In addition to its Club World Cup guide, Sports Talk United here presents the Group H of the competition, which will take place in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025.
Which teams are in Group H of the Club World Cup?
Real Madrid are…well, it’s Real Madrid! Listed by Forbes as the richest club in the world, valuing the Spanish giants at around $6.75billion, with a playing squad worth roughly $1.5billion. Record La Liga winners (36 times), record UEFA Champions League winners (15, more than twice as many as their nearest challengers).
This season has seen ‘Los Blancos’ fall below their freakishly high standards of late, finishing a distant 2nd in the league to Barcelona, while also getting knocked out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 5-1 (aggregate) by Arsenal. Despite this, they’ve still managed to win a UEFA Super Cup, as well as the Intercontinental Cup. They’ve also hired a new manager, former midfielder Xabi Alonso, who will be keen to make an early impression.
Red Bull Salzburg have been the dominant force in Austrian football of late, winning 10 straight titles between 2014 – 2023. This season has seen a massive drop off though, spending a considerable amount of the season outside of European qualification, though they did recover to finish 3rd. They also performed poorly in the UEFA Champions League, picking up just three points from their eight league-phase matches.
Al-Hilal entered the minds of many Europeans during the Saudi Arabian spending spree in 2023, along with several other clubs from the Saudi Pro League. They were a ‘big club’ long before then, having won a record number of Saudi League titles (19) and record number of AFC Champions Leagues (four). As is the pulling power of the club, they managed to steal away manager Simone Inzaghi from Internazionale, just 3 days after the Italian club lost the UEFA Champions League Final.
Another new manager who’ll want to make their mark on this tournament. Though not considered one of Mexico’s ‘big four’ clubs, Pachuca have an incredible record in the CONCACAF Champions League, winning the competition six times (their most recent one coming in 2024).
Sadly, they’ve had a poor season so far, finishing 8th in the Liga MX Clausura (the league played in the 1st half of the year), and their form reflects that: winning three, drawing three, and losing four, from their last 10 matches in all competitions. They do have some recent experience playing at this level though, and made it to the final of the 2024 Intercontinental Cup, where they lost to Real Madrid.
How did each Group H team qualify for the Club World Cup?
Real Madrid – Spain (UEFA)
Qualified as winners of the 2022 and 2024 UEFA Champions League.
Red Bull Salzburg – Austria (UEFA)
UEFA were allocated 12 places for the CWC, with four going to the last four winners of the UEFA Champions League, and another eight going to the best-ranked teams in UEFA’s 4-year ranking (with a maximum of two clubs from a single nation). As Real Madrid won two titles, this extended to the nine best-ranked eligible teams; Red Bull Salzburg were 9th on this list.
Al-Hilal – Saudi Arabia (AFC)
Qualified as winners of the 2021 AFC Champions League.
Pachuca – Mexico (CONCACAF)
Qualified as winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League.
Group H match schedule: Key dates and fixtures
Group H opens with a meeting between Real Madrid and Al Hilal on June 18 and closes eight days later with the two games on June 26.
- June 18: Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens (3pm EDT, 8pm BST,
9pm CEST) - June 18: Pachuca vs Red Bull Salzburg – TQL Stadium, Cincinnati (6pm EDT, 11pm BST, 12am
CEST) - June 22: Real Madrid vs Pachuca – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte (3pm EDT, 8pm BST,
9pm CEST) - June 22: Red Bull Salzburg vs Al-Hilal – Audi Field, Washington D.C. (6pm EDT, 11pm BST,
12am CEST) - June 26: Al-Hilal vs Pachuca – Geodis Park, Nashville (9pm EDT, 2am BST, 3am CEST)
- June 26: Red Bull Salzburg vs Real Madrid – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia (9pm EDT,
2am BST, 3am CEST)
Key players to watch in Group H
Real Madrid – Dean Huijsen
In a team that contains Mbappé, Vinicius Jr, Bellingham, Rodrygo, etc, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d hit my head or something, for picking a centre back who had yet to appear for the club. The reality, though, is that Real Madrid did not end the season well, despite the fact that the players mentioned above contributed 92 goals between them.
Their issues this season have been defensive, and with senior centre backs Rüdiger and Militão missing the tournament through injury, young Huijsen is going to have to jump straight into the starting line-up following his €60million transfer from AFC Bournemouth.
Red Bull Salzburg – Oscar Gloukh
Despite RB Salzburg struggling for long periods of the season, Gloukh’s attacking numbers have remained pretty high, scoring 11 and providing 8 from an attacking midfield position. Goals have been a real problem for RB Salzburg this season, scoring just 53 times across 46 matches. With the much-hyped striker Karim Konaté injured for the tournament, the Austrian club are going to have to rely on the instincts of 21-year old Gloukh, or face going home early.
Al-Hilal – Salem Al-Dawsari
If you don’t recognise the name, maybe you should; he scored the winning goal for Saudi Arabia as they came from behind to defeat (soon-to-be) world champions Argentina in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Despite Al-Hilal’s significant transfer spend in recent seasons, it is the 33-year old winger who has been the player of the season, with 44 goal contributions (26 goals, 18 assists), and playing more minutes than any other Al-Hilal player, including goalkeeper Bono. Regardless of which striker is playing (usually Aleksandar Mitrović or Marcos Leonardo, or both), Al-Dawsari will be the danger-man.
Pachuca – Oussama Idrissi
The 29-year old Moroccan international offers something to Pachuca that no other player can: creativity. With 10 assists so far this season, he has provided twice as many goals as any other of his teammates, most of which were crosses into the box for top goalscorer Salomón Rondón.
As well as the Venezuelan striker, Idrissi has also developed a good relationship with left back Bryan González, who is able to offer overlapping runs down the left flank. The majority of attacking play for Pachuca goes down their left, and at the heart of it all is Idrissi.
What’s at stake in Group H?
Whoever reaches the knockouts will next face a team from Group G (Manchester City, Juventus, Al Ain, Wydad AC). The winner of Group H would face the runner-up of Group G, and the runnerup of Group H would face the Group G winners.
Winning Group H would also put the side in the bottom half of the draw, and would play their round of 16 tie in Miami Gardens, Florida. Going through as runners-up would put the team in the top half of the draw, and would play their next match in Orlando, Florida.
