Inter Miami, Al Ahly open Club World Club with stalemate
MIAMI, Florida — Inter Miami CF and Al Ahly played out a 0-0 draw in front of a healthy crowd on the opening night of FIFA’s Club World Cup on Saturday.
Egyptian side Al Ahly had the best opportunity to find a goal, but Trézéguet saw a first-half penalty saved by Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, who had an outstanding opening 45 minutes.
Lionel Messi, starting the game just four days after appearing for Argentina in the World Cup qualifier against Colombia, was brighter after half-time and almost helped Miami snatch a winner.
He went close with a free kick, almost set up Fafà Picault with a late header which was tipped over and hit the bar with an effort in stoppage-time.
There were few fireworks on the pitch, but FIFA will count the turn out for the game at Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock stadium as a big win. Despite fears over a low attendance ahead of kick-off, more than 60,000 fans came to watch the opening game of the newly expanded tournament. — Rob Dawson
Messi, Suares outshone by teammate Ustari
When a squad headlined by Messi and Luis Suárez takes the field, few expect for anyone else to shine. However, goalkeeper Ustari managed to steal the show from his world-renowned teammates against Al Ahly in the Club World Cup opener.
In the first half alone, the goalkeeper made four crucial saves from open play to deny the Egyptians an early lead. Inter Miami’s defensive struggles exposed Ustari to the speed of Al Ahly’s forwards, forcing the goalkeeper into a number of perfectly timed saves. But it wasn’t until the 46th minute that Ustari cemented his man-of-the-match status by saving the match-defining penalty. For the first time since Oct. 28, 2022, Ustari stopped a shot from the spot — helping keep Inter Miami level.
Though the 38-year-old joined Inter Miami in September 2024, Ustari only recently became the starting goalkeeper after Drake Callender suffered a long-term injury in January. The two-time Argentina international worked himself up from the bench to the crucial figure that saved Inter Miami from embarrassment on the global stage.
Ustari finished the team’s first match of the Club World Cup with eight saves, more than the amount of shots on goal (5) from Inter Miami. The goalkeeper deserves recognition for his performance, but his starring role against Al Ahly probably only exposes Inter Miami’s weaknesses. Ustari may not be enough to save the team’s struggling defense and injury-laden roster from Group A’s other opponents, FC Porto and Palmeiras. — Lizzy Becherano
Al Ahly waste early dominance
Al Ahly were by far the better team in the first half, but just couldn’t find a goal.
As early as the eighth minute, Inter Miami’s defence was being cut open when Emam Ashour went clean through. Wessam Abou Ali thought he’d scored after 30 minutes but his effort was ruled out for offside. It was just before the break when Ustari capped off an impressive first-half performance by saving Trezeguet’s penalty.
Despite Inter Miami’s better second half, Al Ahly will feel like they’ve missed an opportunity.
Group A is one of the more modest and there’s a realistic chance for any of the four teams to qualify. Al Ahly will now likely need to beat either Palmeiras or Porto to qualify and after drawing with Miami — a task that won’t be easy. They will have had hopes of doing well in the U.S. after finishing third in the smaller version of the tournament in Saudi Arabia 2023. After an opening draw in a game they probably should have won, it will be uphill from here. — Dawson
A mixed atmosphere at Hard Rock for the opener
FIFA will be happy that the Hard Rock Stadium was nearly full for the opening game of the Club World Cup. Huge gaps in the stands for the big kick-off would have been embarrassing for president Gianni Infantino. There were empty seats scattered throughout the tiers — the attendance was announced as 60,927 with Hard Rock’s capacity around 65,000 — but the crowd was big enough for FIFA to count it as a success.
They were helped by thousands of supporters wearing Al Ahly colours. There were as many red shirts as pink Inter Miami ones and the Egyptian fans were far louder.
Despite FIFA’s insistence that this is a serious competition, there was still a pre-season feel about some of it. The players were individually introduced before running onto the pitch ahead of the kick-off and at half-time a collection of football legends faced off against YouTuber IShowSpeed in a crossbar challenge. Former Italian great Alessandro Del Piero won.
Ref cam was a positive addition to the coverage. The camera attached to Australian A-League Men official Alireza Faghani gave a close up of his view when he awarded a first-half penalty to Al Ahly, subsequently missed by former Aston Villa forward Trezeguet. — Dawson