Manchester City delivered a dominant performance to maintain their perfect record at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, cruising to a 5-2 victory over Juventus in their final Group D match on Thursday at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
The win secured top spot in the group for Pep Guardiola’s side, who have now won all three of their group games. The result also improves City’s chances of avoiding a potentially tough clash with Real Madrid in the Round of 16, a matchup that could now fall to Juventus, depending on the outcome of Group H’s remaining fixtures on Friday.
It was a particularly positive outing for City, with 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri making his first start since suffering an ACL injury in September. The team, featuring several new signings, looked much sharper compared to their inconsistent campaign last season, where they finished 13 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool.
City took control early, with Bernardo Silva testing Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio just five minutes in. Four minutes later, Jeremy Doku opened the scoring after Rayan Aït-Nouri sliced through the Juventus defense with a superb pass.
Juventus momentarily leveled the score after a poor clearance by Ederson allowed Teun Koopmeiners to pounce and fire home. However, the Italian side soon returned the favor, as Pierre Kalulu inadvertently turned a Matheus Nunes cross into his own net in the 26th minute.
Following a brief downpour before halftime, Guardiola brought on Erling Haaland for the second half. The Norwegian wasted no time, scoring his 300th career goal just seven minutes after the restart by tapping in a cross from Nunes.
Rodri exited in the 66th minute to applause, replaced by Ilkay Gundogan, but City continued to dominate.
Later, Haaland nearly added a second when his cross missed Phil Foden, only for Savinho to recover the ball and assist Foden for City’s fourth. Moments later, Savinho added his name to the scoresheet with a thunderous strike off the underside of the bar after Haaland’s shot was parried.
Juventus managed a late consolation as Kenan Yildiz set up Dusan Vlahovic, who calmly finished from the edge of the box.
With this win, Manchester City advance confidently into the knockout stage, while Juventus await their fate as the group stage nears its conclusion.
Advertisement