Aside from their match today and the possible matches against Fluminense and Manchester City, the Club World Cup is being a kind of declaration of principles for Arab football after what was the hiring boom of the last transfer market.

With players of the stature of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté, Al-Ittihad is no exception and wants to rise to the occasion.

The Mexican León is eliminated against Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup.

The Mexican Club León lost 1-0 on Friday against the Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds in the second round of the Club World Cup, thus being eliminated from the competition and it will be the Japanese club that will face Manchester City in the semifinals on Tuesday.

After an even match, without many clear chances for either team in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), a goal by the Dutchman Alex Schalk (78) directly put an end to the "Green Bellies"'s chances of becoming the first Aztec team to win the world champion title.

The Japanese, for their part, will face the European champion Manchester City next Tuesday (6:00 p.m. GMT), which seeks to add this international trophy with which to put a finishing touch to an impressive 2023, in which they achieved the Premier League treble. FA Cup and Champions League.

After the defeat of Club León, Fluminense now becomes the only hope of the American continent in the tournament.

The Brazilians, directly qualified for the other semifinal, which will be played on Monday, will meet this Friday (6:00 p.m. GMT) their rival, who will emerge from the duel between the Egyptian Al Ahly and the Saudi Al Ittihad, the latter coached by the Argentine Marcelo Gallardo .

At the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium in Jeddah, the Japanese and Mexicans started the match taking measures, with a few first minutes of approaching the rival areas without real danger. The first big chance of the match was a face-to-face between Tomoaki Okubo and Rodolfo Cota, well resolved by the 36-year-old veteran goalkeeper (minute 18).

After this scare, the emeralds gradually gained control of the ball and looked for the goal. Half an hour into the game, Fidel Ambríz sent a pass into the area that was received by "El Plátano" Alvarado, who shot from the right of the goal, an action saved with a cut by Norwegian defender Marius Hoibraaten (31), before The ball will reach the three posts.

After passing through the locker room, control of the ball was once again divided between both teams, although clarity was again lacking in the chances in front of goal.

The minutes were running out and the Japanese team was the first to move the bench, introducing fresh legs into the attack with the entry of the Japanese Shoya Nakajima and the Dutch Alex Schalk (73).

It was precisely the attacker from the Netherlands, in one of his last games with the Red Diamonds shirt, who changed the course of the match.

During a dead ball on the edge of the emerald area that the "Panzas Verdes" defenders were unable to clear, Guinean Jose Kanté protected the ball and found Schalk alone inside the area, who did not forgive Cota (78).

The goal knocked out the Mexican team, and despite the changes introduced to fight for the tie, the Japanese team continued with the initiative. Club León's chances were even more reduced after the expulsion for a double yellow card of Colombian William Tesillo (84).

Alex Schalk himself could have signed a double, but Cota saved a face-off in the final minutes of the game (89).

The journey of the "Panzas Verdes" in their first Club World Cup thus comes to a premature end, after almost two years of absence of Mexican teams in the tournament.

Al-Ittihad lost to Al-Ahly and said goodbye to the Club World Cup.

Marcelo Gallardo's Al-Ittihad's dream in the 2023 Club World Cup came to an end this Friday, when they lost 3 to 1 against Al-Ahly, who will face Fluminense in the semifinals.

After the 3-0 defeat in the debut against Auckland City, the Saudi team fell in the Arab duel against the CAF Champions League champion, thanks to the goals of Ali Maâloul (21'), Hussein El Shahat (59') and Emam Ashour (62'). at King Abdullah Stadium in Buraidah.

The start of the match, even, with chances in both goals, was broken with the opening of the scoreboard, after a penalty called for handball, at the request of the VAR.

But at the end of the first half, the Saudi team had an unbeatable opportunity to equalize: Karim Benzema took charge of a penalty, again after a handball sanctioned through technology, but goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy contained his weak shot.

During the first minutes of the complement, the Aurinegros approached equality, running inton the rival goalkeeper and the post, and in a couple of consecutive counterattacks the Egyptians took advantage of their effectiveness, ending the story in a flurry.

With the adverse outlook, the last half hour had Al-Ittihad looking to score, but their possession of the ball lacked depth, and even those in red shirts were closer to increasing the difference on the scoreboard.

In the 89th minute, Frenchman Anthony Modeste, who had been admitted three minutes earlier, was sent off in Al-Ahly for an elbow, and in injury time Benzema captured a rebound and put definitive figures in the match.

In this way, Al-Ahly, the top African champion, with 11 crowns in the continental competition, will face Fluminense, representative of CONMEBOL, next Monday.

Al-Ahly, the second team with the most points in the history of the competition (28, this being its ninth participation), will play its sixth semifinal, the fourth in a row, and will seek to change its streak: it was never a finalist.

In the other semifinal, Manchester City, the great candidate to win its first global title, will clash on Tuesday with Urawa Red Diamonds, from Japan, executioner of León, from Mexico.

The final and the bronze medal match are scheduled for Friday, December 22, the date on which the current format of the Club World Cup will close.

Source images: FIFA Club World Cup 2023.