Paris Saint-Germain take on Real Madrid in a blockbuster summer duel with a spot in the Club World Cup final at stake.

Such occasions at this time of year are usually preserved for high-profile friendlies, but there’s plenty riding on Wednesday’s clash at MetLife.

The perennial European champions are taking on the continent’s best in a bid to vie for global supremacy. PSG have been the team of 2025, but Real Madrid have been the club of the past decade.

Superstars will litter this fixture, but both teams are without key faces for the semifinal. Here’s a round-up of all the players that have been ruled out or could miss Wednesday’s duel.

The two teams have been hit hard by suspensions, with three players picking up red cards in their respective quarterfinal triumphs.

PSG were eventually reduced to nine men in their victory over Bayern Munich, although Désiré Doué opened the scoring before received his marching orders for a nasty challenge on Leon Goretzka. The Ecuadorian international has been a mainstay for Luis Enrique at this tournament and will be expected to be replaced by Lucas Beraldo in defense.

has offered cover for Nuno Mendes at the tournament so far, but the Frenchman is also unavailable for the semifinal after he was sent off for catching Raphaël Guerreiro with a flailing elbow.

There was less malice behind foul which led to his red card in stoppage-time against Borussia Dortmund, but the Spaniard’s decision to bring down Serhou Guirassy, who eventually scored from the spot, was a silly one with Madrid 3–1 up. Huijsen has had an excellent tournament, but he won’t feature against PSG at MetLife. Raúl Asencio is poised to make his first start since Matchday 2.

Xabi Alonso is without and due to respective knee and thigh injuries, but has returned to training and may finally be ready for some minutes.

PSG are healthy in the middle of the park, with the familiar trio of Vitinha, João Neves and Fabián Ruiz poised to line up against Alonso’s favoured midfield of Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler.

However, there could be a first appearance at the 2025 Club World Cup for , who missed the end of the 2024–25 season with a groin injury. Alonso has insisted that the Frenchman will be a big part of his plans when fully fit, but seemed to suggest that a call-up for Wednesday’s semifinal will come too soon.

Kylian Mbappé has recovered from illness and has appeared off the bench in Madrid’s two knockout victories, Alonso will have to decide whether to return the French superstar to his starting lineup or retain the services of joint-top goalscorer Gonzalo García.

The new Madrid boss could also utilise for the first time, with the young Brazilian back in training after recovering from a hamstring injury.

On the opposite side, Ousmané Dembélé scored his first goal of the tournament to seal PSG’s win over Bayern, but reports from France suggest he’ll remain on the bench for the semifinal. Dembélé carried a knock into the tournament and didn’t appear until the round of 16

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