FIFA Club World Cup
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Kylian Mbappe is back in the Real Madrid squad for their Club World Cup last-16 tie against Juventus, but starts the game on the bench.
The Frenchman hasn't played at this tournament yet having been admitted to hospital with acute gastroenteritis during the first week.
In his absence, Madrid eased through Group H, topping it with seven points while opponents Juventus had to settle for the runner-up spot in Group H behind Manchester City.
The winner of this tie will face Borussia Dortmund or Monterrey in the last eight.
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It all started very well in the U.S. for Juventus this summer.
They scored nine goals across their first two matches and conceded just one, results that left them top of Group G heading into their final game against Manchester City. They were dealt a pretty brutal reality check in that game, though, as Pep Guardiola's men thrashed them 5-2 in Orlando.
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As Alonso previewed in his pre-match press conference, defensive duo Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are also back on the bench for Real Madrid.
The last time Carvajal played was October 5, 2024 when he sustained the ACL injury that would curtail his domestic season.
For Militao, the lay-off has been shorter, but only by a month. He suffered a similar injury on November 9 having spent most of the previous on the sidelines. The Brazilian will be desperate to come through this tournament — and then next season — unscathed.
Everyone would have been looking for Kylian Mbappe's name when that Real Madrid teamsheet dropped.
The Frenchman will have to wait for the first start of his Club World Cup career as he has been included among Xabi Alonso's substitutes.
Not a bad player to call upon from the bench…
Here is the team selected by Xabi Alonso for this last-16 tie:
Real Madrid academy striker Gonzalo Garcia is having a life-changing Club World Cup.
He came into the tournament in the background, almost an unknown player to the general public, and three starts later — due to Kylian Mbappe’s acute gastroenteritis — everyone knows what he is capable of now.
Gonzalo scored the first goal for Xabi Alonso’s Madrid in the opener against Al Hilal, was involved in two of the three goals against Pachuca (one was an assist), and scored again against Red Bull Salzburg.
Gonzalo’s story in the competition has been like a movie and now that he is a protagonist, something new about him becomes known every day. The latest is that the 21-year-old’s grandfather, the bullfighter Manuel Torres-Cansino, was a cousin of the American actress Margarita Carmen Cansino, commonly known as Rita Hayworth.
Read more below
It has not been a comfortable period for Vinicius Junior at Real Madrid. There has been criticism about his form, a lot of noise surrounding his future at the club and even boos from the Santiago Bernabeu fans at some games.
At this summer’s Club World Cup, the opening two matches had done nothing to quell all of that, but the Brazil forward responded by dancing in the Philadelphia rain as Madrid beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-0 to finish top of their group.
After scoring and assisting in the first half, his smile on collecting the man-of-the-match trophy summed up his impact at Lincoln Financial Field.
“He had a great game, but I’m not just talking about the goal and the assist,” said Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso. “I’ll take his defensive sacrifice.”
Read more below
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Vinicius Jr is smiling again – and Real Madrid can be truly excited
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Real Madrid didn't look anywhere near their best in their first match of the tournament against Al Hilal, but that was Xabi Alonso's first game in charge. They improved to beat Pachuca despite spending most of the game a man light and they eased past RB Salzburg.
Since replacing Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid manager late last month, Xabi Alonso has repeatedly stressed the importance of time on the training ground to implement new ideas.
The 43-year-old Spaniard only had time for a handful of sessions at Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground before leaving for the Club World Cup, and even then, several of the senior players were missing. Instead, everything has started in earnest over in the United States.
There, observers and sources close to the squad, speaking anonymously to be able to talk openly, have been impressed by the pace and energy of each session, and some have commented on how the intensity appears greater than under Ancelotti.
Read more below
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Xabi Alonso’s new training methods are surprising and exciting at Real Madrid
It feels unlikely that the two defenders will come straight back into the starting XI for today's game, but having them available is a boost on and off the field for the Spaniards. Here is what Alonso had to say about them yesterday.
💬 “For tomorrow, both Carvajal and Militao will be called up. It will be a plus for them and for the team to feel them close in this decisive phase.
“They need competitive rhythm but they will be important next season.”
