Al Hilal at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: All you need to know
The 2025 Club World Cup will be the biggest Club World Cup ever and will take place in the USA from Saturday, June 14th until Sunday, July 13th. The 32-team tournament will include sides from around the world facing off in a group format before the knockouts.
Al Hilal will enter their fourth Club World Cup as Champions of the Saudi Pro League and one of the most dangerous clubs from the Asian Football Confederation. The Saudi Arabian side will hope to put on a good showing stateside, and below, we have compiled all the essential information on their participation in this year's tournament.
Schedule, fixtures and opponents
The newly formatted Club World Cup is now a 32-team tournament with eight groups. The teams were seeded before being drawn into groups with the draw happening in December 2024. Al Hilal were placed in Group H, where they will play Real Madrid from Spain, CF Pachuca from Mexico and FC Salzburg from Austria.
Al Hilal will play each team once in the group phase, starting with the 15-time European champions Real Madrid in Miami on June 18th. After, the Blue Wave will play against FC Salzburg in Washington on June 22nd before finishing their group phase against CF Pachuca in Nashville on June 26th.
Group stage match fixtures
Date: Wednesday, June 18th
Kick-off: 3pm EDT | 8pm GMT
Stadium: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami (FL)
Date: Sunday, June 22nd
Kick-off: 6pm EDT | 11pm GMT
Stadium: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
Date: Thursday, June 26th
Kick-off: 8pm CDT | 2am GMT (Friday, June 27)
Stadium: GEODIS Park, Nashville (TN)
Knockout stage match fixtures
The top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout stages. Starting in the round of 16, each team will face a one-legged knockout tie against an opponent from another group. The quarterfinals, semifinals and final are all one-legged as well.
If Al Hilal qualify for the knockout phase, they will play one of the teams in Group G. This group consists of English heavyweights Manchester City, Morrocan giants Wydad AC, 2023/24 AFC Champions League winners Al Ain FC from the UAE, or the Italian stars Juventus.
Al Hilal’s two potential Round of 16 ties
R16 Match 6: Group G winners v Group H runners-up
Date: Monday, June 30th
Kick-off: 9pm EDT | 2am GMT (Tuesday, July 1st)
Stadium: Camping World Stadium, Orlando (FL)
R16 Match 7: Group H winners v Group G runners-up
Date: Tuesday, July 1st
Kick-off: 3pm EDT | 8pm GMT
Stadium: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami (FL)
Al Hilal’s opponents for CWC 2025
Real Madrid
One of the most iconic clubs in the world and the most decorated club in Europe, Real Madrid will be in Group H. Los Blancos qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 by winning the 2021/2022 edition of the UEFA Champions League. That win was a record-extending 14th European Cup/UEFA Champions League title.
Pachuca
Pachuca are one of four Concacaf teams in the 2025 Club World Cup and qualified as winners of the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2024. That was the Tuzos' sixth continental title and certified them as the second most successful club in Concacaf Champions Cup history.
Salzburg
FC Salzburg enter their first Club World Cup via the UEFA ranking pathway based on their performances in the Champions League over the past four seasons. They are the most dominant club in Austria in recent times, winning 14 league titles in 17 seasons, including 10 in a row from 2014 to 2023.
TV coverage: Where to watch Al Hilal at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup?
All 63 matches in the Club World Cup will be shown exclusively live on DAZN. DAZN has decided to air every single 2025 Club World Cup fixture for free, meaning fans of Al Hilal can follow their team at no extra cost.
As DAZN holds full broadcasting rights, the London-based entertainment platform can sub-license matches to free-to-air TV channels. Alternatively, Al Hilal fans can watch all of their team's games online or by downloading the DAZN App onto their smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, or game consoles.
Expected line-up: Al Hilal’s squad list for CWC 2025
The Club World Cup comes at the end of the Saudi Pro League which finishes in May. Al Hilal will have a couple of weeks to prepare before they head stateside to play in the tournament, giving their players time to refresh and come in strong.
FIFA has allowed teams that are involved in this year's Club World Cup to have an interim transfer window, open from 1-10 June. This means Al Hilal will be able to make some additions to their squad to help bolster their chances of performing well. FIFA has also allowed Club World Cup clubs to add an exceptional two-week contract extension to the contracts of players due to expire.
Al Hilal have spent money on some big names in the past few years and they will be looking for those stars to put on a show in the tournament.
Al Hilal’s potential Club World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Mohammed Al-Yami, Mohammed Al-Owais
Defenders: Kalidou Koulibaly, Hassan Tambakti, Ali Al-Bulayhi, Khalifah Al-Dawsari, Renan Lodi, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Moteb Al-Harbi, Joao Cancelo, Hamad Al-Yami
Midfielders: Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Mohamed Kanno, Nasser Al-Dawsari
Forwards: Salem Al-Dawsari, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Malcom, Kaio Cesar, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Marcos Leonardo, Abdullah Al-Hamdan
Players to watch
The versatile defender changed the game for many people when Pep Guardiola used him as an inverted wingback. The Portuguese international now plys his trade in the Saudi Pro League for Al Hilal and still exudes class. A constant threat wherever he plays, he can attack and defend in equal measure.
Also known as Bono, the Morrocan keeper was a star for his international side as they made the semifinals of the most recent FIFA World Cup. He helped Al Hilal to the Saudi Pro League title last season and also won the award for the best goalkeeper in the 2023/24 season for the club.
The big Serbian striker lit up the Saudi Pro League last season scoring 28 in 28 games for Al Hilal. Overall he finished his first campaign in the Middle East with 40 goals in 43 matches and helped Al Hilal to a treble of titles. This season he has been hampered by injuries but Al Hilal hopes he can reach the highs of last season again ahead of the Club World Cup.
Winner odds: What are Al Hilal’s chances of winning this year?
The Blue Wave are outsiders to win the 2025 Club World Cup at 28/1 on Paddy Power. They are the highest-rated side from the Asian Football Confederation according to the odds and have a real chance to make it to the knockout phases.
Manchester City are favourites according to the betmakers. They are down at 7/2 to win the whole thing, followed by Al Hilal’s Group H opponents Real Madrid at 4/1. After that the next favourites are Bayern Munich at 7/1 and then Chelsea at 17/2.
How did Al Hilal qualify for the 2025 tournament?
Al Hilal qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 by winning the 2021 AFC Champions League. They are one of four teams Asian Football Confederation to qualify for the tournament.
Al Hilal’s 2025 Club World Cup kit
Al Hilal are yet to unveil a special kit for this year’s Club World Cup, but there have been leaks online showing a special away kit to be worn by the team in the USA. The kit’s base colour is off-white, with tan stripes and a large mood design in the middle. We wait to see when the club will officially announce the away kit and potentially a home kit.
Have Al Hilal ever won the Club World Club Cup before?
This will be the fourth time that Al Hilal have competed in the Club World Cup having competed in three of the last five editions. Their best performance came back in 2022 when the club managed to reach the final. There they faced a team they will play again this year, Real Madrid.
Starting in the quarterfinals, Al Hilal beat Moroccan side Wydad on penalties after the game ended 1-1. In the semis, the Saudi team stunned Flamengo 3-2 to reach the final and become the Saudi Arabian side to reach the FIFA Club World Cup Final. In the final, Al Hilal played well but lost the encounter 5-3 to Real Madrid.