Borussia Dortmund vs. Fluminese | Club World Cup Preview | OneFootball

One of the Bundesliga’s two 2025 FIFA Club World Cup representatives gets set to start their tournament on Tuesday. Niko Kovac’s Borussia Dortmund will square off against two-time Brazilian champions Fluminense FC. Unsurprisingly enough, the two teams have never met before.

Like league rivals Bayern Munich, Dortmund took advantage of a special FIFA-sanctioned transfer window in order to acquire players in time for the tournament. In BVB’s case defender Soumaïla Coulibaly was recalled early from his loan stint with Stade Brest.

The much bigger news, however, revolves around the fact that Jobe Bellingham – acquired from Sunderland AFC – declined to represent the England U21s in the current UEFA U21 European Championship in favor of participating in this tournament.

Kicker reports that Bellingham is an immediate candidate for Kovac’s starting XI. Predicting Kovac’s starting lineup can prove difficult in that Dortmund, like Bayern, have brought along plenty of young prospects to test out. Veteran midfielders Emré Can and Salih Özcan are missing due to injury.

Dortmund may nevertheless follow Bayern’s lead and deploy their best players in their opening fixture. Bayern ended up demolishing Auckland City 10-0 in a totally uncompetitive affair.

Bayern’s full Club World Cup squad can be found here.

The Full BVB squad:

Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel, Silas Ostrzinski, Alexander Meyer

Defenders: Yan Couto, Waldemar Anton, Ramy Bensebaini, Daniel Svensson, Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson, Filippo Mane, Soumaila Coulibaly, Elias Benkara

Midfielders: Giovanni Reyna, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt, Pascal Gross, Julien Duranville, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marcel Sabitzer, Mathis Albert, Ayman Azhil, Jobe Bellingham

Strikers: Serhou Guirassy, Maximilian Beier, Karim Adeyemi, Cole Campbell, Samuele Inacio, Jamie Gittens.

Projected Fluminese Lineup (4-3-3)

Fabio – Samuel Xavier, Freytes, Thiago Silva, René – Hercules, Martinelli – Ganso – J. Arias, Cano, Serna

Projected Dortmund Lineup (3-4-3)

Kobel – Süle, Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, P. Groß, Bellingham, Svensson – Brandt, Adeyemi – Guirassy

GGFN | Peter Weis