Group H of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicks off with European giants Real Madrid facing Saudi heavyweights Al-Hilal at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on June 19.
Here are our preview and prediction for the game.
FIFA Club World Cup 2025 | Group H: Real Madrid CF vs Al-Hilal SFC | 00:30 IST, June 19
Real Madrid are one of the overwhelming favourites to win the whole tournament, let alone their group. Five-time champions of the previous Club World Cup — now rebranded as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup — Real Madrid last met Al-Hilal in the 2022 CWC final and came out 5–3 victors.
This season, Los Blancos missed out on the league title — finishing second behind arch-rivals Barcelona — as well as the UEFA Champions League crown, having lost to Arsenal in the quarter-finals, though they did win both competitions last season along with the Spanish Super Cup. They did win the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Super Cup earlier this season.
Real Madrid have one of the most talented squads in world football, with world-class players like Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, and Thibaut Courtois in their ranks. They have further strengthened their ranks in recent weeks with the addition of young defender Dean Huijsen and former Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.
They also have a new head coach at the helm in the form of former player Xabi Alonso, who has replaced legendary Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti. It will be interesting to see if Alonso deploys a three-at-the-back formation, with which he succeeded at Bayer Leverkusen, or tweaks his tactics for a back-four setup.
Coming to Al-Hilal, they were the Saudi Pro League winners last season. This season, they have performed well again, ending the season in second place, behind Al-Ittihad. They qualified for the Club World Cup by winning the AFC Champions League in 2021.
Al-Hilal have a mix of domestic and European players in their squad. Nasser Al-Dawsari, Salem Al-Dawsari, and Mohamed Kanno make the domestic core of the first team, while the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, João Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Rúben Neves, Yassine Bounou, Malcom, Renan Lodi, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic bring plenty of European experience. In addition, they have just secured the services of former Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi, who will undoubtedly bolster the side.
While Inzaghi does not have the luxury of having a squad similar to the one he had at Inter, it will be interesting to see whether he employs his usual 3-5-2 formation or opts for something new.
If we compare the two squads, there’s a massive gulf in quality on paper. Al-Hilal may be Asian football royalty in their own right, but their might is dwarfed by that of Real Madrid, and while we do back them to make it out of the group, beating the record European champions in this game is a step too far.
Score Prediction: Real Madrid 4–1 Al-Hilal
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
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