How can Al Hilal beat Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup?

When the draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was made last December, Al Hilal was handed an opening fixture that inspired anticipation and trepidation in equal measure. On Wednesday, six months after both clubs discovered their fate, the 19-time Saudi champion will face Real Madrid at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

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In many ways, the Group H draw was a perfect one for Al Hilal. Although Real Madrid represents a formidable foe, it is also a mouth-watering opportunity for Al Hilal’s players to test themselves against the world’s most famous football club. It is also a ‘free hit’ of sorts in the opening match, with follow-up fixtures ahead against Mexico’s Pachuca and Austrian side RB Salzburg – the lowest ranked European team in the competition – much more winnable.

Both clubs will have new coaches at the helm, with Xabi Alonso taking over at the Bernabeu and Simone Inzaghi moving to the Kingdom from Inter Milan. Here, Al Arabiya English explores how Al Hilal can beat Real Madrid in their FIFA Club World Cup clash on Thursday.

1) Exploit Madrid’s defensive weaknesses

This past season, under now-departed boss Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid had only the third-best defensive record in La Liga, conceding 38 goals. That was eight more than city rivals Atletico Madrid and nine more than Athletic Bilbao. Los Blancos’ backline was also exposed by Arsenal in April’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final, shipping five goals across two legs as the team exited the competition.

At set-pieces, Madrid has often looked shaky and a couple of its major La Liga slip-ups in 2024-25 were down to dead-ball situations; two goals were conceded in this manner in the 2-2 draw with Rayo Vallecano, while the opener in the 2-1 defeat to Valencia was also from a set-piece. Beyond this, Madrid has also struggled in coping with rapid counter-attacks at times, and the full-backs can be exploited.

With captain Dani Carvajal’s pace fading, Madrid signed Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool, though the English right-back has not been without defensive lapses in concentration during his Anfield career. Al Hilal will be looking to capitalize on this and will also be buoyed by the knowledge that Madrid goes into the FIFA Club World Cup with injuries to key defensive players. These include center-backs Eder Militao and David Alaba, right-back Carvajal, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, left-back Ferland Mendy and defensive midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

New Madrid coach Alonso has barely got his feet under the table since arriving at the Bernabeu from Bayer Leverkusen, so it remains to be seen whether he can solve these defensive problems in time for the FIFA Club World Cup. If not, Al Hilal possesses a host of players who could cause Madrid problems. The Saudi side tried and failed to bring in Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen before the tournament but in current striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, Al Hilal still has a potent weapon.

Mitrovic scored 47 goals in 51 games since joining Al Hilal from Fulham in the summer of 2023. His power and movement consistently troubled Premier League defenses during his time in English football and Mitrovic has continued to be a difficult opponent in Saudi Arabia. He has come up against many of Madrid’s stars at club and international level – scoring twice for Serbia in a 3-2 win over David Alaba’s Austria in 2016 and netting the winner against Jude Bellingham’s Birmingham City when the pair met in the Championship back in 2019.

On the wings, Al Hilal also has players capable of causing Madrid’s full-backs problems on the counter-attack. Michael and Malcom possess pace in abundance while, down the left, Salem al-Dawsari and Brazilian wing-back Renan Lodi combined effectively on multiple occasions in 2024-25. New Al Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi will need these players to be at their best – both offensively and defensively – if his side is to cause an upset in Miami.

2) Deprive Bellingham of the ball

England international midfielder Jude Bellingham has been the creative fulcrum of Madrid’s midfield for the past two seasons. His debut campaign in Spain, in which he scored 19 and assisted six in 28 La Liga games, was sensational and while Bellingham didn’t quite hit those heights in 2024-25, much of Madrid’s progression up the pitch still happens through the ex-Borussia Dortmund star.

Los Blancos has an embarrassment of midfield riches at its disposal – from Federico Valverde and Brahim Diaz to Dani Ceballos and veteran Luka Modric – but Bellingham has emerged as the main man in this team. With midfield destroyer Eduardo Camavinga nursing an injury, Bellingham may not have quite the same level of protection when Madrid meet Al Hilal. And this may provide Inzaghi’s side with the opportunity to shackle the English midfield maestro.

In the Saudi Pro League, Al Hilal often uses Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves in its double pivot in front of the defense. This is somewhat of a luxury, as both players have a certain amount of attacking flair and neither operates as a traditional defensive midfielder. Neves is a metronome whose approach is similar to prime Modric, moving the ball reliably between defense and attack, while Milinkovic-Savic is more of a box-to-box presence.

Against Madrid, Al Hilal would be better served to add an extra body in central midfield and it is likely that Saudi international Mohammed Kanno will be brought in to add more bite. Inzaghi may even give Kanno – more of a defensive-minded midfielder – the job of man-marking Bellingham, given the importance of depriving Madrid’s No. 5 of the ball if Al Hilal is to keep its opponent at bay. Milinkovic-Savic may also need to rein in his attacking forays and be more defensively disciplined – maintaining a strong midfield unit will be vital to stifling Bellingham’s threat.

3) Channel the spirit of 2022

The match in Miami will be the second encounter between Real Madrid and Al Hilal in the past three years. Al Hilal defied expectations to reach the final of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, facing Los Blancos in the showpiece in Rabat. Although Madrid ended up winning the title, the 5-3 scoreline demonstrated that Hilal could compete back then; now the Saudis are far more stacked - boasting quality players across the pitch.

Only four players from Al Hilal’s starting XI that day remain at the club: Ali al-Bulayhi, Khalifah al-Dawsari, Mohammed Kanno and captain Salem al-Dawsari. Real Madrid, meanwhile, is now led by French superstar Kylian Mbappe instead of compatriot Karim Benzema, who scored in the final but moved to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad in 2023. Mbappe is ably assisted by Brazilian star Vinicus Jr, who scored twice against Hilal three years ago and won the tournament’s Golden Ball – awarded to its best player.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will likely be the final hurrah for another member of that team, with 39-year-old Luka Modric expected to end a 13-year association with Real Madrid after the tournament in the United States. Los Blancos has won more FIFA Club World Cup titles (five) than any other team, claiming the title in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and most recently in 2022, when Ramon Diaz’s Hilal was beaten in a roller-coaster final.

There may be a substantial gap between Al Hilal and Real Madrid in terms of FIFA Club World Cup triumphs – but the gap on the pitch in 2022 was not a huge one and Al Hilal is a much improved team since then. Current players like Neves, Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Milinkovic-Savic and Bono all have significant international and European club experience, while captain Salem al-Dawsari has delivered time and again on a continental stage with Al Hilal – and national team stage with Saudi Arabia.

Three years ago, al-Dawsari scored twice as Al Hilal shocked Brazilian giant Flamengo in the Club World Cup semi-final. It was arguably the biggest ever international result for a Saudi club team and came just a couple of months after the Green Falcons had beaten Argentina at the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup. Belief was key to both of those seminal results and if ex-Inter Milan boss Inzaghi can channel that into motivation for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Al Hilal may yet spring another surprise this week.

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