Facing best in world, Al Hilal out to achieve 'something special' against City

Al Hilal acknowledge they’re up against “one of the best teams in the world” in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16, but that hasn’t dimmed their ambitions.

The Roshn Saudi League representatives have been fantastic ambassadors for the Saudi top flight during their time in the United States this past fortnight, beginning their campaign with a brilliant display in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid before concluding it with a 2-0 victory against FC Pachuca.

In between? Well, that was a hard-fought goalless encounter with Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg.

Going undefeated in the inaugural expanded Club World Cup is no mean feat, with the Riyadh powerhouses sealing second spot in Group H and thus a knockout clash with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in Orlando in the early hours of Tuesday, Saudi Arabia time.

The recent champions of both England and Europe proved their might with a perfect record to top Group G, scoring 13 goals across the three games.

However, while Al Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly recognises the challenge ahead, he is far from deterred.

“We know that Manchester City are one of the best teams in the world,” the Senegal international told FIFA.com. “We need to believe in ourselves. We're not here on holiday, we're here to win matches.

“We know it won't be easy, but it's only 90 minutes or so. If we can keep that in mind, I truly believe we can do something special.”

Those sentiments are echoed by teammate Ruben Neves, scorer of the equaliser that earned the much-deserved share of the spoils with Real Madrid.

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“It will be a really tough game,” the 2025 UEFA Nations League winner with Portugal said. “We all know that City are one of the best teams in the world.

“But we also have to remember that we fought hard against Real Madrid in the first game and performed well. If we set up well, we have a fighting chance because we have some really talented players, too.”

Throw into the mix that Simone Inzaghi’s first match as Al Hilal manager was the Group H opener, and the 2023-24 RSL champions’ progress to the last 16 should be celebrated. Even if they're not done there.

"Our goal was to achieve [being in] the group of the best teams in the world," Inzaghi said. "It was not an easy task, but the team was well united.

"They fought during the three games for a great objective... we were not coming here just to have fun, we were coming here to play a [Club] World Cup, and we wanted to reach this stage.

"Now we'll have to play against Manchester City… they’re one of the greatest teams in the world. These are the games where you can improve and you can mature as a team, so I'm very proud."

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Inzaghi, who on Tuesday will be without influential captain Salem Al Dawsari through injury, added: “We have tried to prepare in the best way possible and we’re aware this an opportunity to grow. And we’re going to try to put in our best performance against a great opponent.

“We’re going to have a lot of time to suffer and we’re going to have to try to keep the ball as much as possible, because we know they are super reactive.”