Manchester City wins its first Club World Cup, its 5th trophy of the year

After the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, Manchester City concluded its year 2023 with a fifth title with the Club World Cup. Pep Guardiola’s players beat the Brazilian club Fluminense in the final (3-0), Friday December 22 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), to win a competition in which they were participating for the first time.

Winners in the semi-finals of the Japanese club Urawa (3-0) on Tuesday, the Cityzens did not tremble against the teammates of the former Madrilenian Marcelo. It only took 40 seconds of play to see Manchester City open the scoring thanks to Julian Alvarez’s reflex to regain the ball with his chest after Nathan Aké’s strike on the post. Phil Foden then pushed Nino to score against his side (27th) before scoring the third goal (72nd). Alvarez scored twice to complete the Mancunian success (88th). Since 2012, and the coronation of Corinthians, the trophy has never escaped the sole European representative.

This 20th edition of the tournament was the last in this seven-team format. Last week, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that the Club World Cup would increase to 32 participating teams during the next edition, in 2025 (June 15 to July 13, in the United States). The event will now be organized every four years with 12 European clubs on the starting line. Winning the Champions League will no longer be the only way to participate.