Inter Miami enter their Club World Cup opener as slight favourites against Egyptian champions Al Ahly, with the MLS side well positioned to begin their campaign with a positive result. Al Ahly enjoyed a strong domestic season, finishing six points clear at the summit, but face a stern test against an Inter Miami side hitting form at the perfect moment.

David Beckham's outfit have built valuable momentum with back to back MLS victories, netting four or more goals in each of those wins. Their formidable attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Tadeo Allende presents a constant threat, having already contributed to Inter Miami's impressive tally of 36 goals from just 16 league matches this season. With only three defeats in their domestic campaign, Javier Mascherano’s men carry both confidence and firepower into this continental clash.

The Florida based side enjoy the added advantage of home comforts, with the match being staged in Miami Gardens, Florida. While questions remain about how travelling teams will adapt to the conditions, this familiar environment should provide Inter Miami with an immediate edge in the tournament's early stages.

Bayern Munich enter their Club World Cup opener as overwhelming favourites against OFC Champions League winners Auckland City. Under Vincent Kompany's management, the German giants possess more than enough quality to comfortably dispatch their New Zealand opponents, though defensive vulnerabilities could give them pause for thought against stronger opposition later in the tournament.

The Bavarians' attacking prowess is simply too much for most teams to handle, as demonstrated by their staggering 99 goal haul in last season's Bundesliga campaign. With an average of 2.91 goals per game, Bayern's firepower should prove far superior to anything Auckland City have previously encountered in their Oceania competitions.

While Kompany will be mindful of his side's defensive frailties, this opening fixture presents the perfect opportunity for Bayern to build momentum. Expect them to dominate possession and create numerous chances as they look to make a strong statement in their quest for Club World Cup glory.

PSG confirmed their status as Europe's top side with a dominant 5-0 Champions League final victory over Inter Milan. Under Luis Enrique, they've combined world-class talent with improved work ethic to finally claim club football's biggest prize.

Their attacking trio of Doue, Dembele and Kvaratskhelia has been devastating, firing PSG to 92 Ligue 1 goals (2.70 per game) last season. Atlético Madrid's 68 La Liga goals (1.78 per game) and 10 draws highlight their struggles to kill off games - a weakness PSG can exploit.

With five straight wins to end the season and Luis Enrique's effective tactical system, PSG are well-placed to add more silverware to their Champions League triumph. Their blend of individual quality and collective discipline makes them formidable opponents, and we think they win here.

Palmeiras are one of the few non-European sides that have a real chance of getting out of their group. They’ve been drawn with Porto, Al Ahly and Inter Miami which is a group that doesn't have a clear winner, with Porto being one of the weaker representatives from Europe after finishing third in Liga Portugal and crashing out of the Europa League at the round of 32 stage. 

Palmeiras will see this opening game as a real opportunity, if they can get a positive result here, you would back them to navigate the rest of the group with relative comfort. However, the quality advantage that Porto holds on the rest of the sides could make them an awkward task for the Brazilian side. A draw looks the most likely outcome in a group that could go down to the final matchday.

Botafogo and Seattle Sounders are joined by Atletico Madrid and PSG in group B, which is one of the toughest groups of the Club World Cup. Seattle Sounders have been progressing steadily in the Western Conference of the MLS, sitting sixth in the table with seven wins from their 18 games so far. 

Botafogo are the reigning champions of the Serie A having pipped Palmeiras to the title last season. They’ve made a slightly sluggish start to the campaign this time around with five wins from their 11 games in Serie A, leaving them eighth in the standings. 

This is an interesting game as it is likely to be the easiest test that either of these sides face in the competition, with tough tests against Atletico Madrid and PSG to come. There isn’t too much between the sides based on their performances this season which should result in an even encounter.

Chelsea kick off their Club World Cup campaign against an LAFC side that were only invited into the tournament late on, having to beat Club America to book their spot in the competition after Leon were disqualified from competing.

Chelsea should navigate this group pretty comfortably with no other European side in Group D. Enzo Maresca’s side finished the season strongly, qualifying for the Champions League and lifting the Conference League, which was a significant milestone for this young side. 

LAFC have been performing well in the Western Conference of the MLS but are set to struggle here with the quality of Chelsea, who have added Liam Delap to their squad for the tournament, as well as calling back players like Andrey Santos from loan - who offer depth for the Blues.

Benfica and Boca Juniors are joined by Bayern Munich and Auckland City in Group C, with Benfica and Bayern likely to battle it out for top spot. Auckland City are the weakest side in the group and will struggle to get a result in any of their group games, leaving Boca Juniors, Benfica and Bayern to fight for the two top spots which would take them to the knockout stages.

Benfica lost out on the title on the final day of the Liga Portugal as Sporting pipped them to top spot by just two points. They performed admirably throughout the domestic campaign with just four losses from their 34 games in the Portuguese top flight. 

Boca Juniors finished sixth in Liga Professional last season, winning just 11 of their 27 games in the Argentine top flight. Benfica should be able to qualify from this group, probably just behind Bayern Munich, but they could struggle in the knockout stages against more convincing opposition.

There is a real opportunity for Flamengo, ES Tunis and LAFC to reach the knockout stages, with Chelsea the obvious favourites for the group, leaving a dog fight between the remaining three sides for second place. 

Flamengo are the stronger side here, they currently sit top of the Brazilian Serie A having won seven of their 11 games so far, losing just one of these encounters. Remarkably, they’ve only conceded four goals across these games which will make it difficult for Tunisian based side ES Tunis to break them down.

