Club World Cup Quarter-Final Power Rankings: Al-Hilal 5th, Chelsea 2nd…
We’ve arrived at the quarter-final stage of FIFA’s vastly expanded Club World Cup and the final eight are an interesting mix of European powerhouses and surprise packages.
The first knockout stage saw Manchester City and Inter suffer shock eliminations, while Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami also waved goodbye after suffering a chastening defeat to PSG.
Here’s the full breakdown of our Club World Cup rankings ahead of the quarter-final stage.
8. Borussia Dortmund
It feels harsh to put Borussia Dortmund bottom of the pile when they’ve barely put a foot wrong so far.
Unbeaten with three wins from four, the Bundesliga giants can already consider this a decent summer’s work – and a nice little earner – that could provide solid foundations for the project Niko Kovac is building.
From here, though, things go up a notch. The European behemoths that lie waiting are on another level to Mamelodi Sundowns, Ulsan HD and Monterrey.
The last time out we wrote ” it’s difficult to envisage them putting up much of a fight against Real Madrid” about Juventus, and were ultimately vindicated. The same vibes apply to Dortmund, who’ve never beaten Los Blancos away from home.
7. Palmeiras
Arguably the Brazilian side with the biggest pedigree heading into this tournament, Palmeiras haven’t grabbed a statement result like Botafogo beating PSG or Fluminense beating Inter, but they haven’t had the platform to – Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami and Botafogo their route to this point.
They haven’t quite dazzled, but they’ve proven themselves stern opposition with three clean sheets in four and a well-organised set-up.
Estevao Willian is yet to provide us with a moment worthy of all the hype, but the potential is there. Watch out, Chelsea.
6. Fluminense
“Inter next. Then probably Man City. Gulp.”
That’s how we assessed Fluminense’s chances of going much deeper ahead of the Round of 16. Oops.
The Brazilian side swept aside Inter with a wonderfully well-executed counter-attacking gameplan.
Colombian winger Jhon Arias has been an absolute revelation, arguably the breakout star of the tournament, while at the other end a 40-year-old Thiago Silva shows all his class and experience marshalling their five-man backline. Some combination.
5. Al-Hilal
Putting the Saudi Pro League outfit bottom of our last 16-team ranking was a misstep. To put it mildly.
In fairness, we did identify their quality and praise their decent showing in the group stage. But we just couldn’t envisage them beating a Manchester City side who looked to be clicking back into gear. How wrong we were.
Their quarter-final against Fluminense is difficult to call, but given Al-Hilal have already held Real Madrid to a draw and shocked Pep Guardiola, you’d have to make them slight favourites.
4. Bayern Munich
Normal service was resumed last season as Bayern Munich emphatically reclaimed their Bundesliga crown.
But we’re still waiting to see whether Vincent Kompany’s side are truly back amongst the European elite, following their underwhelming Champions League quarter-final elimination against Inter.
A quarter-final against the European champions gives them some opportunity to make a statement. Harry Kane produced a centre-forward’s masterclass in the 4-2 victory over Flamengo and will be itching to show he’s still at the top of his game.
3. Real Madrid
Xabi Alonso will inevitably take some time to put his own stamp on this team, but there are some early, encouraging signs.
Their Round of 16 victory over Juventus was classic Carlo Ancelotti-era Real Madrid, though. They weathered some early pressure, but eventually they got on top, their nous seeing them through.
That’s a playbook straight out of the Champions League knockout stages. Always an ominous sign for their competitors.
We fully expect them to get the job done against Dortmund, but a likely semi-final against PSG (or the Bundesliga champions) will be a considerably more difficult task.
2. Chelsea
Given the way things have opened up for Chelsea, they’re surely the overwhelming favourites to make the final now.
After Inter and Manchester City’s shock Round of 16 eliminations, Enzo Maresca’s Blues are the only European powerhouse on that side of the bracket.
There’s an argument that we ought to ignore the existing Europe-dominant order of things; Chelsea were already beaten by Flamengo in the group stages, after all.
European clubs have won each of the last 11 Club World Cups (plus the new-look Intercontinental Cup in December), and we’re not willing to disregard that weight of evidence just yet.
Moises Caicedo has a strong shout as the Player of the Tournament so far and will be a big miss against Palmeiras. You’d still back them to get the job done, though.
1. PSG
The Round of 16 didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about PSG.
The treble-winners raced into a four-goal lead against Inter Miami before declaring and seeing out the second half at walking pace, wisely conserving their energy for the tougher tests to come.
The Parisiens have a very tricky route to glory but they remain the team to beat.
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