Ighalo's Al-Hilal into the final after victory over Flamengo

Odion Ighalo was in the starting lineup as his Al-Hilal side defeated 10-man Flamengo to become the first Saudi Arabian team to reach the Club World Cup final.

After they both advanced through the previous round, the AFC's Al-Hilal and CONMEBOL's Flamengo faced off in the semi-final at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco. It was the Asian representatives that triumphed in an entertaining game that had two penalties and a red card.

Al-Hilal went ahead as early as the 4th minute after referee Istan Kovacs deemed Matheuzinho to have fouled Luciano Vietto in the box, leading to a penalty that was calmly dispatched by Salem Al-Dawssari.

Matheuzinho would make up for his error after he set up Pedro, who fired past Abdullah Al-Mayouf in goal for AL-hilal.  

Al-Hilal headed into the break with a huge advantage after Gerson fouled Vietto in the box. A penalty was awarded following a VAR review, and Gerson was sent off as he received his second yellow card. Dawsari made no mistake converting the resulting penalty, and Al-Hilal went into the break with a goal and a man up.

Dawsari thought he scored the third for the Saudi team, but it was ruled out as offside. The Blue Waves would not be denied after Vietto scored a goal of his own in the 70th minute of the game to put his club 3-1 up.

Flamengo threatened late drama as Pedro reacted quickest to a rebound to make it 3-2, but Vitor Pereira's men held on to make history, becoming the first Saudi Arabian team to make the final of the competition.