After Egypt’s Ahly on Saturday held hosts Lionel Messi and the rest of Inter Miami to a 0-0 draw – or should it be the other way around – their Group A adversaries also finished scoreless a day later, leaving the group wide open.
As it stands, all four teams – Ahly, Inter Miami of the US, Brazil’s Palmeiras and Porto of Portugal – have one point apiece from one game each. No goals scored anywhere.
Ahly, with an extra day off, face off against Palmeiras on Thursday 19 June. Inter Miami and Porto will meet the same day in two clashes that could determine which two will advance to the round of 16.
This will be the second match for both teams in the revamped Club World Cup (CWC) being held in the US for the first time. The top two teams from each of the eight groups will advance.
Ahly have faced Palmeiras before in the CWC. The Egyptians secured a 3-2 victory after a shootout in the match for the bronze medal in 2020 but suffered a 2-0 defeat in the semi-finals in 2022 against the Brazilian side.
Rewinding the tape a bit, in last Saturday’s Ahly-Inter Miami clash, for a change, an Argentinian not named Messi stole the show.
Inter Miami’s 38-year-old goalkeeper Oscar Ustari made eight saves, his parry of a bullet header from close range by centre-back Achraf Dari in the 33rd minute was second only to stopping Mahmoud Trezeguet’s penalty just before halftime.
Zizo, substituting for Emam Ashour, had been brought down in the area but Ustari guessed right when he dived right to thwart Trezeguet, then ensured danger was averted when the ball rebounded to Trezeguet who flubbed the ball into Ustari’s hands. It would have been a dream goal for Trezeguet who returned to Ahly following a nine-year hiatus.
Before that sequence, Ustari, who was named MVP, had blocked a breakaway from Ashour and a point-blank shot from Hamdi Fathi. Wessam Abou Ali also had a goal ruled out for offside and later forced Ustari into a fingertip save with a monster free-kick.
Just before the half, Luis Suarez’s looper eluded goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Shenawi but Abou Ali made a dramatic goal-line clearance.
After Miami withstood the deluge, Messi and company woke up in the second half. One ball eluded Ahly defender Yasser Ibrahim but Al-Shenawi was there for the smother. Messi shaved the post with a free kick in the 60th minute. His long, curling shot from afar was tipped by diving goalkeeper Al-Shenawi and brushed off the crossbar in the 96th minute.
Like his counterpart, Al-Shenawi also had a strong game, posting six saves in the draw. He was called into action several more times late in the game, denying Tadeo Allende from close range and producing a beautiful diving stop to keep out a powerful header from substitute Fafa Picault.
In the 95th minute, Maximiliano Falcon’s shot banged off the head of Al-Shenawi for an unwitting save at the death.
They’ve met before: Ahly had met Messi twice before, both times when he was with Barcelona. Barcelona won 4-0 in 2007 when Ahly were commemorating their 100th anniversary. Two years later, Barcelona defeated Ahly 4-1 in another friendly.
The takeaways from Saturday’s match? Though scoreless, it was entertaining. It was a tale of two goaltenders who were superb. And the halves were even. Ahly dominated the first half and Miami had the good fortune of surviving the onslaught. Miami had the better chances after the break, with Messi’s free kick and curling long shot both hitting the woodwork.
For the record, since there were no goals, one of the highlight reels was Ahly midfielder Marwan Attiya cleanly stripping the ball off Messi who was going for goal.
For another record, the coin toss was dropped and needed a do-over which got a laugh from the two captains.
Ahly can now clap back at dissenters who questioned the wisdom of hiring a coach, Spanish tactician Jose Riveiro, just two weeks before the tournament began. The club would also insist that their offseason trades for the likes of Zizo and Trezeguet, who had never played together in a competitive club match, was successful as the pair showed reasonable chemistry between them and with the rest of their teammates. However, Ashour is out for the rest of the tournament with a broken collarbone. His absence in midfield could make a difference.
Additionally, the 37-year-old Messi seems to have ditched his once magical runs for often dangerous curling drives.
There is also history to note. Inter Miami features Messi and three other former star Barcelona teammates Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, but the club is only five years old. Compare that with Ahly. When it comes to winning heritage, there is no competition. Ahly, founded in 1907, has won a record 45 national league titles and 39 domestic cups — another record. It qualified for the Club World Cup three times over by winning three of the last four African Champions League titles. The Egyptian giants have participated in the CWC on nine previous occasions and have won four bronze medals.
Ahly have the second highest number of appearances at the Club World Cup, just behind New Zealand’s Auckland City, who hold the record with 10. This was Inter Miami’s first CWC taste.
The Saturday night game (which started at 3am Cairo time), was played in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The official attendance was 60,927, with reportedly more than half of the crowd supporting Ahly.
Casting a glance around almost 5,000 empty green seats could not have pleased FIFA President Gianni Infantino. This new CWC version is Infantino’s idea and he has used every bone in his body to hype it up. But he must have been let down and not just by empty seats in Hard Rock; Palmeiras and Porto tied before a crowd of 46,275 at MetLife Stadium, which was just over half full, confirming reported ticket sales moving sluggishly. The most famous absentee in the opener was US President Donald Trump. Trump was busy attending a military parade in Washington; it was also his 79th birthday.
Thus, for company, Infantino had to settle for Inter Miami’s co-owner and newly-knighted David Beckham and legendary past footballers, the Brazilian Ronaldo and Roberto Baggio.
Infantino had become so eager to promote his CWC project that a few days before the tournament began, he said two words in Arabic to Ahly’s supporters: “Yalla Shabab, [come on guys] come here, enjoy, have fun, support your team. Enjoy the World Cup. It is a world stage… the very first. It will be fantastic.”
This tournament is the first of its kind; that’s true. But “fantastic” is questionable.
