The final FIFA Club World Cup group stage match at MetLife Stadium did all it could to make up for the 229 straight scoreless minutes played at the start of the tournament’s East Rutherford, New Jersey slate of matches, as FC Porto and Al Ahly FC played to a back-and-forth 4-4 draw.
The crowd of 39,893 was predominately clad in red and there to cheer for Al Ahly, but Porto went toe-to-toe with the Egyptian side. All four of Porto’s goals were equalizers to cancel out Al Ahly's leads, with the fourth and last one coming late in the 89th minute to secure a point for the Portuguese club.
The result doesn’t help either team, though, as both clubs needed a win at minimum plus help elsewhere in order to advance to the knockouts of this Club World Cup.
FC Porto: 17 shots, 7 shots on target, 57% possession, 440 passes, 86% pass accuracy, 10 fouls, 11 corners, 6 saves
Al Ahly FC: 23 shots, 12 shots on target, 43% possession, 346 passes, 84% pass accuracy, 11 fouls, 4 corners, 3 saves
Goals:
• Al Ahly, Wessam Abou Ali, 15'
Porto, Rodrigo Mora, 23'
Al Ahly, Wessam Abou Ali, 45'+2' (PK)
Porto, William Gomes, 50'
Al Ahly, Wessam Abou Ali, 51'
Porto, Samu Aghehowa, 53'
Al Ahly, Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane, 64'
Porto, Pepê, 89'
Attendance: 39,893
Eight goals
A grand total of 40 shots by each team, 19 of which were on target, in a game where both teams decided defense was optional.
It was FC Porto who threatened first when forward Rodrigo Mora scuffed a one-on-one chance in the 14th minute. One minute later, Al Ahly FC got on the board. Wessam Abou Ali scored his first with a trickle shot from the left side, through the legs of a diving defender and off the right post.
After a second Abou Ali goal was called back for offside to the disappointment of the majority crowd, Mora and Porto got on the scoresheet. In the 23rd minute, he split two defenders, got around goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, and essentially shot into an empty net to equalize.
As halftime neared the Egyptians took more control of the game and were getting shots off against or near Porto keeper Cláudio Ramos. Abou Ali was able to add a second in first-half stoppage time when his team was awarded a penalty kick, allowing him to convert from the spot.
Overall it took about half an hour for three goals to be scored in the first 45 minutes. The second half saw three goals in as many minutes.
It began with another Porto equalizer in the 50th when William Gomes curled a stellar shot from outside the penalty area into the top-right corner of the net. A minute later, Abou Ali sealed his Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match by earning a hat-trick. A long cross by Mohamed Hany was coolly headed in by the Palestine National Team star.
As was becoming tradition, Porto equalized not long after in the 53rd minute. In “Anything you can do, I can do better” fashion, a corner kick from Fabio Vieira was headed in by 6'4" Samu Aghehowa from near the penalty spot.
By this point, both teams had half an hour to play to find a critical go-ahead goal. Every goal scored was almost immediately grabbed and brought back to the middle of the field for a quick restart.
Al Ahly took its fourth lead of the night in the 64th minute when Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane blasted a shot from the top of the 18-yard box, assisted by Achraf Bencharki who had just played around the Portuguese defense in the box.
Yet Porto was able to do it one more time in the dying moments of regulation. Second-half sub Pepê received a pass from Gabri Veiga and unloaded a shot from above the penalty arc that got past Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
After an elongated amount of stoppage time, the final whistle blew and both team’s fates were sealed.
Matthew Mangam
All for naught
Despite the excitement, this was the final match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup for both Porto and Al Ahly.
While the eight-goal thriller was taking place in East Rutherford, the other match in Group A between Inter Miami CF and SE Palmeiras was going on down at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Both teams playing at MetLife Stadium needed a win to advance, but also needed to meet certain criteria.
Al Ahly needed to beat Porto by two goals and needed Inter Miami to lose their match. Since the two teams tied in the first match of the tournament, 0-0, the tiebreaker would come down to goal differential.
On the other side, Porto needed a win and needed Miami to beat Palmeiras in order for the goal differential tie-breaker to come into play. With Miami earning five points and Porto finishing tied with Palmeiras at four, goal differential would have become the deciding factor.
For a while, that last option looked feasible as Miami led Palmeiras, 2-0, with about ten minutes to play. A goal from international star Luis Suarez looked to seal the game for the MLS side in the 67th minute. However, the Brazilians rallied back with two goals in the 80th and 87th minute to earn a draw against the defending Supporters’ Shield winners.
Both Palmeiras and IMCF finished the group stage with five points each, enough for both to advance. FC Porto (0-2-1 W-D-L, 2 points) and Al Ahly (0-2-1 W-D-L, 2 points) head home without a victory in their Club World Cups.
Meadowlands turns Red
The high-scoring match at MetLife was played in front of an announced crowd of just under 40,000. At least 95% of that group was backing Al Ahly.
A first in the tournament, the Egyptian supporters unveiled a set of tifos and banners ahead of Monday’s 9:00 pm start in the Meadowlands. It was an imposing display, with art and Arabic language filling the stands. Compared to the “12th Man” tifo across the stadium, which barely covered a dozen fans, it was a great display.
For African sides, this tournament hasn’t been the best, with two of the four already eliminated at the time of this writing. But Al Ahly’s matches at MetLife have been some of the best visuals of the tournament. Despite battling bigger, more well-known South American and European clubs, this red sea never split.
Even a flair popping off mid-way through the second half didn’t phase the group, who enjoyed the pyrotechnics before quickly handing off the fire to a security guard on the field.
MetLife once again didn’t open the upper tier for Monday’s match, which worked out perfectly. The crowd looked far more contingent as a unit. It’s something hopefully FIFA and tournament organizers learn from moving forward as more countries show interest in hosting future editions of the Club World Cup.
• Al Ahly, Ahmed Ramadan, yellow card, 56'
Al Ahly, Achraf Bencharki, yellow card, 61'
Al Ahly, Achraf Dari, yellow card, 68'
Porto, Martin Anselmi (coach), yellow card, 75'
Officials
• Referee: Jesús Valenzuela (VEZ)
