News: 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: General [Multiple Rs]

Not looking good after that hit. Down for a second time now. May have to be subbed off.

 

J. Arias with the perfect pass for a counter but Flu just cannot buy a goal right now.

 

He’s back.

The way Flu are wasting chances is going to haunt them.

 

Gotta put in the other Colombian winger Serna. He is good at putting shots on target.

 

That Swiss keeper is a beast.

 

0-0.
Flu outplayed them but just could not get the 3 points.

 

Scoreless at the final whistle.

Good showing for Flu but UEFA remains undefeated.

 

Can’t help but to rep this one.

Come to think of it, there are three starting Swiss keepers at this CWC. Kobel, as just seen, Yann Sommer (Inter Milan), and Stefan Frei (Seattle).

Up next. River Plate - Urawa Reds.

 

I was assuming it will always break trail for the World Cup, as it it doing now.

 

Good point. You probably just jinxed River.

 

That’s not a given, even though it took the calendar spot of the Confederations Cup. It was supposed to be in China initially in 2021. Because of the limited time leading up to it the US was the obvious choice for this one. Iberia-Morocco could also make sense for 2029 but Saudi Arabia in 2033 won’t.

Personally, I hope they separate after 2029. Spreading out the FIFA events will grow the sport better, and regions that missed out on the World Cup can look forward to the CWC.

 

Pretty brisk pace for an afternoon match.

And River hit the post…

[Edit] And they score

 

1:0 River at halftime.

Urawa with a (correctly) disallowed goal but they have had their chances. Still very much in this.

 

And it ends 3:1 River.

Up next (while I sleep) Ulsan - Mamelodi Sundowns.

I remember Sundowns’ last and only CWC appearance well. In 2016 they only played well one half out of four and lost both matches to Asian opposition:

Mamelodi Sundowns - Kashima Antlers 0:2 (Second Round)
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors - Mamelodi Sundowns 4:1 (5th Place)

So they already played Ulsan’s Hyundai sister club.

This year I also rate them as the weakest African participant. I frankly expect them to lose all three matches. Why you ask? Well, they are naive in their match approach and lack the (intercontinental) experience on this stage.

In a way, the South African Premier League is the “MLS” of Africa. Its clubs are at home in the confederation’s strongest economy with a relatively good sporting infrastructure. But they don’t travel well and don’t know how to cynically grind out results like their North African counterparts.

The result? One CAF Champions League in 25 years.

 

Oi lads!

What is it with this Tourney and Empty Stadiums?

https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...front-of-50-000-empty-seats-chelsea-s-maresca

Id reckon Ecuador vs Qatar WC 2022 was Sold out or nearly sold out , whats going on?

 

Most of the games have done a good deal better than this for attendance, but the English media pretends that the Chelsea game is the only one that happened. That one was at 3 pm on a Monday and included a team that just qualified two weeks ago. Chelsea fans have known about this for months--why didn't they show up as well as the fans of Al Ahly or Espérance de Tunis?

Not sure what relevance Ecuador vs. Qatar has to this.

 

Gotta hope Borja wakes up and gets on a hot streak.

 

Yes, he was the hottest goal scorer on the planet before Copa America. Since then he has been the coldest.
He is due for a good streak but yes, against good competition it will be difficult.

 

Some woeful finishing though, especially that chance about 15 minutes into the 2nd half. I am pretty sure my 11 year old niece puts that away easily.

Though Flu-Borussia was a pretty entertaining match. Guess I have been lucky - both matches I saw were good. Probably the 2 best (this one and Boca x Benfica).

 

obviously ecuador vs qatar was sold out because it was the opening match of the world cup in qatar. what does that have to do with this tournament?

if anything, i think attendance and the atmosphere has been pretty good considering this is a novel tournament. i know some of you have an agenda against the CWC, but it's absolutely going nowhere, especially now that teams are clearly gonna take it seriously.

 

The irony here being that the Chelsea game was empty because it was the Chelsea game. European fans don’t travel off the continent + British Isles.

 

Well, Sundowns clearly went out of their way to prove me wrong.

Congrats to Rayados for holding Inter Milan to a draw.