Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez completes $62m move from Premier League champions Liverpool to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
The Saudi Arabian soccer league has secured its latest marquee signing after Darwin Nunez completed the move from Liverpool to Al Hilal on Saturday.
The Uruguay international cost a reported 46.3 million pounds ($62m) and has signed a three-year contract.
Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia’s most successful team, has been searching for another star signing after releasing Brazil great Neymar in January.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes rejected a move before the Club World Cup in June, and there was also reported interest in former Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
Nunez leaves Liverpool after a mixed time in the Premier League, where he produced some spectacular moments but could not establish himself as the Merseyside club’s first-choice centre forward. He scored 40 goals in 143 games and won the Premier League title last season.
But he made only one league start from the turn of the year and scored just seven goals in 47 total appearances last term.
In a summer when Liverpool has reinforced its attack with the signings of Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, along with interest in Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, Nunez’s position had been in doubt.
Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez are some of the high-profile names to make the switch as Saudi Arabia has mounted an ambitious recruitment drive to establish itself as a major player in global soccer.
Al Hilal, which produced one of the biggest upsets at the Club World Cup by eliminating Manchester City, already has a host of marquee players, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Joao Cancelo and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
It is also coached by two-time Champions League runner-up Simone Inzaghi.
It has won a record 19 Saudi league titles as well as four Asian championships, but was beaten to the title by Al-Ittihad last season.
Brazil’s Fluminense earn hard-fought 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal to book place in semifinals.
Substitute Hercules scored his second goal in as many second-half appearances to send Fluminense into the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Al Hilal in Orlando, Florida.
The tournament underdogs struck first on Friday through Matheus Martinelli in the first half before Al Hilal hit back after the break when Marcus Leonardo found the net.
But Fluminense refused to be denied and regained their lead in the 70th minute through Hercules to secure a memorable win over Al Hilal in the first meeting between the two clubs.
The Brazilian side, who entered the tournament as one of the biggest long shots, will now face the winners of Friday’s other quarterfinal clash between fellow Brazilians Palmeiras and English Premier League side Chelsea.
Al Hilal exit despite a fourth tournament goal for striker Leonardo.
The Saudi side was the last from Asia remaining, having pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset with a 4-3, extra-time victory over Manchester City in the second round on Monday.
Martinelli put Fluminense in front in the 40th minute with a brilliant strike. His first touch took Gabriel Fuentes’s pass beyond a charging Al Hilal defender, and his second unleashed a ferocious left-footed shot that beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to the top right corner from about 15 yards (14 metres).
A minute into first-half stoppage time, Fluminense keeper Fabio sprawled to his left to push Kalidou Koulibaly’s powerful header beyond the post.
After nearly levelling before halftime, Koulibaly won another dangerous header six minutes into the second from a corner.
This time it landed at the feet of Leonardo, who balanced himself and scooped a finish from close range past Fabio and two defenders on the line.
It remained level four minutes later when Bounou sprawled to his right to take the ball off the feet of German Cano, who was trying to dribble round him after intercepting a pass deep in the attacking half.
Hercules put Fluminense in front for good in the 70th when he was rewarded for his own persistence.
After his first long-range shot was deflected high into the air, he continued his run forward as teammate Samuel Xavier won the next header.
It landed at the feet of Hercules, whose wonderful first touch put him in shooting position before his second sent a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner, prompting jubilation from yet another largely pro-Brazilian crowd at this tournament.
Al Hilal pressured Fluminense in the dying stages, but could not create a clear chance on Fabio’s goal.
Fluminense head coach Renato Portaluppi praised his players after the match.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game, but I am so pleased with the way my players reacted,” Portaluppi told DAZN. “I am so happy that we have gone through to the semifinals.”
Asked about what he said to Hercules when he came off the bench for the second half, he replied: “I told him just to keep doing what he has to do. He would have the opportunity to score, and when it came, he took it.”
Meanwhile, it was a tough day for Al Hilal’s Portuguese players competing just a day after the Liverpool FC and Portugal national team star Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car accident in Spain.
They were honoured with a pregame moment of silence, and cameras showed Al Hilal starters and Portuguese compatriots Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo in tears during the tribute.
Who: Fluminense vs Al Hilal What: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Where:Camping World Stadium, Orlando, United States When: Friday, July 4 at 3pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 12pm local (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
The first of the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals gets under way with the meeting of two mighty continents as South American giants Fluminense take on Asian powerhouse Al Hilal.
