tackle by Neves ends his run.

It looked like the attacker was pretty happy to make the most of the light contact there rather than attempting to ride the challenge and the booking means Neves will miss the semi-final if Al Hilal can produce a miracle in the seven added minutes.

Gaucho makes his final change, Facundo Bernal has put in a heroic shift but he can't continue so Thiago Santos must see out the rest of the game.

The Fluminense striker has been one of the most disappointing players tonight and wastes a golden opportunity to make it 3-1, getting goalside of Kalidou Koulibaly but wavering too long when he needed to shoot, allowing the defender to recover.

Inzaghi has to gamble and he makes two attacking changes, removing left-side midfield pair Nasser Al-Dawsari and Moteb Al-Harbi for Ali Albulayhi and Kaio Cesar.

Meanwhile Xavier can't continue on the right for Fluminense, so Guga takes his place.

All of this is further disrupting the game as the clock ticks down to just five to go.

Fluminense are pulling every trick in the book to slow this one down. Xavier looks like he requires treatment for a knock but stays on the pitch, before a Brazilian player gets under Koulibaly's skin caused another stop in play.

It's the leaders who are fastest out the traps, forcing a fine save at full stretch from Bounou.

And what a time for it. 15 minutes to go and Al Hilal have been the better team this second half, yet find themselves behind once again.

Can they perform another miracle or will Fluminense become the first side to reach the 2025 Club World Cup semi-finals?

It's all to play for.

It's Al Hilal's first change of the game as Kanno is replaced by Abderrazak Hamdallah for the last 20 minutes or so.

He struck against Inter, and Hercules is the super sub once again in Orlando as he fires Fluminense back into the lead!

Hercules started the move, outmuscling Leonardo to reach an Al Hilal clearance first and charging back towards Bounou's goal.

His first effort is unsuccessful but Hercules shows his strikers instinct by positioning himself perfectly to latch onto Xavier's return header at full pelt, surging into the penalty area then firing right across the face of goal into the bottom corner past a spreadeagled Bounou.

Gaucho plays his next hand, withdrawing Cano and Nonato for Everaldo and Vinicius de Lima.

If the injury was a delaying tactic by Silva, it's not worked. He's off getting that cut to his forehead patched up right now and becomes the third Fluminense player yellow-carded by Makkelie.

Fluminense are in trouble again as a goal kick drops to Malcom, and the Brazilian looks like he's away until he's felled by Thiago Silva.

It's come at a price as the 40-year-old's right foot plants awkwardly in the turf and he's sustained a knock to the head too, but should be able to continue.

Another corner, another ball dropping to an Al Hilal player. This time, Moteb Al-Harbi snatches at the chance and blasts it towards Row Z.