Man City vs Fluminense LIVE! Club World Cup final result, match stream and latest updates today
Manchester City were just too good and a bit lucky for overmatched Fluminense in the Club World Cup final by winning 4-0 and taking a fifth title in 2023 on Friday.
City led after just 40 seconds to make it a match mostly free of tension. Julian Alvarez followed up fastest to meet a rebound off a post from Nathan Ake's shot.
An own goal in the 27th by Fluminense captain Nino decided the game long before Phil Foden's goal in the 72nd, guiding an Alvarez pass into an open net. Alvarez struck again in the 88th.
It gave City a first Club World Cup title and Europe a 16th in 17 editions of FIFA's competition for continental champions.
City cruised to a second easy win in four balmy days in Saudi Arabia even without injured superstars Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne. They also missed City's semifinals win over Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday.
Their expected absences could help explain the empty seats among a crowd of 52,601 at King Abdullah Sports City, the Jeddah stadium which is planned to be used at the 2034 World Cup.
Victory made Pep Guardiola the first coach to win the Club World Cup with three different teams. He led Barcelona to titles in 2009 and 2011, then Bayern Munich in 2013 with a team that won the Champions League under outgoing coach Jupp Heynckes.
Guardiola celebrated calmly by walking across to console Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz with a handshake and arm on his shoulder.
At the same time, a melee broke out between players in the Fluminense half of the field.
Fluminense started with six players born in the 1980s, and bristled with perceived disrespect when told on Thursday of British media drawing attention to the age of its veteran team. City's oldest player in the starting lineup, 33-year-old captain Kyle Walker, was born in May 1990.
Fluminense's most celebrated player, Marcelo, exited after one hour to warm applause and a handshake on the touchline with City substitute Mateo Kovacic, his former teammate at Real Madrid.
One of Marcelo's first touches in the game was an unwise long pass from defense that let Ake advance in space to shoot.
Alvarez was alone in the goalmouth to stoop and score with his chest. The Argentina forward's first action had been to take a sturdy shove in the back from 40-year-old Felipe Melo's aerial challenge.
The bounce of the ball was unkind again to Fluminense when Nino slid in to block Foden's pass across the goalmouth, and the ball looped beyond goalkeeper Fabio's reach. The attack came from a piercing change of pace in Rodri's pass to Foden.
Man City vs Fluminense latest news
Full match report as Man City win world title
Guardiola hails 'outstanding' Man City with more history made
Rodri offers injury update
Good night
22:38 , Jonathan Gorrie
Thank you for joining Standard Sport's LIVE coverage of Manchester City's win over Fluminense.
Find our report and reaction below!
Rodri 'almost cried' after injury scare in Club World Cup
22:37 , Jonathan Gorrie
Manchester City midfielder Rodri has eased injury concerns following the Club World Cup final.
Pep Guardiola’s side capped off a remarkable year for the club by beating Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense 4-0 in Jeddah.
Julian Alvarez bagged a brace while Phil Foden both scored and forced an own goal as Guardiola became the first manager to win the title on four separate occasions.
Guardiola hails 'outstanding' Man City with more history made
22:20 , Jonathan Gorrie
Pep Guardiola hailed Manchester City’s Club World Cup victory as an “outstanding achievement”.
The Premier League champions steamrolled past Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday evening, romping to a 4-0 victory.
Julian Alvarez scored twice either side of Phil Foden’s strike and an own goal forced by the England international as Guardiola himself made history.
Man City 4-0 Fluminese: Full match report
19:59 , Jonathan Gorrie
Manchester City won the Club World Cup for the first time in their history with a routine 4-0 win over Fluminense in Saudi Arabia.
FT: Man City 4-0 Fluminense
19:55 , Jonathan Gorrie
A routine win for Man City, who add the world title to their stunning list of achievements this season.
Man City vs Fluminense: GOAL! Julian Alvarez '87
19:49 , Jonathan Gorrie
87 mins: GOAL!
Alvarez sidesteps his defender before firing into the bottom corner following good work from Nunes.
Man City vs Fluminense: Routine for City
19:48 , Jonathan Gorrie
87 mins: Despite some pressure just after the first goal, City have eased through this.
Man City vs Fluminense: Rodri injury concern
19:36 , Jonathan Gorrie
74 mins: The midfielder comes off looking angry at what appears to be an injury...
Man City vs Fluminense: GOAL! Phil Foden '72
19:34 , Jonathan Gorrie
72 mins: GOAL!
Foden sweeps in a third after Alvarez's cross!
Man City vs Fluminense: Perfect final from City
19:28 , Jonathan Gorrie
65 mins: They haven't been at their free-flowing best but City have pounced when they needed to and have seen out from periods when Fluminense ramped things up.
Man City vs Fluminense: Marcelo booked
19:22 , Jonathan Gorrie
58 mins: The Real Madrid legend brings down Lewis out of pure frustration.
Man City vs Fluminense: CHANCE FOR CITY!
19:10 , Jonathan Gorrie
48 mins: Fabio keeps Fluminense in the game!
Foden and Silva are denied by a brilliant double save.
Man City vs Fluminense: Back underway!
19:06 , Jonathan Gorrie
45 mins: Away we go!
HT: Man City 2-0 Fluminense
18:52 , Jonathan Gorrie
So far so good for City.
Man City vs Fluminense: Big save from Ederson
18:44 , Jonathan Gorrie
42 mins: Arias must think he's scored after heading the ball into the ground but Ederson manages to get a hand to it.
Man City vs Fluminense: City pushing for a third
18:40 , Jonathan Gorrie
40 mins: That would surely kill the contest.
