Latest news with #AlHilal
The South African
an hour ago
- Sport
- The South African
Who plays who and when in the Last 16
The line-up for the Last 16 of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has been officially confirmed following the conclusion of the group stage matches. European giants Real Madrid and Saudi Arabia powerhouse Al Hilal claimed the final two spots in the knockout phase, completing a competitive and diverse Round of 16 draw. The knockout action kicks off this Saturday, starting with a highly anticipated all-Brazilian clash between Palmeiras and Botafogo. Meanwhile, Chelsea will face Portuguese giants Benfica in a high-stakes encounter that promises European drama. Sunday's fixtures will feature Paris Saint-Germain taking on Inter Miami, setting the stage for a clash between stars of Ligue 1 and Major League Soccer, while Flamengo take on Bayern Munich in a battle of South American flair against German precision. Monday's matches bring a mouth-watering duel between Inter Milan and Fluminense, while Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, face a stern test against Al Hilal, who impressed during the group stages. The last day of Round of 16 action next Tuesday will see Real Madrid lock horns with Juventus in a European classic, and Borussia Dortmund face off with Mexican side Monterrey, one of the top performers from CONCACAF. Palmeiras vs Botafogo – 18:00 (Match 49) Benfica vs Chelsea – 22:00 (Match 50) Paris Saint-Germain vs Inter Miami – 18:00 (Match 51) Flamengo vs Bayern Munich – 22:00 (Match 52) Inter vs Fluminense – 21:00 (Match 53) Manchester City vs Al Hilal – 03:00 (Match 54) Real Madrid vs Juventus – 21:00 (Match 55) Borussia Dortmund vs Monterrey – 03:00 (Match 56) Match 53 vs Match 54 – 21:00 Match 49 vs Match 50 – 03:00 Match 51 vs Match 52 – 18:00 Match 55 vs Match 56 – 22:00 As a reminder, all 16 teams received an additional $7.5 million for reaching the Round of 16. The eight winners in the Round of 16 will each pocket further $13.125 million. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Club World Cup odds: Manchester City move up to become favourite after dominant group play
A divisive Club World Club has seen smaller crowds than might have been expected as a result of a heady mix of dynamic pricing and oversized stadia. Some of the star names have not been involved, and the European teams, in particular, seem exhausted after a long and gruelling campaign. The end is in sight, however, as the tournament reaches the knockout stages. Advertisement Manchester City, perhaps unsurprisingly, are favourites to lift the trophy on Betfair. After a disappointing campaign that saw Pep Guardiola's team uncharacteristically fail to pick up a single piece of silverware, these City players will be determined to prove that was a mere blip. The manager has fielded 25 different players thus far and has been rewarded with goals from all over the pitch. City have waltzed through the competition thus far and did not even concede a goal until an impressive 5-2 victory over Juventus. Al-Hilal are up next and should pose no great threat to a team that, prior to the season just gone, won four successive Premier League titles. They have missed Rodri, who played 125 minutes in group play, but it's not hard to see why the bookmakers still believe Guardiola's side is the one to beat. Paris Saint-Germain are second favourites to go all the way after an extraordinary season that saw them dominate the Champions League like few teams have managed in the modern era. They began the CWC with an excellent 4-0 trouncing of Atletico Madrid before a surprising 1-0 loss to Botafogo. The French giants were back on track with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders that sets up a round of 16 clash against Inter Miami and a certain Lionel Messi. Messi will come up against his former employers retaining his remarkable record of having never been eliminated at the group stage of a tournament for club or country in 21 years and 33 separate group stages. PSG will surely have too much for Miami as they look to become club champions of the world as well as Europe. Real Madrid are third favourites after a disappointing season by their own impeccably high standards. Carlo Ancelotti's side were runners up in the league and Copa del Rey, losing out to arch rivals Barcelona in both competitions in a turn of events that would have stung players and fans alike. Their clash with Juventus in the last 16 could be an epic with these two European heavyweights looking to bounce back from disappointing seasons. Advertisement The bookmakers are of the belief that Bayern Munich are the fourth most likely team to emerge triumphant in the United States. They started out with a stunning 10-0 win over Auckland City before an edgier 2-1 defeat of Boca Juniors followed by a shock defeat at the hands of Benfica. By way of mitigation, though, Vincent Kompany did rest several key men for the Benfica match and one senses it would have been a different story with a full-strength team on the pitch. Harry Kane finally got over the line and won a trophy when Bayern secured the Bundesliga, and he will be eager to double his haul. He was not involved against Benfica, but the England man will surely play a major role in the knockout stages. It seems likely Munich, like the other big hitters in the competition, will be taking no chances with team selections going forward. Chelsea are not short odds to go the distance, but the bookmakers are not ruling them out of contention entirely. It was a strange first season for Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge, but they were ultimately good enough to qualify for the Champions League and win the Europa Conference League. The manager has fielded a plethora of different players across the CWC so far, one advantage of such a massive squad. Maresca's side won twice in the group stage but suffered a defeat when they came up against Brazilian giants Flamengo. Benfica are up next, and the Blues will have to do without the services of the suspended Nicolas Jackson. Finally, Inter Milan are not dissimilar odds to Chelsea when it comes to securing the crown. This seems pretty unfair on a side that has reached two Champions League finals in the last three seasons, thus showing know-how when it comes to knock-out competition when faced with the world's very best teams. They started this tournament slowly (with a 1-1 draw against Monterrey), but so often that seems to presage a team going all the way. Advertisement The Italian giants have been without several big names, including defenders Yann Bisseck and Benjamin Pavard, while new manager Cristian Chivu experiments with his options. Marcus Thuram picked up an injury in that draw with Monterrey, so it will be an unusual team that takes on Fluminense at the start of the week. While European clubs take up the top six spots in the odds, clubs from outside Europe occupy the bottom four spots. The longest odds belong to Messi's Inter Miami. Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Savinho and Phil Foden: Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images)
