The Club World Cup semi-finals will be played this Tuesday and Wednesday (8 and 9/7) with Chelsea x Fluminense and Paris Saint-Germain x Real Madrid, respectively
The “ex-law” could be the big protagonist in the Club World Cup semifinals, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. On Tuesday (8/7), at 4 pm, Fluminense 和 Chelsea will duel for a spot in the final. On Wednesday (9/7), at the same time, Paris Saint-Germain 和 Real Madrid will fight for the other spot in the final.
And all of these clubs have players who have played for their rivals. In football, one of the best-known “laws” is the “ex-law”, even due to the frequency with which it occurs. In short, this joke involves players who score goals against a club they once played for. And each Club World Cup semifinalist has a former player from the opposing team.
Possible executions of the “law of the ex” in the World Cup semifinals
In the first semifinal, Thiago Silva should enter the field with the mission of preventing João Pedro from scoring against Fluminense and also with the intention of scoring a goal against his former club.
The 40-year-old defender played for Chelsea between 2020 and 2024 and became an idol, especially after winning the 2020/21 Champions League. The 23-year-old striker, recently signed by the English side, was a product of the Tricolor, is one of the “children of Xerém” and will face the club that revealed him for the first time.
In the other fight for a spot in the World Cup final, the dispute will also be between a defender and a striker: at 26 years old, Achraf Hakimi and Kylian Mbappé will face the clubs they recently played for. The Moroccan right-back played for Real Madrid between 2017 and 2020 and is Paris Saint-Germain’s top scorer in the Club World Cup – with two goals, alongside João Neves. The French striker is, quite simply, the greatest scorer in PSG’s history – with 256 goals – and will face his former club in his first season wearing the Merengue shirt.
