FIFA.com
The FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019™ reaches its climax this Saturday with the meeting of UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool, who booked their place at the expense of Monterrey in a hard-fought semi-final, and Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo, who turned the tables on Al Hilal in the second half of their last-four fixture. All eyes will be on Doha to watch this showdown between these European and South American schools of football.
Before the final, Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal and Mexico's Monterrey will square off in the match for third place. This promises to be another fascinating fixture, given the former’s fine performance against ES Tunis and in the first half of their semi against Flamengo, and the latter’s powerful showing in the second semi-final, when they pushed Liverpool all the way.
?? The games
Match for third place
Monterrey-Al Hilal
21 December, Khalifa International Stadium, 17:30 local time
Final
Liverpool-Flamengo
21 December, Khalifa International Stadium, 20:30 local time
This will not be the first meeting of Liverpool and Flamengo as representatives of their regions. The pair went toe-to-toe in the Intercontinental Cup final of 1981 when Fla defeated their English opponents 3-0 in front of 62,000 fans at Tokyo’s National Stadium. Victory for the Reds would be doubly sweet and enable them to not only avenge that 1981 loss, but also claim a maiden Club World Cup title, having lost the final of the 2005 edition to another Brazilian club, Sao Paulo.
Both clubs will be hoping to field full-strength sides for the final, which for Liverpool will mean a likely return to the starting XI for Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane. Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, who has been unable to train since arriving in Doha, could possibly return for the decider and restore balance to a Liverpool defense that looked vulnerable on more than once occasion against Monterrey.