Real Madrid and Flamengo head the lineup for the 2022 Club World Cup, which will take place in 2023 when the tournament returns to Morocco.
Almost a decade has passed since that night of December 20, 2014 when, in the first spell of the Italian Carlo Ancelotti on the Madrid bench, Sergio Ramos, now at PSG, and Gareth Bale, retired, signed the 2-0 victory that raised the Spanish champions.
It was the second win in a row for the Champions League winner after the one obtained the previous year by Bayern Munich at the same stadium in Marrakech, and since then Europe has not let the title escape.
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Real Madrid has already accumulated four world crowns and is the team that leads the list of winners, with one more than Barcelona. After winning the Champions League by beating Liverpool in the final in Paris, he comes willing to add the fifth and protect the dominance of the Old Continent.
The Club World Cup maintains the format of recent years, with which six will be the candidates to break down favoritism among the whites, led by Flamengowho added their third Copa Libertadores against Athletico Paranaense, also Brazilian, thanks to their 1-0 victory with a goal from Gabriel Barbosa ‘Gabigol’.
Flamengo returns to the World Cup after Qatar 2019, when they beat Saudi Al Hilal in the semifinals (3-1) and lost in the final against Liverpool, which they won 1-0 at the International Khalifa stadium in Doha with a goal from Brazilian Roberto Firmino in extra time.
As is traditional, the European and South American champions will begin their participation in the semifinals, which will take place next week. The tournament will begin this Wednesday with the preliminary round between the African runner-up, Egyptian Al Ahly, and the winner of the Oceanian Champions League, New Zealand’s Auckland City.
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Al Ahly, third in the two previous editions, comes with the mission of once again being the protagonist Guided by the Swiss coach Marcel Koller, although to do so they will have to overcome the first hurdle against Auckland led by the Spanish Albert Riera, and later on against the American Seattle Sounders, this time representing Concacaf after ending Mexican dominance.
If they overcome both obstacles, they would meet Real Madrid in the second semifinal, which will be played on Wednesday the 8th, one day after the first, in which the Flamengo, with players of recognized prestige and experience such as David Luiz, Arturo Vidal, Filipe Luis, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Gabigol, Among others, he awaits the other part of the table, which will begin with the clash between the Moroccan Wydad Casablanca and the Saudi Al Hilal, champions of Africa and Asia.
Wydad will try to emulate at least Raja Casablanca, who, supported by his fans, reached the 2013 final, in which he lost to Bayern Munich. It is the dream and desire of the fans and the team, now led by Walid Regragui, the coach who led Morocco to the semifinals of the recent World Cup in Qatar 2022.
Regragui, despite everything, knows that the clash against the Saudi team could be a cheating game in which if his team doesn’t come out focused it could cause a lot of problems. In the last Club World Cup, Al Hilal thrashed Al Jazira (6-1) and only lost 1-0 to Chelsea with a goal from Romelu Lukaku and then in the battle for bronze with Al Ahly (4 -0).
