The AFC semis are set: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) - Persepolis (Iran) Shanghai SIPG (China) - Urawa Reds (Japan) Al Hilal's home match will be in Abu Dhabi (UAE) while Persepolis will play in Muscat (Oman). Al Ain's elimination means that Al Jazira have now claimed the host spot for certain. What a second leg between Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG:
The CAF quarterfinals have concluded: Al Ahli (Tripoli, Libya) - Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) 0:2 on aggregate Al Ahly (Cairo, Egypt) - Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia) 4:3 on aggregate Ferroviário Beira (Mozambique) - USM Alger (Algeria) 1:1 on aggregate; USM progress on away goal Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) - Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) 1:1 on aggregate; Wydad progress on penalties Semis: Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) - Al Ahly (Cairo, Egypt) USM Alger (Algeria) - Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) With CAF purely a North African affair at this stage at least two Arab clubs are guaranteed to play in the UAE. Especially Al Ahly with the large Egyptian expat community would provide a sizable attendance boost. And we could be looking at three Arab clubs in total... AFC Semis, First Leg: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) - Persepolis (Iran) 4:0 Shanghai SIPG (China) - Urawa Reds (Japan) 1:1 Al Hilal are virtually in the final and will do their best to finally win a record-equalizing third AFC CL title, pulling level with Pohang Steelers. In CONMEBOL we are also down to the final four: River Plate (Argentina) - Lanus (Argentina) Barcelona SC (Ecuador) - Gremio (Brazil) Credit to Barcelona for eliminating Brazil's Santos. River Plate lost the first leg 3:0 in the quarterfinals but came back roaring 8:0 (!!!) in the return leg against Jorge Wilstermann.
Is it safe to assume it will be a River-Gremio CWC Quarterfinal It's surreal for the liberators cup to be ongoing right now. Like a summertime SuperBowl.
The draw for UAE 2017 will be on October 9 (Monday): http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/news/y=2017/m=10/news=the-uae-2017-draw-explained-2910193.html
THANK YOU! Finally, FIFA won't pre-seed the host-v-OFC-winner for the South American half of the bracket.
Here it is, cut and pasted from FIFA website (which is always the weirdest read). CF Pachuca vs CAF Champions League winners *The winners will play the Copa Libertadores champions in the semi-finals Al Jazira/Auckland City vs AFC Champions League winners *The winners will play Real Madrid in the semi-finals
Worth noting that this is Pachuca's fourth appearance in the Club World Cup, and they've gotten this exact draw every time.
And they may face Al Ahly or Etoile du Sahel once again. CAF Semis, First Leg: Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) - Al Ahly (Cairo, Egypt) 2:1 USM Alger (Algeria) - Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) 0:0 When Pachuca played Al Ahly it was the only time they advanced past the African champions. How is Keisuke Honda working out for the Tuzos? While I will be in India during the final and Real Madrid semifinal I will be in attendance for the quarterfinals and the Libertadores semifinal. Probably the most interesting games anyway.
That's actually good, we want the C'CAF champ to face the S.A champ. Unless the Gophers choke like in 10 and 07. Those were horrible losses.
The AFC final is set: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) - Urawa Reds (Japan) Part of me wanted to see Oscar, Hulk and Elkeson in the UAE but Shanghai SIPG's dreams of succeeding Guangzhou Evergrande came crashing down. It's the first time a J. League club reaches the final since Gamba Osaka won in 2008. First Kashima Antlers taking Real Madrid to extra time last year and now this? Is the J. League back? Al Hilal have other plans of course. They want to bring the ACL title back to the West for the first time since 2011 and win a record equalizing third title.
Champions Leagues: How a simple European concept has become a global model: http://www.insideworldfootball.com/...-simple-european-concept-become-global-model/
The Champions League is a European concept? That's partially true, but a specious claim at best: On one hand, Europe can give itself a pat on the back for innovating continental club competitions - and inspiring CONMEBOL to create the Copa Libertadores in response, in order to have a champion to play in the Intercontinental Cup. On the other hand, the Copa Libertadores has featured a group stage since the 60s; the European switch to the "Champions League" model happened three decades later.
Yep, but every other confederation started to follow Europe's huge broadcasting contracts, including Libertadores recently. Wydad Casablanca is the first finalist in Africa, they defeated USM Algiers 3-1 last night. Amazing atmosphere. Al Ahly hosts Etoile du Sahel tonight, Etoile won 2-1 last week. Due to poor scheduling, final leg #1 is already next weekend.
Al Ahly come roaring back in the second leg and put Etoile du Sahel to the sword with a score of 6:2 (7:4 on aggregate). We are only two games away from a Al Ahly - Pachuca rematch. CAF Final: Al Ahly (Egypt) - Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
Worth noting that today, FIFA officially recognized all the Intercontinental Cup trophy winners, so @Nico Limmat no need to break this up anymore.
The same way FIFA recognized the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics as World Championships? Seriously - that's great news. Long overdue, they did it for the King Fahd Cup after all when taking over today's Confederations Cup. Let's see what kind of treatment the winners list gets at UAE 2017. I can think of at least a couple of (former) posters who are probably terribly annoyed about this.
Regarding FIFA and the Intercontinental Cup... Rather than doing a copy/paste I'll just link to my post from last year. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/fifa-club-world-cup-japan-2016-r.2037304/page-16#post-34954414
CAF Final, First Leg: Al Ahly - Wydad Casablanca 1:1 Al Ahly struck after only two minutes but Wydad fought back. Looks like the right side of the Borg Al Arab stadium was closed off due to security reasons otherwise this one would have had 86,000 in the stands. I'm sure UAE tournament organizers would love for Al Ahly to pull through. That would sell lots of tickets. Al Ahly playing in the UAE with the huge Egyptian community is like Club America playing in the USA. The Egyptian Super Cup was played here in early February. In the Copa Libertadores the semi-finals are ongoing: River Plate (Argentina) - Lanus (Argentina) 1:0 Barcelona SC (Ecuador) - Gremio (Brazil) 0:3 After eliminating two Brazilian clubs in a row Ecuador's Barcelona now look like they will go out against the third - Gremio: Speaking of ticket sales, with the changed Libertadores schedule the South American winner will be the last participant to be determined on Nov 29. That doesn't give the traditionally numerous South American fans much time to arrange their travel.
Impressive how Lanus turned their series around against River Plate: So Gremio - Lanus it is in the final. The African final concludes on Sunday. Al Ahly had to cancel their training because too many fans showed up! آلاف من جماهير الأهلي المصري يحتشدون لحضور مران الفريق قبل السفر للمغرب لخوض إياب نهائي دوري أبطال أفريقيا أمام الوداد البيضاوي #TotalCAFCL pic.twitter.com/9HI1UDYuGG— CAF - عربي (@caf_online_AR) October 31, 2017 If Al Ahly and Al Hilal in Asia pull through we would have four confederation record champions in the UAE.
Coming back to this, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have the chance to get off this list in the coming weeks.
And since Mexico also won't be participating in the 2018 Copa Libertadores I may have to take them off the list as well. It is Wydad Casablanca's second title after 1992. That weeping you hear is coming from the UAE 2017 ticket sales team...