The truth is that the Club World Cup, ever since its inception in 2005, has been both much anticipated in some parts and much maligned in others.
In its previous format, which involved a mini-tournament of just seven teams instead of 32, it never fully captured global interest. Played in the middle of the season during Europe’s top leagues, it had the feel of an exhibition rather than a serious tournament. Imagine in the old format a team reaching the final after playing – and winning – just one game. Now, the winning team must play a total of seven games. This Club World Cup will also henceforth be held every four years instead of one. And it is to be played in the summer.
Infantino believes the tournament is what the sport has been waiting for.
“For the first time in history, the 32 best clubs in the world will compete in a tournament to determine finally who is the best club in the world,” he said recently.
That is not entirely accurate.
There are many world-class clubs who were not invited. Why? The qualifying criteria were based on winners of continental trophies in the four years prior to the tournament, but not including the season directly before it.
Meaning that Liverpool were left out despite winning the Premier League, the most popular league in the world, by a country mile.
That’s why Chelsea — Champions League winner in 2021 — have a seat at the table despite finishing fourth in the Premier League last month.
The same goes for Barcelona and Napoli -- champions of Spain and Italy, respectively. Not invited.
No place either for current Asian champion Ahly from Saudi Arabia or Pyramids — the African champion from Egypt.
Clubs were also chosen according to accrued points over the past four seasons, based on their performances in their continental club competitions. That’s why PSG, perennial kings of Ligue 1, were chosen - not because they won the Champions League last month.
Why Inter Miami is playing: One club choice which stirred the most controversy: the hosts themselves, Inter Miami.
Inter Miami were winners of the regular season, taking Major League Soccer’s Supporters’ Shield for the best performance. But they were beaten in the more important MLS play-offs, meaning they are not the champions. That distinction went to the LA Galaxy who won the actual MLS play-offs - but were stunningly left out.
FIFA was never to be denied having Messi, one of the best players in history, and an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, in the tournament. So, it came up with a new category: the “representative” of the host nation.
Since its inception the tournament has always had a place for the champion of the host nation – which Miami is not. But also, never did it give a team an arbitrary title such as this, seemingly just to allow Inter Miami a way in.
FIFA determined that the double star power of Messi and co-owner Beckham should appear in a tournament as big as the Club World Cup and one being held in the US. The presence of Messi in particular would add glamour and interest, and boost the chances of FIFA selling out stadiums.
So, a tournament devised to determine the best team in the world by largely bringing together continental champions, managed to let in a team that hadn’t even managed to win its own national title.
The tournament is being held in the US from 14 June to 13 July, using 12 stadiums in 11 cities for 63 matches.
The final will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the same stadium that will play host to the 2026 World Cup final.
In fact, the Club World Cup will serve mainly as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup which will be jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
Among the powerhouse clubs in the tournament: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan. There’s also the four highest-ranked teams from South America: Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate and Fluminense.
Africa’s entries include Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa. Saudi Arabia sends Al-Hilal, the 2021 champion of Asia, which won the domestic league last season.
Europe got 12 spots and South America six to lead the field, while Africa, Asia and North America all got four each — with Inter Miami essentially a fifth from North America. Oceania got one spot.
Unlike previous tournaments, this Club World Cup will have no third-place play-off. That might be bad news for Ahly who have never won the tournament or reached the final but have finished four times in third place.
Should Ahly advance from Group A by coming in first or second, they will face one of the two qualifying teams from Group B, which features Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Brazilian club Botafogo, and US side the Seattle Sounders.
Eye cameras: Referees at this Club World Cup will wear eye-level cameras to allow fans to see exactly what the officials are looking at during a match. The camera will be attached to the referee’s earpiece.
FIFA says the refcam view could be used to show unique angles of goals scored and offer different perspectives of the game that normal cameras cannot see.
However, footage will be checked before being broadcast rather than shown live. FIFA said only “non-controversial” images will be shown during the match. It has not specified what that means.
Another innovation is to show footage being reviewed by VAR for the first time on big screens inside the stadium, allowing fans to see exactly what the official saw before making a call.
FIFA also announced a clampdown on time wasting by goalkeepers at the Club World Cup.
Previous rules specified keepers can’t hold onto the ball for longer than six seconds, but that was frequently flouted.
The time limit has now been extended to eight seconds, but referees will be much stricter in enforcement.
The referee will also count down from five seconds with their hand to indicate the time remaining. If a keeper holds onto the ball for longer than eight seconds, a corner kick will be awarded to the opposition, rather than an indirect free kick, which was the previous punishment.
Riches galore: In terms of the cash pot, that has increased; this CWC is one of the richest in professional sports. Prize money of $1 billion will be split between the teams, with the tournament winners earning up to $131 million.
A win in the group phase will add $2 million, a draw $1 million, and a top-two finish and qualification for the knockout phase $7.5 million.
By securing places in the tournament, Ahly, Esperance of Tunisia, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco are each guaranteed $9.55 million appearance fees.
To put that in context, the bonanza is the equivalent of Sundowns winning nine league titles in South Africa, the African country with the richest football prize money.
In more context, winners of the premier African club competition, the CAF Champions League, receive $4 million for playing 14 or 16 matches. The CWC version has only seven games.
FIFA firmly dismissed much criticism that the competition has contributed to further congestion in the fixture calendar. It pointed out that the competition simply replaces the one previously used for the FIFA Confederations Cup, even though the cup was for countries, not clubs and invited only eight nations.
In that vein, FIFA is considering the expansion of the Club World Cup to 48 teams by 2029, contingent on the success of this tournament, with the push coming from clubs who failed to qualify for the inaugural competition, The Guardian reported.
If that’s the case, this Club World Cup could reveal just how much more expansion the game is capable of and willing to accept.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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