ORLANDO: Pep Guardiola鈥檚 Man-chester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with a 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday while Vinicius Junior starred as Real Madrid beat Salzb-urg 3-0 to secure a spot in the last 16.
Elsewhere, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to pip Salzburg to the last berth in the knockout phase, as Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casa-blanca in the day鈥檚 other game.
All but three of the teams through to the knockout stages are from Europe and South America with the field for the last-16 settled after the last group-stage matches on Thursday.
City became the only side at the tournament to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,320 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
City now face Al Hilal, the only Asian representative in the next round after goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca, who ended their campaign winless.
鈥淥ur goal was to achieve (being in) the group of the best teams in the world,鈥 Al Hilal coach Simeone Inzaghi said. 鈥淲e were not coming here just to have fun, we were coming here to play a World Cup and we wanted to reach this stage.
鈥淣ow we鈥檒l have to play against Manchester City … it鈥檚 one of the greatest teams in the world. These are the games where you can improve and you can mature as a team, so I鈥檓 very proud.鈥
City winger Jeremy Doku pounced for the early opener after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball.
However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments in which Guardiola鈥檚 team let their focus slip.
Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes鈥 cross to restore City鈥檚 lead.
The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland鈥檚 introduction.
The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth.
Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri a first start after his long injury lay-off.
鈥淢anchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that鈥檚 the truth, that needs to be acknowledged,鈥 said Juventus coach Igor Tudor as his side finished second in Group 鈥楪鈥. 鈥淭he stars didn鈥檛 align for us to play better tonight.鈥
Meanwhile, Al Ain got the better of Wydad in Washington, DC in a meeting of two teams who were already eliminated but were hoping to sign off with a victory.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a good experience. It was a difficult group, with (Manchester) City and Juventus, but we competed until the end. I think this is good for the team,鈥 Al Ain midfielder Alejandro Romero, who scored the winning goal, said.
South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted the Moroccans into an early lead but Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain.
That was Al Ain鈥檚 first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and City, respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been difficult, and we are sorry that we didn鈥檛 get the best result. Didn鈥檛 win, but learned a lot,鈥 said Mailula. 鈥淚t was a great experience for us as a team going forward, also just for us to focus and regroup, and yes, to learn. The most important thing is to learn and take lessons to grow.鈥
VINICIUS DAZZLE
In Philadelphia, Vinicius scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Real saw off Salzburg to clinch top spot in Group 鈥楬鈥.
Real play Juventus in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Under steady rain in Philadelphia, Xabi Alonso鈥檚 Real dominated proceedings in front of a 64,811 crowd at Lincoln Financial Field against a lacklustre Salzburg, who created few clear-cut chances.
Salzburg鈥檚 18-year-old goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky was sharp from the outset and denied Vinicius an early opener with a point-blank save.
The Brazilian forward squandered further opportunities while Gonzalo Garcia also missed a golden chance from a Vinicius cross near the half-hour mark.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 40th minute with Jude Bellingham threading a perfectly timed pass through to Vinicius, who danced past two defenders and unleashed from the edge of the box to leave Zawieschitzky with no chance.
Vinicius played a pivotal role in Real鈥檚 second during first-half added time, picking up a loose ball in the box and delivering an audacious back-heeled pass to Federico Valverde, who fired home from close range.
Real maintained control in the second half but continued to waste chances in front of goal and it was not until the 84th minute that Garcia wrapped up the win, lobbing over the Salzburg goalkeeper in a quick counter. Real end the first round of FIFA鈥檚 new tournament unbeaten.
鈥淚 am pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins,鈥 Alonso told broadcaster DAZN.
Real were once again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to play at the tournament as he recovers from illness.
鈥淲e thought Kylian would make it and it wasn鈥檛 to be. Now we have four days and I want to be optimistic but cautious at the same time,鈥 Alonso said.
Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025