FIFA Club World Cup Rules Mean Erling Haaland Cannot Play In Final Against Fluminense

Erling Haaland will NOT play for Manchester City in the FIFA Club World Cup final vs Fluminense. Tournament rules mean he cannot play after missing the semi.

Robert Summerscales | Dec 19, 2023

FIFA Club World Cup Rules Mean Erling Haaland Cannot Play In Final Against Fluminense /

Erling Haaland will NOT feature for Manchester City in Friday's FIFA Club World Cup final against Fluminense.

Haaland traveled to Saudi Arabia with his teammates, despite having missed City's recent games against Luton, Red Star Belgrade and Crystal Palace with a foot injury.

He was again omitted from Pep Guardiola's matchday squad on Tuesday when City beat Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0.

After the game, some fans were still hopeful that Haaland might recover in time to play against Fluminense three days later.

However, Haaland will be unavailable for that game - even if he returns to full fitness.

Tournament rules dictate that City may only field a player in the final if he was part of the squad in the semi-finals.

This means that Kevin De Bruyne and Jeromy Doku have also been officially ruled out of Friday's game, having failed to make the bench against Urawa.

Erling Haaland pictured watching from the sidelines during Manchester City's 3-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup :: IMAGO/Bildbyran/Joel Marklund

City started Tuesday's game without a recognized striker on the pitch as Guardiola opted instead to field four attacking midfielders in Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Matheus Nunes.

Nunes was involved in the game's opening goal when his cross was deflected into the net by Urawa defender Marius Hoibraten just before half time.

Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva then scored in the second half to wrap up a dominant victory.

Manchester City's FIFA Club World Cup Squad

2. Kyle Walker
3. Ruben Dias
4. Kalvin Phillips
5. John Stones
6. Nathan Ake
8. Mateo Kovacic
10. Jack Grealish
16. Rodri
18. Stefan Ortega (goalkeeper)
19. Julian Alvarez
20. Bernardo Silva
21. Sergio Gomez
24. Josko Gvardiol
25. Manuel Akanji
27. Matheus Nunes
31. Ederson (goalkeeper)
33. Scott Carson (goalkeeper)
47. Phil Foden
52. Oscar Bobb
68. Max Alleyne
76. Mahamadou Susoho
82. Rico Lewis
92. Micah Hamilton

Published Dec 19, 2023

ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.