Al Hilal beat Flamengo to become first Saudi club to reach Club World Cup final

Salem Al Dawsari's two penalties and a Luciano Vietto strike help Saudis secure a 3-2 win over Brazilians

Salem Al Dawsari and Abdullah Al Mayouf of Al Hilal celebrate victory over Flamengo in the Club World Cup semi-final in Morocco on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Getty

Al Hilal players celebrate their victory at the Grand Stade de Tanger. Reuters

Moussa Marega of Al Hilal celebrates with teammates after victory in the Club World Cup semi-final against Flamengo. Getty

Al Hilal's Salem Al Dawsari celebrates scoring the second goal. Reuters

Flamengo's Everton looks dejected after the match in Tangier. Reuters

Salem Al Dawsari of Al Hilal is challenged by Erick Pulgar of Flamengo. Getty

Michael of Al Hilal battles for possession with Ayrton Lucas of Flamengo. Getty

Al Hilal's Khalifah Al Dawsari celebrates after Luciano Vietto scored the third goal. Reuters

Al Hilal's Luciano Vietto after scoring the third goal against Flamengo. AP

Flamengo's Pedro scored twice for his team. Reuters

Flamengo's Fabricio Bruno look on after Al Hilal's Luciano Vietto scores the third goal. AP

Fans of Al Hilal celebrate their victory on Tuesday. AP

Salem Al Dawsari scored two penalties as Al Hilal beat Flamengo 3-2 on Tuesday to become the first Saudi Arabian club to reach the Fifa Club World Cup final.

Waiting for the Saudi side in Saturday's final in Morocco will be either European champions Real Madrid or Egyptian side Al Ahly, who meet in the second semi-final on Wednesday.

Al Dawsari, who scored the winning goal against Argentina as Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history at last year's World Cup, converted his first spot-kick on four minutes after Luciano Vietto was felled by Flamengo's Matheuzinho.

It earned Al Dawsari his own slice of Club World Cup history as he became the first player to score against the same opponents in two editions of the tournament after also netting against the Brazilians in 2019.

The teams were level a quarter-of-an-hour later as Flamengo striker Pedro side-footed his effort first time past Al Hilal goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf.

Al Dawsari's second penalty came nine minutes into first-half injury time after Vietto was tripped by former Marseille midfielder Gerson.

Gerson was sent off for a second yellow card, having received his first on 15 minutes for diving in the Al Hilal penalty area.

With 20 minutes remaining, Al Hilal moved closer to the final when Argentine Vietto fired in off the crossbar after Al Dawsari's clipped pass.

After 20 seconds of the six minutes of additional time, Pedro cut the deficit with an easy tap-in but it was not enough to spark a late comeback from the Copa Libertadores champions.