As successful as both sides have been in their own continents, however, their appearance in the last eight has come courtesy of both upsetting the odds – and in particular European super clubs – to reach this stage.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the first of the quarterfinals as FIFA’s billion-dollar tournament closes towards its finale.
How did Fluminense reach the quarterfinals?
Fluminense finished second in Group H behind Borussia Dortmund with a win against Ulsan and draws against the German table toppers and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
That set up a round-of-16 meeting with defeated Champions League finalist Inter Milan.
German Cano’s third-minute strike was followed up by a second from Hercules in the third minute of added time to seal a shock 2-0 win against the Serie A runners-up.
Fluminense’s German Cano scores their first goal past Inter Milan’s Yann Sommer in the round of 16 tie [Agustin Marcarian/Reuters]
Who did Al Hilal beat to reach the quarterfinals?
Al Hilal secured second spot behind Real Madrid in Group H after draws against the Spanish giants and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, and a win against Mexico’s Pachuca.
A daunting test against defending Club World Cup champions, Manchester City.
A thrilling 4-3 win after extra time sent the Saudi Pro League club into the quarterfinals with one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history.
Who could Fluminense or Al Hilal face in the semifinal?
The winner of this match will face the winner of the second quarterfinal, England’s Chelsea or Brazil’s Palmeiras, in the last four.
That tie will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia immediately after the Fluminense and Al Hilal match.
Who completes the Club World Cup quarterfinal lineup?
Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund complete the quarterfinal lineup, with the winners of those ties facing each other in the semifinals.
“I think we’ve played very well in this competition. It’s not easy to play against European teams, but the motivation for us is different,” Silva said. “I’m very proud of my team and myself as well, because 10 days ago I had a hamstring injury. Now, we need to recover well because, after three or four days, we have to play again. I’m not young, you know? So I need to recover well.”
Al Hilal’s Marcos Leonardo scores their first goal against Manchester City [Hannah Mckay/Reuters]
Al Hilal’s Marcos Leonardo’s pre-match thoughts
“I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months,” said Al Hilal’s two-goal hero against Manchester City. “My mother spent 70 days in the Intensive Care Unit. Today, she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her – she was able to watch the match. We have to think about our families – people who want the best for us. If they weren’t watching, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Fluminense team news
Left-back Rene is suspended for the match following his second booking of the tournament in the win against Inter.
Al Hilal team news
Musab Al-Juwayr made his comeback from a knee injury with a substitute appearance in the win against Man City.
Captain Salem Al-Dawsari is unlikely to feature again in the competition after picking up a hamstring problem.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal have sent English giants Manchester City crashing out of the Club World Cup, snatching a shock 4-3 victory in extra time in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
The match finished 2-2 at full-time on Monday, but at the end of an eventful extra-time, Marcos Leonardo grabbed the winner and pulled off one of the greatest wins in Middle Eastern football history.
The Saudi club now advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face Brazilian club Fluminense, ensuring a non-European team will reach the last four.
Man City had taken the lead in the ninth minute in controversial fashion, with Bernardo Silva finishing after Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross.
Al Hilal players protested that Ait-Nouri had controlled with his arm in the build-up, but the goal stood.
Man City had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead before the break, but a combination of poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou kept the lead at a single goal.
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was one of the heroes for Al Hilal as he blocked several chances from Manchester City, including one from Erling Haaland [Patricia Del Mero Moreira/AFP]
Al Hilal offered several reminders of their threat on the break but Man City had even more chances, with Jeremy Doku volleying straight at Bounou, who moments later reacted superbly again to keep out a Bernardo effort.
The question as to whether Man City would live to regret not converting those chances was answered within a minute of the resumption.
Former City full-back Joao Cancelo’s low cross was parried out by Ederson. Malcolm pounced but saw his shot blocked by Ruben Dias, only for the ball to loop to Marcos Leonardo to head home the equaliser.
Six minutes later, and City’s high defensive line was exposed by a long ball from Cancelo, which Brazilian Malcolm raced onto, showing power and pace as he broke away before coolly slotting past Ederson.
The Saudi fans in the crowd went wild while City manager Pep Guardiola responded immediately with a triple substitution, with midfielder Rodri and defenders Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji introduced.