Man City vs Fluminense: Nino (OG) '28
18:31 , Jonathan Gorrie
28 mins: GOAL!
It's a bit of good luck for City as Nino deflects Foden's shot into his own net!
Man City vs Fluminense: City getting back onto the ball
18:28 , Jonathan Gorrie
25 mins: Fluminense were starting to dominate on the ball, albeit City were limiting to them to few clear cut chances.
The last few minutes, however, have seen the European champions settle back on the ball.
Man City vs Fluminense: VAR to the rescue!
18:21 , Jonathan Gorrie
19 mins: Ganso rounds Ederson before the Man City goalkeeper drags him down.
A penalty is awarded but VAR confirms the midfielder was offside!
Man City vs Fluminense: Brazilian side growing
18:19 , Jonathan Gorrie
15 mins: After a shaky start, Fluminense are coming back into the game.
Marcelo has just flicked the ball over Kyle Walker before looking to take on Rico Lewis.
They're ready to press Ederson high up too, certainly prepared to take risks.
Man City vs Fluminense: Guardiola's side flexing their muscle
18:13 , Jonathan Gorrie
11 mins: A ridiculously dominant start.
Man City vs Fluminense: Brazilian side struggling
18:10 , Jonathan Gorrie
07 mins: The early goal has not woken up the South American champions, who simply cannot get out of their own half.
Man City vs Fluminense: GOAL! Julian Alvarez '1
18:06 , Jonathan Gorrie
01 mins: GOAL!
Julian Alvarez opens the scoring with a goal in the 50th second of the game.
The Argentine bundles the ball over the line after Nathan Ake's shot is spilled.
Man City vs Fluminense: KICK-OFF!
18:02 , Jonathan Gorrie
Away we go!
Man City vs Fluminense: Latest odds
17:41 , Jonathan Gorrie
Man City: 1/4
Draw: 7/2
Fluminense: 8/1
Man City vs Fluminense: Guardiola makes changes
17:19 , Jonathan Gorrie
Despite the fact Kovacic and Nunes impressed in the semi-finals, they both drop out of Lewis and Alvarez respectively.
Confirmed Fluminense lineup vs Man City today
17:13 , Jonathan Gorrie
Fluminense XI: Fabio; Xavier, Nino, Melo, Marcelo; Andre, Martinelli, Arias, Ganso, Keno, Cano
Subs: Rangel, Eudes, Marlon, Aelxsander, Kennedy, Daniel, Santos, Gonzales, Barbosa, Braz, Lima, Guga
Confirmed Man City lineup vs Fluminense today
17:05 , Jonathan Gorrie
Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Lewis, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Kovacic, Gomez, Gvardiol, Akanji, Nunes, Bobb, Alleyne, Susoho, Hamilton
Man City vs Fluminense: Head to head (h2h) history and results
16:25 , Jonathan Gorrie
Manchester City and Fluminense have never previously met in competitive competition, which is hardly surprising considering they play on different continents and City have never been at the Club World Cup before.
Man City vs Fluminense: What Pep Guardiola has said about the South American champions
16:07 , Jonathan Gorrie
The Man City boss does not think his team have seen anything like today's opponents.
"The way they play, we've never faced, never," said Guardiola.
"I love it. I love the build-up. I love how they associate between each other."
Man City vs Fluminense: Sergio Aguero snubs Arsenal and Liverpool in shock Premier League title prediction
15:55 , Jonathan Gorrie
Sergio Aguero has claimed Manchester United are still firmly in the Premier League title race, naming them as more likely challengers to Manchester City than Arsenal and Liverpool.
It has been a stumbling start to City's bid for a fourth consecutive title, with Pep Guardiola's side on a run of just one win in six League matches to fall off the pace set at the top of the table.
Man City vs Fluminense: Erling Haaland injury latest
15:36 , Jonathan Gorrie
Manchester City will remain without injured Erling Haaland for Friday's Club World Cup final clash against Fluminense.
The Norwegian striker travelled with the rest of his team-mates to Saudi Arabia for Fifa's global tournament despite sitting out the last three matches with a nagging foot injury, but missed training on Monday and was then absent from the 23-man squad named by Pep Guardiola to face Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds in Jeddah on Tuesday night.
Man City vs Fluminense: Score prediction today
15:32 , Jonathan Gorrie
City absolutely dominated against - albeit major underdogs - Urawa, who endured a frustrating season in Japan.
Guardiola's side might just have rediscovered their mojo at this tournament after a difficult stretch at home by their usual lofty standards.
Fluminense should pose a much tougher test in Friday's South America vs Europe final, but we still back City to get the job done well - even without their talisman Haaland again.
Man City to win, 3-1.
Man City team news vs Fluminense today
15:31 , Jonathan Gorrie
The injured trio of Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku all played no part against Urawa despite travelling with their team-mates to the Middle East, while De Bruyne even made a surprise appearance in training on Monday having not played since the opening night of the season after hamstring surgery.
It was reported on Tuesday that all three players - who watched the game from the bench - had actually been removed from City's Club World Cup roster shortly before the semi-final, meaning they are not eligible to face Fluminense in the final per tournament regulations.
Man City vs Fluminense: TV channel and live stream for Club World Cup final today
15:30 , Jonathan Gorrie
TV channel: In the UK, the final will be televised live on TNT Sports 2, with coverage beginning at 5:45pm GMT before a 6pm kick-off.
Live stream: Subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Welcome
15:25 , Jonathan Gorrie
Good evening and welcome to Standard Sport's LIVE coverage of Manchester City's clash with Fluminense in the Club World Cup final.
Kick-off from the King Abdullah Sports City is at 6pm GMT.