Mbappe is not the only player who is returning at a key time for Real Madrid.
Alonso is also boosted by two of senior defenders coming back to full fitness at the right time.
Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are the men in question and are both fit for the knockouts after recovering from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.
Xabi Alonso didn't give too much away when asked if the France international would return to the Real Madrid team for today's last-16 tie.
💬 “He is fine, we are talking day by day and he is feeling much better. We will talk tomorrow morning to make the final decision.
“It’s a big possibility he will make (his Club World Cup) debut tomorrow.”
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One of the few things this brand-new Club World Cup has been missing has been a few superstars.
We have seen Lionel Messi, we have seen Erling Haaland and we have seen the new-found heroes of Paris Saint-Germain.
Who we haven't yet seen — no, not Cristiano Ronaldo — is Kylian Mbappe.
The Real Madrid forward spent the first part of the tournament in hospital with acute gastroenteritis and didn't feature at all in the group stage, but we might see him today…
Some players just call it a day, collapse into the warm embrace of retirement. Others go to Saudi Arabia or Qatar for a pay cheque. Some choose MLS: an adventure, but a relatively sanitised one.
Sergio Ramos didn’t go for any of those options when he ran out of road at the top level of European football. He followed in the footsteps of a few like-minded rebels — Andre-Pierre Gignac, Ravel Morrison — and went to Mexico. Ramos is more of a fighter than a lover, but you couldn’t deny the romance of the move.
The four intervening months have done nothing to dim Ramos’ dazzling main-character energy. He is Monterrey’s captain — of course he is — and, judging by the reception he received before kick-off, already a firm fan favourite. He still plays with the same imperious swagger, too. He spent the opening stages here strutting around the place like a bad boy royal at his own house party.
Sergio Ramos spent 16 years at Real Madrid between 2005 and 2021.
He should have left the club with nothing but love in his heart and the hearts of everyone who watched him play like his life depended on it at the Bernabeu.
But it was a messy ending and one that left a bitter taste in the mouth of so many people associated with the club.
If you want to relive the end of Ramos at Madrid, then look no further than the brilliant piece below.
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Sergio Ramos brought noise, love and passion to Real Madrid – he is the ‘last idol of Madridismo’
If Real Madrid beat Juventus here, there will be an intriguing storyline to look forward to in the quarter-final whatever happens in Atlanta later.
It will either be the Bellingham derby or Sergio Ramos will face his former club.
Now at Monterrey, the former Madrid captain will be desperate to set up that meeting in the last eight.
I can almost already see him scoring the bullet header to knock them out…
The eagle-eyed among you will have realised that we could be in for a really interesting storyline in the quarter-final.
Jude Bellingham's Real Madrid are on course to meet Jobe Bellingham's Borussia Dortmund in the last eight.
It will be the first time the two brothers have faced in a senior match and would make for some brilliant photos, I'm sure.
A long way to go before we can worry about that, though…
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Three of the Club World Cup quarter-finals are set as we look forward to an exciting couple of days at the end of the week.
Friday, July 4
Saturday, July 5
The Club World Cup could just as easily be considered the Confederation World Cup, given the legacy of each football continent sending its best team into global battle.
And generally, the European team has come out on top.
The above shows how 20 years of the tournament breaks down in terms of geography and performance, with a UEFA club in the final in all bar the first running of the competition — when Real Madrid finished fourth and Manchester United were knocked out in the group stage of the 2000 edition in Brazil.
That is why CONMEBOL has more top-three finishes in total.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has been a little different with 32 teams competing — when the previous 20 editions never brought together more than eight clubs each.
Still, the legacy of those early years will continue and a host of famous names will be looking to add to their previous victories.
Here are the most successful clubs in this competition’s history:
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Real Madrid (2014, 2016-18, 2022)
🏆🏆🏆 Barcelona (2009, 2011, 2015)
🏆🏆 Corinthians (2000, 2012), Bayern Munich (2013, 2020)
🏆 São Paulo (2005), Internacional (2006), Milan (2007), Manchester United (2008), Inter (2010), Liverpool (2019), Chelsea (2021), Manchester City (2023)