It is an all-European battle in this Group H fixture of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as Spanish and European powerhouses Real Madrid go toe-to-toe with Austrian giants RB Salzburg in a potentially winner-takes-all situation for the both sides.
Here’s our preview and prediction for the Group H match between RB Salzburg and Real Madrid CF at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025
RB Salzburg will be mighty pleased with the fact that they have held their own in a group that was considered to be one of the toughest before the start of the tournament. They took care of business in a fixture that they were expected to win early doors, beating Mexican side Pachuca 2-1 in a game that was surprisingly competitive, with Pachuca leveling things and holding their own until Salzburg sneaked in a late winner to take the 3 points.
They then went to manage a hugely creditable goalless draw against Saudi powerhouse Al-Hilal, which is a massive result given that Al-Hilal were miles better than Real Madrid in their opening game and perhaps unlucky to just escape with a point there. They restricted the normally free-flowing Al-Hilal attack and restricted them to very few clear-cut chances even though they had the better off the ball and more shots compared to Salzburg.
The Austrians will very well know that a win will take them through outright. However, a draw will make things tricky given Al-Hilal have the advantage of the easier game against Pachuca, and with a convincing win, it could see them leapfrog Salzburg and confirm their elimination from the tournament.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, have had a rather stuttering campaign so far. They have been unable to count on the services of Kylian Mbappe, who has been battling a bout of severe gastro infection. In his absence, they have been hard-pressed to find a focal point in attack. They scraped past Al-Hilal and saw a potentially game-winning penalty saved by Bounou, which on the face of it felt like fair game given they did not look capable enough to win looking at things broadly.
Things drastically improved in their second game against Pachuca, where goals from Bellingham, Güler, and Valverde meant they cruised to a 3-1 win despite an early red card to defender Raul Ascensio. However, the game and the result was marred by news that German defender Antonio Rüdiger was alleged to have been racially abused by Pachuca defender Gustavo Cabral. The matter is currently under FIFA investigation.
With both teams having 4 points, it will be a closely-fought game as the winner will also seal top spot of the group. Despite Mbappe’s absence, Real Madrid will be clear favourites going into the fixture and it is hard to envision anything but a Real Madrid victory.
Score Prediction: RB Salzburg 1- 3 Real Madrid
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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