Manchester City’s defence of the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) came to a thrilling end in Orlando, as Al Hilal staged a remarkable comeback to emerge 4-3 winners and progress to the quarter-finals, ending Pep Guardiola’s 100% winning record in this competition in the process.
2025 Club World Cup
3-4
Match Report
Big pre-match favourites Man City got off to a perfect - albeit controversial start - when on nine minutes, Bernardo Silva tapped home from close range after a clearance was blocked into his path by Ilkay Gundogan in the six-yard box. A VAR review for handball against the German was quickly dismissed, but the replay being displayed on the big screen sparked vociferous protests from the Al Hilal players that saw the restart delayed.
Simone Inzaghi’s side attempted to channel that sense of injustice into an instant response, but despite some tidy passages of play, Ederson remained untroubled as his side failed to register a shot on target before the break.
The opposite was true at the other end, with Yassine Bounou making save after save to deny the City onslaught for a second goal. Erling Haaland saw his header tipped over the bar, while sharp reflex saves denied Savinho and Jeremy Doku to keep Al Hilal’s deficit at one heading into HT.
Bounou’s heroics looked even more heroic when, with Inzaghi’s team talk still ringing in their ears, Al Hilal staged a remarkable turnaround to flip the game on its head within seven minutes of the restart. First, Marcos Leonardo scrambled an equalizer after City failed to deal with a cross from the right wing, before Malcom was slotted through and sprinted from his own half to slot past Ederson and give the Saudi side the lead.
Their jubilation lasted all of three minutes, though, as Haaland slammed an equaliser home on 55 minutes after Inzaghi’s men failed to clear a corner. The chaotic nature of the contest continued as Malcolm thought he had won a penalty in the immediate aftermath of the game’s fourth goal, only to be denied by a marginal offside in the build-up.
With the players noticeably tiring, the tempo of the game dropped, and ET was inevitable after Ali Lajami produced an outstanding goalline clearance to deny Haaland a late winner.
The Al Hilal players had looked exhausted at the end of regulation time, but they started ET in perfect fashion when Rúben Neves’ pinpoint corner was brilliantly headed past the helpless Ederson by Kalidou Koulibaly.
Guardiola responded with the introduction of Phil Foden, and it immediately paid off when he produced an outstanding first-time finish to make it 3-3 from Rayan Cherki’s stunning cross.
With both sides physically flagging, Al Hilal landed the knockout blow in the 113th minute. Ederson produced an outstanding one-handed save to deny Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but he could only push the ball into the path of Marcos Leonardo, who almost fell into the net with the ball to put his side into the quarter-finals where they will face Fluminense.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
0' Highlight from Man City vs Al-Hilal Saudi FC
4' Doku picks out Ruben Dias with a cross but he can’t steer it away from Bono
8' Reijnders catches Malcom to stop a counter attack down the left flank
9' GOAL! Bernardo picks up the rebound and scores! Man City 1-0 Al-Hilal Saudi FC
12' The ref explains why a handball wasn't given on Ait-Nouri ahead of the kick-off
23' Doku's cuts inside and plays a teasing low ball across the face of goal
28' From the corner created by his save on Gundogan, Bounou saves a Gvardiol header
39' Yellow Card! Matheus Nunes is cautioned after catching Al Harbi
42' Marcos Leonardo heads well over the bar from a promising position
44' Bernardo forces Bounou into another smart save
46' GOAL! Leonardo equalizes just seconds after restart! Man City 1-1 Al-Hilal Saudi
52' GOAL! Malcom fires the ball into the far corner! Man City 1-2 Al-Hilal Saudi FC
55' GOAL! Haaland stabs the ball into the net! Man City 2-2 Al-Hilal Saudi FC
57' No penalty for Al-Hilal as Malcom is ruled offside
62' Akanji gets a vital slide tackle to nick the ball off the toe of Al-Dawsari
71' Marcos Leonardo going down after clash with the defender on the edge of the area
75' Doku diverts the ball onto the roof of the net from all of three yards
84' Haaland's close-range effort is denied by an outstanding goalline clearance
84' Highlight from Man City vs Al-Hilal Saudi FC
94' GOAL! Koulibaly rises highest to head home! Man City 2-3 Al-Hilal Saudi
96' Doku dribbles towards the Al-Hilal goal, the ref blows for the full-time whistle
100' Rodri is replaced by Foden
104' GOAL! Foden volleys home as Cherki assists! Man City 3-3 Al-Hilal Saudi FC
112' GOAL! Leonardo picks up the rebound and fires home! Man City 3-4 Al-Hilal Saudi
113' Highlight from Man City vs Al-Hilal Saudi FC
117' Highlight from Man City vs Al-Hilal Saudi FC
Line-ups
Man City XI: Gundogan, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Doku, Gvardiol, Savinho
Subs: Ortega, Ake, Stones, Bettinelli, Akanji, Rodri, Foden, Omar Marmoush, Nico González, Cherki, Bobb, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis
Al-Hilal Saudi FC XI: Koulibaly, Cancelo, Bounou, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Mohammed Kanoo, Malcom, Lodi, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Moteb Al-Harbi, Marcos Leonardo
Subs: Yasir Al Shahrani, Ali Albulayhi, Ali Lajami, Mohammed Al-Yami, Khalifah Al-Dawsari, Hamad Al-Yami, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Musab Al-Juwayr, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Kaio César, Ahmad Aburasyin, Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood