Julius OkorieHolders, Manchester City and five-time winners, Real Madrid, begin their bragging right chase in the new format FIFA Club World Cup today.
Manchester City take on Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, while Real Madrid square up against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBoth teams by virtue of the status coming into the championship have become the centre of attraction as many would want to see whether and if Pep Guardiola led Manchester City can reclaim the title.
The old format featured fewer teams and fewer matches, but the new format that has 32 teams on parade, emerging through group stage is certainly no child’s play, so any team that eventually wins the tourney when the curtains falls on July 13th can beat the chest and claim indeed to be the team to beat.
Real Madrid on the other hand, hold the record of highest wins in the Club World Cup,with five titles in the kitty which they won for the first time in 2014 beating San Lonrenzo 2-0 and subsequently in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
All eyes will be on Xabi Alonso and Simone Inzaghi in the Real Madrid versus Al Hilal face off.
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Both Real Madrid and Al Hilal are looking to bounce back from their disappointing 2024–25 campaigns in the United States this summer.
Los Blancos, in particular, are one of the favourites to win the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup. The pressure is on new boss, Alonso, along with new signings, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen, to bring silverware back to the Spanish capital.
Inzaghi is also making his debut on the touchline at Hard Rock Stadium following his exit from Inter Milan. It would be a dream start for the 49-year-old to lead his new side to victory over the Spanish giants, especially since Al Hilal have never defeated Real Madrid before.
Holders Manchester City outclassed Fluminense 4-0 to clinch their first title in 2023. Whether they can realise the dream of adding another title is left to be seen as the championship continues.
One of the talking points of the ongoing group stage is Bayern Munich’s mauling of semiprofessional side Auckland City FC 10-0, a result which has been described in some quarters as ‘baptism of fire’. What a way to tell Auckland City that they indeed have a long way to ago and a lot of hard work to put if they are to rub shoulders with veterans of Bayern Munich calibre.
In any case the championship in the long run is sure to achieve one of reasons for expanding it in the first place to give opportunity for more clubs including not too strong ones to garner experience and build on it, ditto expansion of the World Cup that is expected to feature 48 countries the 2026 edition.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
