🔎 The Debrief as Club World Cup 2025 starts with a goalless draw | OneFootball

It was goalless in the opening match of the 2025 Club World Cup with Lionel Messi's Inter Miami frustrated against an impressive Al Ahly outfit.

Here's what you missed overnight on day one of the tournament.

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What happened? 📝

Al Ahly and Inter Miami played out an entertaining 0-0 draw in front of a raucous Miami crowd on Saturday evening.

Despite fears that there could be swathes of empty seats at the Hard Rock Stadium, 60,000 supporters cheered on Lionel Messi and co in the opening game of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup.

There was plenty of noise in Florida but, unfortunately, very few goals as both goalkeepers played out of their skin to keep the game goalless.

That didn't mean the match was short of excitement though, with Al Ahly having a penalty saved and a goal disallowed for offside in the first half.

And after the break it was Messi's turn to almost score with the former Barcelona man going close with a free kick and then forcing a stunning save in injury time.

Player of the day 🔥

Lionel Messi was clearly the biggest name on show last night but it was Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari who deserved the largest amount of praise.

Ustari was an absolute colossus between the sticks for the hosts, pulling off save after save, especially in the first half.

His crowning moment came just before the break however, diving low to his right to save Trezeguet's penalty.

Stat of the Day 📊

Exactly 20 years ago, on 14 June 2005, Ustari kept a clean sheet for Argentina against Egypt at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. That Messi-led Albiceleste team went to on become world champions.

What this means 🤔

In what is arguably the most open group at this summer's tournament, this is a point that could prove valuable or entirely fruitless come the end of their third matches later this month.

Palmeiras and Porto, the other two teams in Group A, face each other later on Sunday and should that also finish in the draw, then we'll have a thrilling second round of match to contend with.

As it is, both of these teams will surely rue their profligacy in front of goal.

What they said 🗣️

📸 MOHAMED TAGELDIN

"We were much better than them, we moved a lot in transition and controlled the game and we had chances to score and win the game," Miami boss Javier Mascherano told FIFA.com afterwards.

"Football is like that, maybe in the first half they had some chances too. Obviously we wanted to win because we know how important it is to start with a win, but I’m happy with the platform."

Al Ahly coach Jose Riveiro also thought his side deserved more than a point: "It’s a football game, a game of mistakes. We had a decent amount of chances in the first half to put the game in a different space and we put them in a hurry. In the second half we were defending a little lower than what we wanted and then we had some problems in transition with controlling our first pass.

:It’s like we were playing in Cairo and that was a surprise for me in my first official match with Al Ahly. To be here in the States and have it like you were playing at home is something that can probably only happen in this."

What's next? 👀

Thursday June 19 is the next time we'll be able to see these two in action.

Al Ahly will travel back the east coast to New Jersey to take on Brazilian giants Palmeiras.

Inter Miami meanwhile will be going to Atlanta to take on Porto.

📸 Megan Briggs - 2025 Getty Images