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Al Hilal eliminate Manchester City in seven-goal Club World Cup thriller: Live updates and reaction – The Athletic – The New York Times

July 1, 2025 by quixnet

FIFA Club World Cup
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Updated 4h ago
Manchester City have been eliminated from the Club World Cup by Al Hilal after the game of the tournament so far.
The Saudi Arabian side edged a seven-goal thriller in Orlando thanks to Marcos Leonardo’s 112th-minute winner. It was his second goal of the game, a match that provided superb entertainment throughout and finished 4-3.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for Man City before a chaotic start to the second half saw Leonardo, Malcom and Erling Haaland score goals to send the game to extra time.
Phil Foden cancelled out Kalidou Koulibaly's header in that additional period before Leonardo won it, stabbing in from close range after Ederson had denied Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with a superb save.
Al Hilal will face Fluminense in the quarter-final.
GO FURTHER
How Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stunned Man City in Club World Cup – ex-Premier League stars, kick-off protest and cost of exit
The round of 16 comes to a conclusion on Tuesday, as the final two spots in the quarter-final will be decided. Here's what we've got to look forward to.
3 p.m. ET – Real Madrid vs Juventus – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
9 p.m. ET – Borussia Dortmund vs Monterrey – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
And don't forget, you can find live coverage of both matches right here on The Athletic.
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Once the Manchester City players and staff have had their well-earned rest this summer, their focus is clear for next season.
Bernardo Silva started the goalscoring for Manchester City, and the new club captain cut a frustrated figure when he spoke after the match.
More from Guardiola after the match.
Our quarter-final line-up at the Club World Cup is nearing completion.
With Al Hilal grabbing the sixth spot, just two are left up for grabs.
Friday, July 4
Saturday, July 5
Pep Guardiola seemed relatively upbeat when he spoke after the match and I'm sure, in the back of his mind, he is very much looking forward to a holiday now.
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Manchester City's very long season is finally over. It started all the way back on August 10 with the Community Shield victory over Manchester United, but we don't count that as a major honour around here.
It was a rare tough campaign for Pep Guardiola and his players and they have finished it without one of the big prizes.
Their mid-season wobble threatened to destroy their season completely but they did manage to make it into the Champions League. Given the signings they have already made this summer, we can certainly expect them to challenge again next term.
Anonymous: As a Liverpool fan, I have to say that was almost as much fun as winning the Premier League this year.
Dillon O.: Obviously a disappointing result and atrocious defending, but I’m going to look at the positives: Our players will actually have a summer break now, Foden is scoring goals again, Doku appears back in form, our new signings are bedding in well, three out of four goals today came without Rodri on the pitch.
Andross F.: For being at the game, it was a great game overall. Man City showed their seasons faults this game but congrats to Al-Hilal, they played with heart out there against the defending Club World Cup champs.
Kenny F.: Wow. What an incredible game. This tournament has had its ups and downs and some surprising results, but who could’ve guessed that the game of the tournament would be a knockout match between a club from Saudi and a club from Abu Dhabi.
Hard to imagine Manchester City will be too devastated by the time they wake up tomorrow. $50 million-plus in the bank for two weeks of work and their players get a more extended break ahead of the new season.
Meanwhile, this puts Al-Hilal’s participation and prize money from the Club World Cup up to around $35m for their owners PIF.
More from Koulibaly, who stressed again the quality of the opposition that he and his team-mates overcame tonight.
It will be Marcos Leonardo that steals the headlines from this match — and for good reason. But Ruben Neves was brilliant for Al Hilal too.
The former Wolves man spent most of the game as the middle centre-back in Simone Inzaghi's five-back formation and didn't look at all out of place. And he was able to affect the game at the other end of the pitch as well.
His set-piece delivery was typically superb throughout the night and it was one of those crosses that got him an assist for Kalidou Koulibaly's headed goal in extra time.
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Kalidou Koulibaly was a key influence in both penalty areas tonight, helping to keep City at bay defensively and then scoring in the other penalty area during extra time.
It is hard to gauge the significance of matches at this tournament, but this has to be seen as an enormous result and occasion for Al-Hilal, for Saudi Arabian football and for Asian football, not to mention a significant boost to the Club World Cup as a competition.
Nobody should imagine that this was Manchester City at the peak of their powers, coming off the back of their worst campaign in years and in a peculiar condition fitness-wise between seasons, but Al-Hilal were excellent, producing a disciplined, incisive counter-attacking display that will have delighted their new coach Simone Inzaghi.
To have a club from the Middle East in the quarter-final, as well as two from Brazil, is an extremely positive development. Al-Hilal have certainly been one of the most impressive teams at the tournament, in which they are still unbeaten.
Beyond that, it was an enthralling game of the type the tournament needs. Coming on the back of Fluminense’s victory over Inter, this felt like a positive day for the tournament — with the focus on the on-pitch action rather than heat, storms and empty seats.
Derek M.: Tough to see Cancelo get one over on us, especially when full-back is such a glaring weakness for City. (Not that Cancelo would help in any way, but we aren’t a serious team sending out Nunes at right-back).
Matt C.: No surprise that a corner from Cancelo to Koulibaly results in a thumping goal. Why do I never feel that goal danger when City take yet another corner?
Ben W.: Predictable Pep. All the new signings. Still plays Gundogan from the start. What's wrong with Nico? Predictable Pep passing. Too mechanical and open as always to counters. Akanji, always playing. Why? Poor from Pep.
A level-headed reaction from Erling Haaland's father, who sees the benefit in Manchester City exiting this competition earlier than expected.
For me, that was the game of the tournament so far and the man at the heart of it, Marcos Leonardo, turned in one of the performances of the Club World Cup.
Not only did he provide two goals, including the winner, he was everywhere for Al Hilal on the night.
I'm not sure I'll ever know how he was still sprinting around before finally being substituted in the 116th minute.
An incredible shift from the 22-year-old Brazilian.
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Manchester City led Al Hilal in every major attacking statistical category tonight, except for the one that mattered!
In the first 11 matches of Pep Guardiola's managerial career at the Club World Cup, his sides from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City combined to concede a total of just four goals, outscoring their opponents 38-4.
In one night, that total numbers of goals allowed has doubled. Unsurprisingly, this is also Pep's first-ever loss at the Club World Cup.
To state the obvious: with Al Hilal and Fluminense meeting in the quarter-final, we're now guaranteed a semifinalist from beyond UEFA, avoiding the "a second, lesser Champions League" scenario.

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