search for matches live streams. Al Ahly has 2 3 chances and a goal, they look like the stronger team and it's normal.
FIFA+? Don't watch it, but think they're only showing UAE presidents cup or something like that. Anyway, don't think I'm going to stay up much longer any way, at least not for this match. Final I'll watch....
Ok. I found a way. This is quite irritating. I have been watching the CWC without issues in the UAE since I can remember. Usually on beIN. Last year on Abu Dhabi Sports.
Al Ahly take it 3:0 and will meet the Seattle Sounders in the second round. Auckland City may have played in the CWC many times but the last participation was in 2017. Difficult for a semi-pro team to be dropped into a "do or die" match after a multi-year absence.
Auckland City FC played really bad yahh.... is not fair for them to play year by year a preliminary round. Anyway, this should be the last CWC edition with the currently format. From 2025 will be expanded to 32 teams, but still only one place for Oceania. Will be a huge chance to have a fail format there, with 8 European teams in 8 different groups, as 8 winners ... can have 100% European quarterfinals (because all the groups will have 1 European team, 1 South American and 1 from the rest of confederations). Oceania have struggled to grow their football, with the Champions League stronger year by year, but COVID has pushed them back into the 2000s.
Matchday 1 - Summary: M1 | 01.02.23 | Al Ahly - Auckland City 3:0 (First Round) - Highlights M2 | 04.02.23 | Seattle Sounders - Al Ahly (Second Round) M3 | 04.02.23 | Wydad Casablanca - Al Hilal (Second Round) M4 | 07.02.23 | CR Flamengo - Winner M3 (Semi-Final) M5 | 08.02.23 | Winner M2 - Real Madrid (Semi-Final) M6 | 11.02.23 | Loser M5 - Loser M4 (Match for 3rd Place) M7 | 11.02.23 | Winner M5 - Winner M4 (Final)
Now that we are having this 2022 edition I am pretty sure we will also have a 2023 and 2024 CWC in the current format. Presumably back in the usual December slot? FIFA will keep the annual format going until the expanded version is fully secured. Maybe they can let us know the 2023 host by summer.
BREAKING: In the Seattle-Tacoma market, @fox13seattle and Fox 13+ will bring you @SoundersFC matches from the FIFA Club World Cup!!First match will be on Fox 13+ this Saturday at 9am!If they win, they'll face Real Madrid on Wednesday February 8. Let's GO! #EBFG— Aaron Levine (@AaronLevine_) January 31, 2023 Is Fox 13+ more or less widely available than Espn 8 - The Ocho?
This mean that UEFA Champions League 2022/23 winner will play in 2 editions of World Cup. Iahh...anyway, in December 2025, the last 4 UCL champions will come from '22, '23, '24 and '25
Tough for Aukland.... they haven't been the same since the Jose Canseco / Mark McGwire / Ricky Henderson classic lineup.... hopefully Seattle Mariners can do better vs Al Ahly on Saturday....
In reality, Seattle and Auckland should play this preliminary match.... I don't see them beating Al Ahly. In MLS 2022 they were a disaster, but we can understand that because it seems they gave everything in the CONCACAF Champions League, winning against 2 mexican clubs. I see any of the other quarter finals (Wydad, Al Hilal) having advantage against Seattle, unfortunately it won't be a 5th place match and 3 of the 7 teams only traveled to Morocco for one game. Auckland City already left, while Real Madrid and Flamengo still have some league matches before arriving there.
The expanded CWC in 2025 would have to take place in the summer. But yeah, its comical to have a CWC in Dec 2024 and then the inaugural expanded edition six months later. Two world champions in the same season. Just goes to show, FIFA has no interest in making this a prestigious tournament. They managed to find a way to make this 7-team December event even less noteworthy. But, hey, 2 CWCs ==> more $$$$
Schedule was sorted a few weeks beforehand. Only a small number of countries have this on tv. Only match 2 tickets available 99% of the time and the other matches always showing sold out. Almost no communication from Fifa regarding anything. Biggest club competition in the world.
Yaa, Clubs World Cup slowly will take the Confederation Cup habit, being a pre-tournament before FIFA World Cup in the host country. But with 8 European clubs and 8 South American.... will give no chances for the rest. Yes, only 2 3 articles from FIFA about this competition. It doesn't make money for them
How can anyone forget the mid-90s when Auckland dominated with such legends as team captain Michael Jones, All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick and the 22 year old beast that was Jonah Lomu?!
On the upside, local enthusiasm (post Qatar 2022?) is making up for the lack of traveling fans. The recorded attendance of 47,137 is by far the best crowd ever for the opening (first round) match. That includes the two previous editions in Morocco with host club participation in 2013 and 2014. Other matches never crossed 40K.
For perspective, it is the first competitive intercontinental match for a MLS team since D.C. United took on (and beat) Brazil's Vasco da Gama in the 1998 Copa Interamericana - the final edition of that competition. It is also the first competitive meeting ever with African club opposition.
That’s over 20k empty seats but the tickets were near impossible to get. I wonder what’s happening with that
Staging one match and then having a 3-day break doesn't help the visibility of this tournament either. Why not schedule games on the following dates: Feb 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 11? (Instead of Feb 1, 4, 7, 8 and 11).
I have to correct myself. It is the first competitive intercontinental match for MLS since D.C. United participated in the 2005 Copa Sudamericana and lost (3:4 on aggregate) to Chile's Universidad Católica. They also played the 2007 Copa Sudamericana but only against Chivas (Mexico).
My take on the two matches in the second round: Seattle Sounders - Al Ahly Reading around the net, it seems that many in Seattle/MLS circles are already thinking about Real Madrid. A rather premature thought in my opinion. The Sounders first have to overcome the "Real Madrid of Africa" and I for one see Al Ahly as the favorites in this one. They are very experienced in the competition and just achieved back-to-back bronze medals. One of them against Palmeiras. Last year they eliminated a stronger Concacaf opponent (Monterrey) and did so with a depleted squad (see my earlier post on the AFCON/CWC overlap). Not to mention the pressure from Al Ahly's tens of millions of fans who greatly value this tournament. Seattle fans are by no means ignorant when it comes to international competition (they packed the stadium for the Concacaf final last year), but the pressure is nowhere near the same. It wouldn't surprise me if many Seattle fans still don't know what the CWC is. So the motivation for avoiding a loss may not be the same for both teams. Leaving that aside, the Sounders come into this match "cold" and with a subpar preparation. Seattle's Latin American players will have to dig deep to carry the team into the semis. Wydad Casablanca - Al Hilal At a neutral venue I would consider Al Hilal slight favorites due to their high profile foreign players. But in Morocco? Moroccan fans were great in Qatar (I attended Morocco-Canada) and thinking back further, I also attended Wydad against Pachuca at the 2017 CWC. That kind of support makes a big difference. City rivals Raja Casablanca went all the way to the CWC final in 2013 when Morocco hosted. But first things first. In order to get a shot at Flamengo, Wydad need to achieve something they haven't to date. Win a CWC match.