Thursday, March 28, 2024

FIFA CWC: Madrid thrash Al Hilal to win fifth title

Real Madrid defeated Al Hilal 5-3 and won the fifth FIFA Club World Cup, breaking their previous record. Vinicius Junior scored twice and provided an assist in the championship game, and Federico Valverde also scored twice. Vinicius again broke the tie in the championship game after doing so in the second semifinal.

After playing a onetwo with Luka Modric, Karim Benzema threaded a first-time pass to Vinicius, who scored. Valverde, who was also successful against Al Ahly, then extended the advantage before Moussa Marega completed an excellent team play and cut the gap in half.

After the restart, Madrid turned it on in a big way. Before Valverde made it 4-1, Benzema’s brilliant outside-of-theboot cross from Vinicius gave him a tap-in that increased their lead.

Vinicius curled home from inside the box to quickly restore the deficit after Luciano Vietto dinked it over Andriy Lunin. Vietto’s third goal of the competition kept Al Hilal from giving up though, bringing them within two. Marega missed a volley with the goal at his disposal as Al Hilal attempted to set up a spectacular finish, but that was to be the Saudis’ only opportunity as Real finished off a stunning triumph to send the bulk of the 44,000+ spectators in Rabat home satisfied.

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