With the 2025 Club World Cup heading towards the quarter-final stage, several unexpected teams are still in contention to lift the trophy.
Al-Hilal’s stunning victory over Manchester City in their last-16 tie was undoubtedly the biggest shock in the history of FIFA’s showpiece event.
While sales for Club World Cup tickets have been hit and miss up to this point, the demand on the secondary marketplace Seatsnet.com will likely increase on the back of this result.
With that in mind, read on as we look at some of the most impressive teams at the Club World Cup, starting with the Saudi Pro League (SPL) giants.
Al-Hilal
- Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal
- Red Bull Salzburg 0-0 Al-Hilal
- Al-Hilal 2-0 Pachuca
- Manchester City 3-4 Al-Hilal (aet)
Online bookmakers rated Man City as the overwhelming favourites to win the game, but they exited the tournament after suffering a 4-3 defeat after extra time.
This was the first time a team from the Asian confederation had beaten a European side in an official FIFA tournament in 21 attempts.
Manager Pep Guardiola had never previously been defeated in the tournament, having won all 11 matches while in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.
His team should have won the game after dominating possession, but they were unable to handle Al-Hilal’s ability on the counter-attack.
Although numerous pundits have claimed the result proves the SPL is better than people think, Al-Hilal were fortunate that City were wasteful in attacking areas.
That does not detract from what is undoubtedly a seismic result against a team many people thought would go on to win the tournament this summer.
Al-Hilal now face another tough test against Brazilian club Fluminense, who progressed to the quarter-finals courtesy of a stunning victory over Inter Milan.
Fluminense
- Fluminense 0-0 Borussia Dortmund
- Fluminense 4-2 Ulsan HD
- Mamelodi Sundowns 0-0 Fluminense
- Inter Milan 0-2 Fluminense
Fluminense went under the radar after progressing through a favourable group, but sent a warning to their rivals with a superb win in their last-16 tie.
Champions League runners Inter Milan were heavily tipped to reach the quarter-finals, but the Brazilian side shocked them with a 2-0 win.
Inter forward Lautaro Martinez had several chances to equalise before the second goal, while Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij should also have scored.
Fluminense celebrated wildly at the end of the game, leaving the impression that the tournament means much more to South American teams than many of Europe’s big-hitters.
Conditions in the United States have favoured them, with the excessive heat and poor-quality pitches not suiting many of the teams from the European confederation.
Fluminense will fancy their chances against Al-Hilal in a quarter-final fixture which promises to be an intriguing clash of styles.
However, they would be well-advised not to underestimate the SPL side, who demonstrated their ability to upset the odds by beating Man City in the previous round.
Palmeiras
- Palmeiras 0-0 Porto
- Palmeiras 2-0 Al-Ahly
- Inter Miami 2-2 Palmeiras
- Palmeiras 1-0 Botafogo (aet)
Palmeiras safely navigated their way through Group A without losing a game, before defeating Botafogo 1-0 after extra-time in the round of 16.
They finished the game with 10 men after captain Gustavo Gomez was dismissed and now face a tough test against Premier League side Chelsea.
Palmeiras showed plenty of determination to emerge victorious in a bad-tempered clash, and they could give the Blues plenty to think about in the quarter-finals.
Winger Paulinho has made his mark as a substitute, scoring against Inter Miami and Botafogo after coming off the bench.
Palmeiras have kept clean sheets in three of their four games at the Club World Cup. They have also scored four goals through substitutes in the tournament.
The Brazilian side are currently fourth in their domestic league, just two points behind table-topping Flamengo after 11 games.
Given that Flamengo defeated Chelsea 3-1 in the group stage, it is not unreasonable to think that Palmeiras could repeat the trick in Philadelphia.
Bayern Munich
- Bayern Munich 10-0 Auckland City
- Bayern Munich 2-1 Boca Juniors
- Benfica 1-0 Bayern Munich
- Flamengo 2-4 Bayern Munich
Victories over Auckland City and Boca Juniors ensured Bayern Munich had booked their place in the knockout stage ahead of their final group game against Benfica.
Bayern fielded a weakened team on that occasion and were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. Their big guns subsequently returned for their last-16 tie against Flamengo.
England captain Harry Kane scored his 40th and 41st goals of the season in all competitions as Bayern recorded a 4-2 victory over the Brazilian side.
Flamengo went into the game on an 11-match unbeaten run, so the Bundesliga champions deserve plenty of praise for the manner of their performance.
Kane will be crucial to their hopes of defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, and it will be intriguing to see how he fares against their defence.
PSG have conceded just one goal in four games at the tournament and will be confident they can keep the former Tottenham Hotspur striker quiet.
Bayern defeated PSG 1-0 in the opening phase of the 2024/25 Champions League and will back themselves to progress past the French club into the semi-finals.
Club World Cup 2025 – Quarter-final draw
- Palmeiras vs Chelsea
- Fluminense vs Al-Hilal
- Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich
- Real Madrid or Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund or Monterrey