Dortmund are strong favourites to finish top of this group which also includes Fluminense, Mamelodi Sundowns and Ulsan HD. This opening game against Fluminense is likely to be their toughest assignment of the group stage, with the Brazilian side coming into this tournament having avoided defeat in their last six matches. 

Dortmund finished the season strongly under Niko Kovac, qualifying for the Champions League after a slow start to the campaign which left them languishing in the bottom reaches of the Bundesliga under Nuri Sahin, who was relieved from his duties in January. 

Dortmund also managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League during the 24/25 season, which indicates that they have the quality to at least reach the knockout stages of this competition, starting with a win over Fluminense.

Group E is one of the most intriguing groups at the Club World Cup with Inter and Monterrey making up the other sides in the group. Inter are favourites to top the group but this could be more difficult than they anticipate when considering the departure of head coach Simone Inzaghi and the aging profile of the squad having to recover from missing out on three trophies during the 24/25 season. 

River Plate finished fourth during the Liga Professional 2024 season, winning 11 of their 27 games and notably only conceding 21 goals across these fixtures which may mean that they are quite a difficult side to break down. 

Urawa Red Diamonds sit third in the J-League having won nine of their 21 games this term. They aren’t the most freescoring side which may play into the hands of River Plate which can help the Argentine side record their first victory of the Club World Cup in a group that offers plenty of promise for the non-European sides.

Ulsan travel over from South Korea while the Mamelodi Sundowns make the trip from South Africa to compete in the Club World Cup. Dortmund are favourites to top this group which also includes Fluminense - it is a close battle to finish second in this group and either of these sides could take a massive step to qualifying for the knockout stages with a win here. 

Ulsan currently sit third in the K League 1, with eight wins from their 19 matches this season. They finished first in the regular season last season, and also topped the Final Group A which determines the winner of the K-League. 

Mamelodi Sundowns finished top of the Premier Soccer League in South Africa during the 24/25 season, they also performed admirably in the most recent edition of the CAF Champions League, finishing runners up in the competition. Mamelodi look the more complete side at the moment and could end up being the challengers to Dortmund in this group, expect a positive start here. 

Inter Milan are in a bit of a difficult situation at the moment and you get the feeling that this competition may not be at the top of their priorities when considering the fact that Simeone Inzaghi has departed his role as head coach to take the manager position at Al-Hilal, a side that are also competing in this tournament. 

Inzaghi’s departure reflects a much wider need for transition at Inter, they have performed superbly under the tutelage of Inzaghi but the squad is now ageing and in desperate need of a refresh, one which may be gradual considering the financial difficulties currently surrounding the blue side of Milan. 

Inter’s weaknesses are likely to become more evident in the latter stages of the competition, they shouldn't have too many problems in dispatching a Monterrey side that finished seventh during the 24/25 Liga MX season, winning eight of their 17 games in the division.

This should be a comfortable start to the competition for Man City who will be eyeing up the trophy to make up for an underwhelming campaign during the 24/25 season, which left the club without silverware for the first time since Pep Guardiola’s first season at the helm. 

City have responded to their poor campaign in the 24/25 season by securing summer signings which will certainly improve and refresh the squad, which looked a little tired last season. Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri have already signed for the Cityzens and you would expect them to continue to reinforce their squad after the Club World Cup. 

Wydad Casablanca hail from Morocco and will find it difficult to come through this group, which also contains Juventus and Al Ain. Wydad Casablanca played two friendly matches in the build up to this tournament against Porto and Sevilla to test their current ability against European sides, they lost both games by 1-0 scorelines and City could punish them by more goals than that here.

The Club World Cup will give us the first opportunity to look at Xabi Alonso’s new look Real Madrid side, who will no doubt be aiming to win this tournament and be crowned as the best club side in the world, a tag that many already assign to Los Blancos.

The signings of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen add some much needed defensive reinforcement to a side that struggled against some of the more efficient attacking setups during the 24/25 season. 

Al-Hilal may be able to challenge Salzburg to finish second in this group, but overcoming Real Madrid seems improbable. They have recently appointed Simone Inzaghi as head coach so it is likely that the squad will take some time to digest his ideas, which should pave the way for a routine Real Madrid victory.

This could be a potential banana skin for Salzburg as they take on Mexican side Pachuca who enjoyed a steady season in Liga MX during the 24/25 season, avoiding defeat in 12 of their 17 matches. They were dumped out of the knockout style tournament at the end of the season by eventual finalists Club America so they have recent experience in a knockout style format. 

Salzburg are the weakest European representative at the Club World Cup which means we could see a non-European side qualify from this group alongside Real Madrid who are heavy favourites to top it. Salzburg finished third in the regular season of the Austrian Bundesliga during the 24/25 season and didn’t manage to top their Championship group, with Sturm Graz claiming the title.

Juventus had a poor 24/25 domestic season by their lofty standards, finishing fourth in Serie A, just about scraping qualification for the Champions League next season with just one point separating them from Roma.

That being said, they shouldn’t face too many issues in their opening Club World Cup game. Al Ain hail from the United Arab Emirates and will struggle to deal with the quality that Juventus possess, even if they are not the same dangerous side that feared across Europe in the early 2010s. Al Ain finished fifth in the Arabian Gulf League in the 24/25 season which is a standing that should further encourage Juventus to get their tournament off to a strong start.