In one of the key measures of Gianni Infantino's tenure at the helm of FIFA, the Club World Cup will kick off on Saturday with Inter Miami headlining the opening match against Al-Ahly, which promises to be a tough challenge for Javier Mascheranno's side at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Inter Miami bets on Lionel Messi's star to shine
The Inter Miami team has achieved some important results in recent MLS history, but the team has not yet managed to put in a great collective performance to place itself as the favorite to win the two knockout berths. The club founded in 2018 is reaching the pinnacle of its international relevance by playing in its biggest tournament since the club's creation.
However, we shouldn't expect any major surprises in the starting line-up and Javier Mascherano's strategy for conducting his style of play, based on creating numerical superiority around Lionel Messi, generating positional freedom to exploit his connection with his former Barcelona friends, even if it is vulnerable defensively.
However, Javier Mascherano will be without no fewer than six injured players for the game against Al Ahly. Noah Allen is expected to start at left-back in place of the absent Jordi Alba, while Yannick Bright's absence paves the way for Benjamin Cremaschi to partner Sergio Busquets.
Al Ahly to debut new coach against Inter Miami
While the Miami team is making its debut in FIFA tournaments, Al Ahly is one of the clubs that has played in the old version of the Club World Cup. Having won three of the last four seasons of the AFC Champions League, the so-called "Real Madrid of the Americas" are very confident after winning Egypt's national championship.
However, despite being the reigning champions, Al Ahly will have the debut of a new coach this Saturday, against Inter Miami. José Riveiro, 47, comes to the helm having only coached two other clubs in his career. The standout player in the squad is goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, a regular in the Egypt national team.
Al Ahly are expected to play in a 4-2-3-1 formation for their Club World Cup opener against Inter Miami, but José Riveiro will be without Mohamed Abdallah, while Reda Slim and Samir Maohamed will miss out through injury.