After the conclusion of Wednesday’s matches at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, all 32 teams will have played at least one match. Group G features Manchester City and Juventus as favorites, while Group H has Real Madrid as the clear frontrunner. Here is your look at all of the action on matchday 1 for Group G and Group H.
Manchester City vs Wydad AC
(Wednesday in Philadelphia)
Manchester City want to win this competition and get back to their trophy winning ways under Pep Guardiola, it was a difficult season for Cityzens who finished third in the Premier League and exited in the Champions League vs Real Madrid.
City has added talent to compete, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, and Rayan Cherki from Lyon, a player who is breaking out in terms of star status at age 21, are all in this squad. Cherki should instantly come in and have impact, while Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush are still the strikers up front, and veterans like Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva bring tournament experience in the midfield.
Moroccan side Wydad AC finished third in the domestic league, and of course it would be the greatest result in club history if they avoided defeat here. Mohamed Rayhi is the one to watch for them, as they added six players for this tournament including three forwards and two defenders with some measure of international pedigree. Wydad are already at a disadvantage, and they haven’t had a sterling season, so City should come out roaring and get 3 points to open the campaign. Prediction: Manchester City 6 Wydad AC 0
Juventus vs Al Ain
(Wednesday in Washington, D.C.)
Al Ain are the lesser known of these sides but they do boast some recognizable names as Rui Patricio has come in to play goalkeeper, Nassim Chadli in the midfield, and two defenders were also added to the squad.
Al Ain finished 5th in the UAE Pro League an were winless in the AFC Champions League (6 losses in 8 matches). The club just went through three managers in a season, and expectations are tepid. Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba from Togo is their star striker, Kaku from Paraguay is the midfield setup man, and Soufiane Rahimi is another forward to watch.
It’s a very diverse squad with Park Yong-woo from Korea, and Mateo Sanabria from Argentina also likely to feature.
The UAE clubs fans will still need something very special to get a result here. 4th place in Serie A, Juventus struggled to score and ended up with an absurd 16 draws in 38 games this season, if they had added a few goals they would have competed for the league title.
Nico Gonzalez has come in for Juve, Randal Kolo Muani, and US Men’s National team standout Weston McKennie are also here, as McKennie will be playing in front of home fans. It’s hard to tell how far Juventus can go this tournament, but winning against Al-Ain is a reasonable demand from their fans. Prediction: Juventus 3 Al Ain 0
Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal
(Wednesday in Miami)
The ambitions of the Saudi Pro League will be put to the test when Al-Hilal, the KSA’s only representative this Club World Cup, takes on Real Madrid in Miami. Any result for Al-Hilal would put them on a path to make out of the group stage, but avoiding a heavy defeat against Real Madrid is likely their minimum goal.
A familiar face will be on the Al-Hilal touchline as Simone Inzaghi from Inter Milan has taken over. Morocco international Yassine Bounou is in goal, familiar names like Joao Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Odion Ighalo, Malcolm, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Leonardo and Aleksandar Mitrovic are international talents for Al-Hilal, a club with tons of history in both the AFC Champions League (4 titles), and the Saudi Pro League.
The side finished 2nd in the Saudi Pro League this season, and exited in the semifinals of the AFC Champions league to another Saudi side.
The trouble for Al Hilal is going to be defending against Real Madrid, their backline features three Saudi internationals, and they will be facing off with a Real Madrid side that still believes they are the best team in the world. Dean Hujsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold have joined the backline, Xabi Alonso from Leverkusen is making his debut as manager. It’s still Jude Bellingham, Vini Jr. and Kylian Mbappe as the three headed dragon attack, but other names like Arda Guler could make an impact if Xabi decides fresh talent is needed.
Questions remain on whether Real Madrid can win this tournament, but they should press their advantage against Al Hilal and avoid any early slip ups. Prediction: Real Madrid 4 Al Hilal 1
Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg
(Wednesday in Cincinnati)
Red Bull Salzburg are in shambles right now and are the UEFA team that is at the most risk of losing an early match in this tournament. Salzburg finished with just 1 win in 8 Champions League games, and they stumbled to 2nd in the Austrian Bundesliga with just 16 wins out of 32 matches.
The Jurgen Klopp led Red Bull football project is not in the best shape at the moment globally, and Salzburg are the 2nd team that Red Bull invests in (RB Leipzig which failed to make it to Europe is the tier 1 club).
Dorgeles Nene (22) and Petar Ratkov (21) are the names to watch for RBS, along with Oscar Gloukh (21). Both Salzburg and their LIGA MX opponents Pachuca have the same philosophy, these are cantero teams who focus on developing youth academy talent and selling them off for high transfer fees.
Pachuca exited to Club America early in the LIGA MX playoffs, and they did not qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, despite winning the trophy in 2024, and finishing second in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup (lost to Real Madrid but beat Botafogo 3-0).
Former Mexican National Team manager Jaime Lozano is leading this team, he has a lot of tournament experience. Pachuca added five new players for this tournament, including Uruguay’s Federico Pereira as a CB, and Sebastian Jurado in goal. The key men for Pachuca are Venezuela’s best striker Salomon Rondon, a former Premier League player, and Morroccan Oussama Idrissi who formerly competed in Europe. 23 year old John Kennedy, a Brazilian striker is also a name to watch.
Both of these clubs deserve credit for their talent development, Pachuca has ambitions to get out of this group if they win here, but RB Salzburg’s European level conditioning and stamina make this a benchmark match for the Tuzos. This could be a nip and tuck game, so a draw looks in the cards. Prediction: 2-2 Draw
Main Photo Credit: Copyright: xGuillermoxMartinezx Imago Images