Bangkok Post
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Bangkok Post
Man City crush Juventus, Real Madrid reach Club World Cup last 16
ORLANDO (UNITED STATES) - Pep Guardiola's Manchester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with a 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday while Vinicius Junior starred as Real Madrid beat Salzburg 3-0 to secure a spot in the last 16. Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to pip Salzburg to the last berth in the knockout phase, as Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the day's other game. City became the only side at the tournament to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,320 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando. City now face Al Hilal, the only Asian representative in the next round after goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca. "We played well and I'm happy with the victory," said City winger Jeremy Doku, who opened the scoring. Doku pounced for the early opener after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball. However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments in which Guardiola's team let their focus slip. Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes' cross to restore City's lead. The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland's introduction. The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth. Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri a first start after his long injury lay-off. "Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that's the truth, that needs to be acknowledged," said Juventus coach Igor Tudor as his side finished second in Group G. "The stars didn't align for us to play better tonight." Al Ain got the better of Wydad in Washington, DC in a meeting of two teams who were already eliminated but were hoping to sign off with a victory. South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted the Moroccans into an early lead but Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain. That was their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and City respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory. - Vinicius stars in Madrid win - Vinicius scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Madrid saw off Salzburg in Philadelphia to clinch top spot in Group H. Real play Juventus in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday. The Brazil star Vinicius opened the scoring after a superb defence-splitting pass by Jude Bellingham on 40 minutes, to the delight of the vast majority of the 64,811 crowd on a rainy night at Lincoln Financial Field. Vinicius then set up Federico Valverde with a clever backheel to make it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time. Young striker Gonzalo Garcia ran through to wrap up the win late on with his second goal of the tournament, as Xabi Alonso's team end the first round of FIFA's new tournament unbeaten. "I am pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins," Alonso told broadcaster DAZN. Real were once again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to play at the tournament as he recovers from illness. "We thought Kylian would make it and it wasn't to be. Now we have four days and I want to be optimistic but cautious at the same time," Alonso said.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
WATCH: Real Madrid lead in Club World Cup opener as Gonzalo Garcia scores
Xabi Alonso is hoping to mark his Real Madrid debut with a victory, and so far, he is on course to do so as his side lead against Al Hilal in their opening match of the 2025 Club World Cup. Real Madrid have been poor in the opening exchanges in Miami, and they were fortunate to remain level after Al Hilal scored through former Atletico Madrid defender Renan Lodi – but he was offside in the build-up. And it matters little now as Los Blancos are leading, with the goal coming courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia, who started ahead of the absent Kylian Mbappe. It is an excellent counter-attacking goal from Real Madrid, which ended with Rodrygo Goes slipping in Gonzalo to score his second first team goal. It has not been easy for Real Madrid, but as things stand, they are on course to start their Club World Cup campaign with a victory. However, there is plenty of action still to be played.
Rhyl Journal
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Bernardo Silva says City's improvement is ‘a good sign for next season'
The Premier League side produced one of their best displays for some time as they ran out 5-2 winners in Orlando to secure top spot in Group G. After an underwhelming 2024-25 campaign, it was a result that indicated their recent frustrations could be behind them and underlined their credentials to win the tournament. They will now return to the Camping World Stadium to face Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday (Tuesday 2am UK). Silva, the new City captain, said: 'We've always been potential winners in all competitions that we play. 'Obviously it's just one game but we're happy that the performance was the way it was. 'It shows that we're improving, we're coming back to the levels and to the standards that we got people used to at this club. That's good. 'That's a good sign for next season. It's not only for this competition, but we want to build to the whole season, to the whole year, because what happened last year was quite disappointing for all of us. 'We want to change, we want to be better. This was a great performance and it shows that we can do it again.' City had gone into the game trailing Juventus on goals scored and needing to win to secure the theoretically easier route through the knockout stages. What they produced rendered their frustration to score a seventh goal against Al Ain in their previous game irrelevant. Jeremy Doku's early strike was cancelled out when Teun Koopmeiners pounced on an Ederson mistake but an own goal from Pierre Kalulu restored City's lead. Erling Haaland – with his 300th career goal for club and country – added a third before Phil Foden and Savinho turned it into a rout. Dusan Vlahovic scored a late Juve consolation. City were beaten 2-0 by Juve in the Champions League during their worst spell of form last season but the team, rejuvenated by several new arrivals since, now look a different proposition. Silva said: 'We had a very good performance against a tough team. They showed that in the past, they beat us last season. 'We wanted to prove that what happened last season will not happen this season, hopefully.' Silva was chosen as captain by Pep Guardiola after the City manager decided not to hold his usual squad vote this summer. 'It's probably one of the biggest honours of my career,' the Portuguese said. 'I'm going to start my ninth season at the club. All that experience, I will try to pass it to the younger guys. 'But the leadership in a team, it's not about one guy. It's about each one of us being our own leader and helping the guy next to us in the dressing room. 'I will need that help to help the team achieve a lot of things and hopefully win titles.'