That brought some much-needed stability to a shaky back line but City needed improvement at the other end too, and it came, albeit in scruffy circumstances.
The Al Hilal defence were unable to deal with a Bernardo corner and Haaland pounced to steer home the loose ball and make it 2-2.
City piled on the pressure as they looked for the winner but yet again Bounou proved their nemesis as he denied Akanji and Ruben Dias, and even when he was beaten by Haaland, substitute Ali Lajami produced a magnificent goal-line clearance.
Guardiola took off Haaland and introduced Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush as the game went into extra time.
But for all City’s depth, Al Hilal had a deep well of spirit to draw upon. Just four minutes into the opening period, Al Hilal regained the lead when Kalidou Koulibaly rose superbly to meet a Ruben Neves corner with a brilliantly angled header.
City responded with a goal of real quality when Rayan Cherki’s brilliantly floated ball towards the back post was poked home masterfully by Phil Foden, at full stretch and from the tightest of angles.
But incredibly, Al Hilal responded again to restore their lead: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header was saved by Ederson but Marcos Leonardo followed in to bundle the ball over the line.
As the celebrating Al Hilal fans poured out of the stadium, the Brazilian striker let his emotions pour out, too.
“I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months. My mother spent 70 days in the ICU,” he said.
“Today, she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her. She was able to watch the match.”
City skipper Bernardo Silva said his team had paid the price for being unable to deal with Al Hilal’s counter-attacking.
“We scored three and could’ve scored five, six. It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t let them run, and they ran way too many times,” he said.
“With one, two passes, there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this, we always suffer a lot, and today was the case,” he said.
Al Hilal players celebrate their win over Manchester City at the end of the match [John Raoux/AP]
Spain’s Real Madrid to meet Italy’s Juventus in FIFA Club World Cup after eliminating Salzburg, Man City face Al Hilal.
Real Madrid swept past Red Bull Salzburg with a 3-0 win in their final Group H match to set up a round of 16 meeting with Juventus at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde netted first-half goals for the Spanish giants in the match in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Gonzalo Garcia added the third in the 84th minute for Madrid in a second consecutive multi-goal win following a tournament-opening draw against Al Hilal.
The result eliminated Real’s Austrian opponents as Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal leapt above Salzburg with their 2-0 win against Mexico’s Pachuca.
Manchester City beat Juventus 5-2 earlier in the day and, as Group H winners, will now face Al Hilal in the next round.
Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward #07 Vinicius Junior, right, scores his team’s first goal [Franck Fife/AFP]
The defeat was Salzburg’s second loss to Real Madrid in 2025 after a 5-1 loss in Spain in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
Madrid, five-time winners of the competition, were more efficient than dominant. The teams had 12 shots apiece, with the victors’ four attempts on goal only one more than Salzburg’s three.
Madrid again played without Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to feature in the tournament due to a stomach illness that left him briefly hospitalised.
But Vinicius Junior did enough to compensate for the Frenchman’s absence on Thursday.
He failed to convert the game’s first shot on target, denied on the break by Christian Zawieschitzky after Jude Bellingham had played him into a 20th-minute breakaway.
But two brilliant moments over a five-minute stretch tilted the game squarely in Madrid’s favour.
Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia scores their third goal [Susana Vera/Reuters]
In the 40th minute, the Brazilian ran onto another terrific ball out of the back from Bellingham, before weaving left on the dribble to evade defender Joane Gadou. He drove an early low finish well out of Zawieschitzky’s reach and into the bottom right corner.
In the 45th, he reached Arda Guler’s deflected pass on the right side of the box before directing a backheel pass to a wide-open Valverde behind him for an equally clinical finish past Zawieschitzky.
Bellingham had the next crucial intervention in the 66th minute, blocking Edmund Baidoo’s effort off the line with Thibaut Courtois beaten.
Real will now face Juventus in Miami on Tuesday, while City stay in Orlando for their round of 16 match with Al Hilal on Monday.
Real Madrid draw 1-1 with Al Hilal in lively FIFA Club World Cup opener for the Spanish and Saudi giants in Miami.
Real Madrid laboured to a 1-1 draw against a spirited Al Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup as Xabi Alonso’s managerial debut failed to launch in Florida.
The 15-time European champions delivered only flashes of promise on Wednesday in searing Miami heat at a nearly sold-out Hard Rock Stadium.
