Club World Cup. If Paris Saint-Germain beats Real Madrid, they will face Chelsea in the final.

The Rio team, which hoped to challenge the hegemony of the Old Continent, missed its meeting and it was the Blues who won the right to challenge the winner of the other semi-final between PSG, European champion, and Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium in New York.

Ironically, it was a former Rio player, Joao Pedro, who became "Flu's" executioner, firstly sending in a magnificent curling shot in the first half (18th) before a small personal exploit after the break, concluding a well-executed counter-attack (56th).

The 23-year-old striker, who was transferred just a week ago from Brighton for a fee of almost 70 million euros, celebrated his first start in style, even if he was careful not to celebrate his two goals ostentatiously out of respect for the club he started at, which he left five years ago to go into exile in England, to Watford.

Joao Pedro thus ended Fluminense's fine run, notably defeating Champions League finalists Inter Milan (1-0) in the round of 16. There will be no representatives from South America, and more specifically Brazil, in the final, despite their teams having been the main protagonists of the tournament, both on the pitch and in the stands.

Besides Joao Pedro, the Portuguese Pedro Neto was a constant danger on his left flank and the Frenchman Christopher Nkunku could even have made the score a little more difficult after a very nice slalom in the area (65th).