Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal delivered the biggest upset of the Club World Cup tournament, defeating Manchester City 4-3 in extra time to advance to the quarterfinals.
The match concluded 2-2 after regulation time on Monday, with Marcos Leonardo scoring the decisive goal in extra time to secure what many consider one of the greatest victories in Middle Eastern football history.
Al Hilal will now face Brazilian club Fluminense in the quarterfinals, guaranteeing a non-European team reaches the semifinals.
Manchester City opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Bernardo Silva, who converted from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross. Al Hilal protested that Ait-Nouri had used his arm in the buildup, but the goal was allowed to stand.
City created numerous opportunities to extend their advantage before halftime, but poor finishing and outstanding goalkeeping from Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou maintained the narrow lead. Bounou made several crucial saves, including stopping efforts from Jeremy Doku and Bernardo Silva.
Al Hilal equalized within a minute of the second half restart. Former City defender Joao Cancelo’s cross was parried by Ederson, with Malcolm’s follow-up blocked by Ruben Dias before Marcos Leonardo headed in the rebound.
Six minutes later, Al Hilal took the lead when Cancelo’s long ball found Malcolm, who used his pace and power to break through City’s high defensive line before calmly finishing past Ederson.
The Saudi supporters erupted while City manager Pep Guardiola immediately made three substitutions, bringing on Rodri, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji to stabilize his team’s defense.
City found their equalizer when Al Hilal failed to clear a Bernardo corner, allowing Erling Haaland to score from close range to make it 2-2.
Despite sustained pressure from City, Bounou continued his heroics, denying Akanji and Ruben Dias. When Haaland did beat the goalkeeper, substitute Ali Lajami produced a spectacular goal-line clearance.
Guardiola substituted Haaland for Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush as the match entered extra time.
Al Hilal regained their lead four minutes into extra time through Kalidou Koulibaly, who met a Ruben Neves corner with a perfectly angled header.
City responded with a quality equalizer when Phil Foden expertly converted Rayan Cherki’s floating cross from the tightest of angles at the back post.
However, Al Hilal struck again for the winner. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header was saved by Ederson, but Marcos Leonardo was there to bundle the ball over the line.
After the match, an emotional Leonardo revealed personal motivation behind his performance: “I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months. My mother spent 70 days in the ICU. Today, she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her. She was able to watch the match.”
City captain Bernardo Silva acknowledged his team’s failure to control Al Hilal’s counter-attacks: “We scored three and could’ve scored five, six. It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t let them run, and they ran way too many times. With one, two passes, there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this, we always suffer a lot, and today was the case.”
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