FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ Inter Miami facing Al Ahly today
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, taking place from June 14 to July 13, is undoubtedly FIFA’s boldest bet in a long time. For the first time, 32 teams will face off every four years in a format like the one used by national teams from 1998 to 2022: eight groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the round of 16, followed by single-elimination playoffs.
The tournament opens Saturday with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami facing Al Ahly at Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium. Thirty-two teams are taking part in the newly expanded tournament that will be played across 11 U.S. cities. The final is set for July 13 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
On the sporting side, the event is highly promising. It will feature 12 European giants: Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid from Spain, Inter Milan and Juventus from Italy, Manchester City and Chelsea from England, recent Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain from France, and Germany’s Bayern Munich. There will be 10 teams from the Americas, such as Boca Juniors, Flamengo, River Plate, Palmeiras, Botafogo, Pachuca, and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. The tournament is rounded out by four teams from Asia, four from Africa, and one from Oceania – which happens to be an amateur side.
Who: Inter Miami vs Al Ahly
What: FIFA Club World Cup 2025
Where: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, United States.
When: Saturday, June 14 – 8PM kickoff (00:00 GMT on Sunday, June 15)
The rebranded and expanded FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on Saturday, and the organisers have picked a plum tie to launch the 32-team tournament.
Miami finished as the club with the most points in Major League Soccer’s (MLS) regular season, handing them a place at the Club World Cup instead of LA Galaxy, who won the MLS Cup, which is regarded as the highest prize in the MLS.
FIFA announced Miami’s addition to the Club World Cup in October after they broke MLS’s regular-season points record with a 6-2 win over New England Revolution to reach 74 points – one better than the previous record set by New England in 2021.
Al Ahly were crowned CAF (Confederation of Africa Football) Champions League winners two seasons ago to qualify for this tournament.
They were, however, dethroned as Africa’s continental kings last season, leading to the departure of the coach, Marcel Koller, following their loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in the semifinals of CAF’s showpiece.
Jose Riveiro, who coached Orlando Pirates of South Africa last season, has been appointed as the new coach, and Inter Miami will mark his first game in charge.
Former England and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham bought a $25m stake in the franchise that would become Inter Miami in 2014. In doing so, he was exercising a clause from his contract during his playing days with the MLS.
Inter Miami eventually debuted in 2020 and is also co-owned by American business magnates, Jorge and Jose Mas, although Beckham is very much the figurehead of the club.
Messi is a two-time winner of the competition. The Argentine forward lifted the trophy with Barcelona on both occasions in 2009 and 2011. He may well come up against his manager at the time.
Much of Miami’s chances rest on Messi’s shoulders. “He’s in good shape this season. There were moments when we had to give him some time to rest, but he’s played the last 15 games, except for the match against Dallas when we rested the entire squad,” said Inter manager Javier Mascherano.
“We were also fortunate he was able to rest during Argentina’s last two games,” he added, referring to Messi playing 111 minutes in Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia earlier this month.
