After three consecutive years of dominance from Real Madrid, the FIFA Club World Cup has a new champion as Roberto Firmino’s late-winner help Liverpool to seal a 1-0 victory against Flamengo in the final. Liverpool won the title for the first time in their history and they became the second English team to win this after Manchester United won it back in 2008.
The underdogs Flamengo fought hard against the Champions League Winners till the last moment before Firmino scored the winner in the 99th minute of the game. The final game had its dramas as the Brazilian as Liverpool had a stoppage-time penalty reversed following a VAR review.
Liverpool got more chances than Flamengo in the normal time with the Brazilian forward missing out some chances before finally scoring a goal. Midfielder Naby Keita also missed an opportunity after he was beautifully set-up by Mohamed Salah and Liverpool continued to dominate but failed at the final third.
The drama began after the 75th minute of the game when the former Bayern Munich defender fouled Sadio Mane and the referee pointed to the spot. However, it was ruled out after a couple of minutes after checking the VAR.
It ended 0-0 in the extra time and Flamengo was in with a chance to create history if the match goes to the penalty shootout. But the Brazilian forward made sure that Liverpool wins before the tiebreaker.
Liverpool captain Henderson found Mane with a brilliant ball and the Senegalese forward span and fed Firmino and the Brazilian forward calmly put the ball into the net and helped the side to win their first-ever Club World Cup.
Meanwhile, Egyptian star Mohamed Salah won the Adidas Golden Ball and Alibaba Cloud Player of the Tournament while Bruno Henrique won the Adidas Silver Ball and Carlos Eduardo won the Bronze Ball. Esperance was also crowned with the FIFA Fair Play Award.
Despite failing to score a single goal in the Club World Cup, Salah won the player of the tournament award for his stellar performance in both the games. He provided a glorious assist to Keita in the semi-final and his blistering pace was a constant threat in this tournament.
After winning this trophy, Liverpool has now earned the gold FIFA Champions Badge. Jurgen Klopp and his men will be officially presented with the badge at a ceremony. UEFA will allow Liverpool to wear it in the Champions League this season and the next. However, it’s not set to be permitted for matches in the Premier League.
