Saudi club Al Hilal have eliminated English Premier League giant Manchester City from the Club World Cup.
Al Hilal scored the winning goal in the late minutes of extra time to secure a 4-3 victory over the English team.
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The match ended 2-2 after 90 minutes, before 30 minutes of extra time were played.
Despite an early Bernardo Silva opener, Marcos Leonardo, Malcom, Kalidou Koulibaly, and a second from Leonardo turned the game into an all-time classic.
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City were left stunned, as their defensive vulnerabilities were laid bare in a game where they conceded four times and failed to keep pace with Al Hilal’s spirit and speed.
From domination to disaster
City started strong; Silva’s early goal seemingly setting the tone, but failed to kill off the game despite numerous chances. Then came the twist.
Leonardo headed home a quick equaliser just seconds after the break. Malcom’s cool finish made it 2–1 before Erling Haaland responded instantly to level at 2–2.
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As the match went into extra time, Koulibaly thundered in a header to put Al Hilal ahead again.
Though Phil Foden volleyed in an equaliser, Leonardo had the final say, tapping home at the back post in the 112th minute to seal an unforgettable win.
Bono’s brilliance, Leonardo’s legacy
The real star of the night? Goalkeeper Bono. The 34-year-old Moroccan pulled off 10 saves, including reflex stops to deny Gvardiol and Savinho, and kept Al Hilal in the fight.
Former Girona man Bono, along with match-winner Leonardo and ex-City full-back João Cancelo, delivered one of the most memorable nights in the tournament’s history.
Even after the game ended, the reverberations will last far longer; this was Al Hilal’s moment on the world stage, and City’s nightmare to forget.
Before the City game, a fearless and tactically astute Fluminense side shocked Inter Milan with a 2-0 win on Monday night to storm into the Club World Cup Quarters, toppling the 2023 Champions League runners-up in a performance that was as clinical as it was defiant.
Manager Renato Gaúcho’s decision to deploy a back three set the tone from the first whistle.
“I put it in their heads that it would work. Inter is a great team. They have much more money than us, but on the field it’s 11 against 11,” Renato told DAZN. “The team believed, fought and stayed focused for the 90 minutes.”
And it took just three minutes for the belief to pay off.
Germán Cano reacted quickest to a deflected cross, heading home through Yann Sommer’s legs to hand Fluminense a dream start. While Inter dominated possession, the Brazilians carved out the better chances, with Jhon Arias proving a menace to the Italian defence.
Fluminense thought they had doubled their lead in the 39th minute when Ignacio bundled home from close range, but VAR intervened to chalk it off for offside. No matter; Renato’s men stayed organised, repelled everything Inter threw at them, and struck again in stoppage time.
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This time, it was Hércules, who came off the bench to cap off a flawless display. With Inter pushing numbers forward, the 23-year-old midfielder coolly slotted home from the edge of the box to seal a famous victory.
“The coach told us it was going to be a very difficult game, we knew that,” Hércules said post-match. “But we were very focused on the game, that’s what we work for. And that’s it. The result is there.”
The emotional win was underpinned by a heroic showing from 44-year-old goalkeeper Fábio, who made key stops; most notably with his feet to deny Sebastiano Esposito, before Lautaro Martínez hit the post in the dying stages.
Fluminense’s spirited victory saw them become the second Brazilian side to reach the last eight, after Palmeiras edged past domestic rivals Botafogo.
What’s Next?
Fluminense face Al Hilal in the quarter-final on Friday in Orlando. The winner of that blockbuster clash will move on to the semi-final showdown in New York/New Jersey, where either Chelsea or Palmeiras awaits.
Two giants are gone. Two underdogs are rising. This Club World Cup is rewriting the script.
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