Gonzalo Garcia, stepping in for the fever-stricken Kylian Mbappe, gave Real the lead in the 34th minute with a composed finish after a fine passing move on the right flank.
Portuguese international midfielder Ruben Neves levelled from the spot before halftime, stepped up and sent keeper Thibaut Courtois the wrong way, as Simone Inzaghi’s men showed defensive grit and enough attacking intent to rattle their illustrious opponents.
A last-gasp missed penalty from Federico Valverde summed up a day when Real’s legs, and ideas, wilted in the heat and humidity.
Defeat would have been hard on Al Hilal under new coach Simone Inzaghi. Saudi Arabia’s most successful team had its own chances to win at Hard Rock Stadium before a VAR call saw Madrid awarded the late spot kick.
“The first half was not as good as the second; we improved and had better chances and control,” said Alonso, evaluating his side’s performance with the official broadcaster of the event, DAZN.
“Every game, we need to take positives, we can learn and keep improving.”
On the heat in Miami that hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), Alonso added, “It was a really demanding environment.”
While it was an underwhelming start for Alonso, Inzaghi’s Al Hilal made an early statement of its potential by holding its own against the Spanish power.
It might have been even better. Leonardo had three chances in front of goal and failed to hit the target. Had star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic been fit and available, Al Hilal could have been celebrating a win.
RB Salzburg and Pachuca meet in the other Group H fixture later on Wednesday.
Real will next face the Mexican side on Sunday, while Al Hilal will take on Salzburg in what could prove a decisive clash for qualification to the knockout stage.
Alonso’s was not the only debut as Trent Alexander-Arnold made his first start for Los Blancos since joining from Liverpool.
“Incredible day to have made a debut for Real Madrid, almost every player dreams of it,” the England international defender told DAZN.
“Of course, there is disappointment not to have won the game, and that is the mentality you need as a Real player – to expect to win every game.
“Disappointed not to do that, but there were a lot of positives in the second half.
“We kept the ball better in the second half, in the heat here, it’s best to keep hold of it for as long as you can and let the other side do the running.
“We made them sit deep in the second half, put crosses in and got shots off. We had the late penalty, but these things happen in football.”
Alexander-Arnold confirmed his move to Real Madrid before the end of the season, having revealed he would not be renewing his contract with his boyhood club, and Premier League champions, Liverpool.
The 26-year-old added that he has already noticed the difference in size of the club since moving to Real, “We dominated the stands today as well, and the support was amazing. I felt support from the moment I signed for the club,” he said.
“Their fan base is truly global. You feel it everywhere, from the hotel to social media.”
French forward Kylian Mbappe is battling illness on the eve of Club World Cup opener for Real Madrid against Al Hilal.
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is a doubt for the club’s opening Club World Cup match against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal after missing training on Tuesday due to illness.
The club said Mbappe had been suffering from a fever, with newly-appointed manager Xabi Alonso, who will make his debut in the dugout in Wednesday’s match, adding that a decision on his participation would be made in the morning.
“Kylian was a bit better this morning, but he was not fully fit, so we thought it would be best for him to skip training. Let’s see how it evolves, and we’ll make a last-minute decision,” Alonso told a news conference on the eve of the clash at the Hard Rock Stadium.
The potential absence of Mbappe leaves Alonso facing a selection dilemma as the French player is currently the only recognised centre-forward in the squad.
Kylian Mbappe, second left, of Real Madrid trained with his teammates on Monday [Hannah Mckay/Reuters]
Brazilian teenager Endrick, who could have provided an alternative, was left out of the travelling party following a leg muscle injury sustained during Real’s La Liga fixture at Sevilla last month.
Mbappe has been instrumental for Real Madrid this season, scoring 31 La Liga goals since his high-profile summer move from Paris St Germain.
Regardless of Mbappe’s potential absence, Alonso insisted his team would need to press “like a unit”.
“Defensive work is important. It’s one of the tasks we need to address in the short term, and in the long term, it will be decisive for our success,” the Spaniard said.
Real Madrid enter the tournament as one of the favourites, having dominated European football over the last decade, winning five of the last 10 Champions League titles.
Al Hilal secured their place in the competition by triumphing in the AFC Champions League in 2021, and will look to capitalise on any weakness in Madrid’s lineup.
Real and Al-Hilal were drawn in Group F with Mexican side Pachuca and RB Salzburg of Austria.
