Honestly, I don't think Seattle would have scored if this game went 10 hours... Hopeless offensively. However, they didn't need to score. Survive 120 minutes and you're a penalty shootout away from a dream match against trophy hunting Madrid. (and a nice payout from FIFA). Having said that Al Ahly is a superteam in Egypt. They finished below 2nd ONCE in TWENTY years. More of a superteam for Egypt than Real Madrid is for Spain. And it seems pretty likely that in-form Sounders can give them a real fight. And are the Sounders even a good MLS team? Debatable.
Agreed that Al Ahly did not have a good match last night. But they have obviously played much better in this competition previously. In the last two years Al Ahly have: - Beaten Brazil's Palmeiras for third place. Palmeiras have been a consistently strong team in the Copa Libertadores, at least reaching the semis for the past three years. In the 2021 CWC final they forced Chelsea into extra time. - Beaten a strong Monterrey team with a depleted squad of about eight players missing due to a AFCON/CWC overlap. - Convincingly beaten a strong Al Hilal side for third place. An Al Hilal that gave Chelsea a very good match in the semis last year. In summary, I don't think the match last night was really conclusive of either team. The Sounders or Al Ahly. Perhaps we will soon get additional data points, unless MLS decides to take another 20+ year break from the competition.
With the money coming into the league these days I'd be pretty shocked if Liga MX can keep up long term. Short term, I think the leagues are about even now.
More than twenty years... thirty. The last time they finished outside the top two, before 2021-22, was 1991-92. They've won 42 championships in the 63 seasons that the Egyptian Premier League has existed. They're the only club in Egypt that has ever won more than two consecutive titles.
And that dominance is also reflected in the number of fans. Al Ahly has anywhere between 35 and 60 million fans (depending on whose estimates you believe) but Egyptian club soccer is all about Al Ahly, with Zamalek coming in a distant second.
I have compiled all of MLS' competitive intercontinental matches: 1998 | DC United - Vasco da Gama (Brazil) 0:1 | Copa Interamericana (Final Series) 1998 | Vasco da Gama (Brazil) - DC United 0:2* | Copa Interamericana (Final Series) 2001 | NY Red Bulls - Deportivo Petare (Venezuela) 2:0 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Deportivo Petare (Venezuela) - NY Red Bulls 2:1 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Millonarios (Colombia) - NY Red Bulls 2:1 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | NY Red Bulls - Millonarios (Colombia) 0:1 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Kansas City - Sporting Cristal (Peru) 1:2 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Sporting Cristal (Peru) - Kansas City 2:1 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Barcelona SC (Ecuador) - Kansas City 2:3 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2001 | Kansas City - Barcelona SC (Ecuador) 1:1 | Conmebol Copa Merconorte (Group Stage) 2005 | DC United - Universidad Católica (Chile) 1:1 | Conmebol Copa Sudamericana (R16) 2005 | Universidad Católica (Chile) - DC United 3:2 | Conmebol Copa Sudamericana (R16) 2022 | Seattle Sounders - Al Ahly (Egypt) 0:1** | FIFA Club World Cup (Second Round) *Played in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) **Hosted by Morocco. Played in February 2023 I count 3 wins, 2 draws, and 8 losses. Most matches are from the 2001 Copa Merconorte. Not included are games against other Concacaf teams in Conmebol tournaments.
Dreaming about Real Madrid also got the better of Flamengo today. Saudi Arabia and Riyadh's Al Hilal have now, in the span of a few months, beaten the South American champions at the World Cup and Club World Cup.
Seen results like Flamengo, the best team in the Americas, losing really peaks my interest in an expanded CWC. Also, must be a tough day for the "MLS suckzz" crowd. They said because Seattle lost to an Egyptian team then that is proof that "MLS suckzz". Wonder if they are saying the same thing about the Brazilian league because they lost to a Saudi team?
For a confederation that gets an automatic pass to the semifinal, you'd think they'd have a better winning percentage than 43% in that round. And yet, going back to 2016, that's what they're putting up. An expanded CWC will be a ton of fun, especially if it has a half-decent format.
Most of the time, by the time the CWC is played, the good players have been raided. Also Asian competitiveness is not to be triffled with. BUt yes I would also like to see an expanded CWC
And it only mildly improves (to 50%) once you go back 10 years: 2013: Raja Casablanca - Atlético Mineiro 3:1 2014: San Lorenzo - Auckland City 2:1 AET 2015: Sanfrecce Hiroshima - River Plate 0:1 2016: Atlético Nacional - Kashima Antlers 0:3 2017: Grêmio - Pachuca 1:0 AET 2018: River Plate - Al Ain 2:2; 4:5 PSO 2019: Flamengo - Al Hilal 3:1 2020: Palmeiras - Tigres UANL 0:1 2021: Palmeiras - Al Ahly 2:0 2022: Flamengo - Al Hilal 2:3 But to those following Asian club soccer, Flamengo's defeat isn't a huge surprise. Al Hilal have been playing at a reasonably high level for several years now. They gave Chelsea a good match last year as well. Up next in a few hours, Al Ahly-Real Madrid.
In the last three editions, due to Covid-19 and Qatar 2022, there was a transfer window between Libertadores final and CWC. However, going forward - now that Africa and Asia have aligned their Champions League with the "European" calendar - the Libertadores winners are actually best placed to take their momentum from the final (November) into the CWC (December). At least for the next two editions until the 2025 expansion.
- So... 1-1 vs CONCACAF, 1-1 vs CAF, 2-3 vs AFC, 1-0 vs OFC. From 2013 onward, it looks like all the confederations except UEFA and OFC have been more-or-less evenly matched.
Will there be 2 more editions in the current format? I think this tournament is going to be taking a nap.
If the final and 3rd place game come close to selling out, this CWC will be the highest attended (on average) in the history of the tournament.
Yes, because of the World Cup route of Morocco Anyway, there are fans out there. But to make this tournament more known in the world, I think it should be hosted sometimes by European countries or at least South America. At this point, FIFA thought at something like "Let's give Middle Eastern countries the opportunity to see teams like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich live". This may work for globalization but at the same time it should add to the minds of top football fans (Europe) that there are other clubs/teams in the world. Surely for a Club World Cup final played at the Santiago Bernabeu, there will be at least 60k fans for a match like Real Madrid - Al Hilal. And for that, many Europeans will understand what this competition is. le: Sorry, I thought this is the general Clubs World Cup thread.
The right time to "take a nap" would have been now. With Qatar 2022 and the upcoming expansion (and switch to quadrennial format). But now that they held a 2022 edition I would be very surprised if they don't have the annual format for 2023 and 2024. It makes sense for Infantino to keep the current format going until the expanded format is secured beyond doubt with all the stakeholders.