The Belgian striker scored the game's only goal to fire the Blues to their first final of the tournament since 2012.

Chelsea have made it to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup for only the second time in their history, thanks to Wednesday night's win over Al Hilal. The winners of last season's UEFA Champions League booked their spot by defeating their Saudi opponents via a lone goal scored by Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea went into the encounter without their manager Thomas Tuchel who was left behind in England after testing positive for Covid-19. In the German's absence, assistant manager Zsolt Low manned the fort as they tried to seal their fate at the expense of Leonardo Jardim's side. The winners of last season's AFC Champions League earned the right to play against the Blues after defeating Al-Jazira 6-1 in the quarter-final and were also successful in causing the North Londoners a few problems.

Nevertheless, goals were at a premium and, ultimately, it was Lukaku who gave Chelsea the edge after the hour mark with a simple tap in. A cross from Kai Havertz bounced off a defender and ended up falling in the path of the Belgian striker who smashed the ball home for his ninth goal of the season for Chelsea.

Al Hilal subsequently pushed for an equaliser in the second half but had all their effort thwarted by the Chelsea defense. With the result, the Blues booked a final date with Palmerias while their Saudi opponent take on Al Ahly in the third-place play-off.