Al Hilal v Real Madrid: 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final repeated | OneFootball

Al Hilal will open their 2025 FIFA Club World Cup account in Miami on Wednesday against no less than Real Madrid - the 15-time UEFA Champions League winners and five-time FIFA Club World Cup champions.

Just to underline the magnitude of the challenge, both are records.

But, of course, this is not the first time the two clubs have crossed paths, famously meeting in the final of the 2022 Club World Cup, which was actually held in early 2023, in Morocco.

The Spaniards prevailed 5-3 on that occasion, claiming their fifth and most recent international crown. However, it was not without a scare from the Roshn Saudi League side.

It was a very different looking Al Hilal back then, but one that confronted the challenge with no fear after capturing their record fourth AFC Champions League title little more than 12 months prior, which helped qualify them for the global competition.

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2nd Round: Al Hilal 5-3 (pens) Wydad Casablanca

Under the old Club World Cup format – the 2025 edition has been expanded to 32 teams – the kings of Asia were drawn to play the CAF Champions League winners, which just happened to be local Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca.

While the match was scheduled to be played in Rabat rather than Casablanca, only 90 kilometers separates the two cities, meaning the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium was a sea of red when Al Hilal emerged from the tunnel - a daunting and hostile atmosphere for any side.

Ayoub El Amloud opened the scoring for the hosts early in the second half, but the home fans were silenced in the dying seconds when Mohammed Kanno slotted home from the penalty spot to send the match to extra-time and, ultimately, penalties.

After Yahya Attiyat Allah missed Wydad’s opening spot-kick, remarkably cannoning off both posts before staying out, and Al Hilal went a perfect four from four, it was left to 19-year-old Musab Al Juwayr to take the decisive fifth penalty for Ramon Diaz’s men.

In a hint of what was to come in his still-nascent career, the 2024-25 RSL Best Young Talent tucked away his effort with the composure of someone 10 years his senior to set up a semi-final showdown with South American giants Flamengo.

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Semi-final: Al Hilal 3-2 Flamengo

The Brazilians are no strangers to the international scene, finishing runners-up at the Club World Cup in 2019, and therefore presented a stern test for Al Hilal. To make it even more testing, Flamengo were spurred on by thousands of fans that had made the long journey from Rio de Janeiro.

Nerves were settled early, however, when Al Hilal were awarded a penalty in the second minute, which star man Salem Al Dawsari dispatched to give his side the lead.

Salem Al Dawsari fired Al Hilal to history by scoring twice in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final v Flamengo

A cool finish from Pedro midway through the first half levelled the score at 1-1, but another penalty on the stroke of half time - again converted by Al Dawsari - meant it was Al Hilal who took an advantage into the break as a shock was on the cards.

That outcome grew ever likelier when Luciano Vietto’s exquisite finish with 20 minutes remaining gave the RSL club a 3-1 lead.

While Pedro completed his brace and pulled a goal back in stoppage-time, it wasn’t enough as Al Hilal held on for a famous victory and a history-making spot in the FIFA Club World Cup final. In doing so, they became the first club from the Kingdom to contest the showpiece.

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Final: Real Madrid 5-3 Al Hilal

A date with Real Madrid awaited them after the Spaniards eventually put Egypt’s Al Ahly away, with two stoppage-time goals blowing out the 4-1 scoreline.

Remember, this was a Real Madrid team featuring future RSL stars Karim Benzema and Nacho Fernandez, not to mention the likes of Vinícius Junior and Luka Modric.

In the final, goals from Vini Jnr and Federico Valverde inside the opening 20 minutes blew open the game, but Al Hilal weren’t about to give up without a fight.

On 26 minutes, a swift counter attack caught out the high line of Real Madrid’s defence, with Moussa Marega played into open space to make it 2-1.

Benzema, who would go on to haunt Al Hilal in Al Ittihad colours this 2024-25 RSL season, restored Real Madrid’s two-goal advantage early in the second half before Valverde completed his brace moments before the hour mark to make it 4-1. And, seemingly, all but seal the title.

But again, Al Hilal refused to give in. Vietto grabbed his second goal of the campaign five minutes later to make it 4-2, before Vini Jnr extinguished any hope of a comeback with his second goal of the night with little more than 20 minutes to play.

Vietto did, though, round off his superb individual tournament with Al Hilal’s third as they simply refused to lie down. That said, it was not enough as Real Madrid emerged victorious from the eight-goal thriller.

Two years on from that night in Rabat, the two meet again in vastly different circumstances, in Miami on Wednesday in their Group H opener.