Popular teams: Palmeiras
Led by coach Ferreira, this team from Sao Paulo, Brazil won the 2022 and 2023 La Liga Championship and the 2020 Brazil Cup, and won the 2020 Cup of Liberators in 2020 and 2021 consecutive times. They are currently ranked fourth in the Brazil League in March to December 2025. And in the South American Liberators Cup that kicks off in August, they will play against the Peru's college sports team in the round of 16.
Talented players such as Estewan and Richard Rios are important guarantees for Palmeiras' continued victory. Faquento Torres, Paulinho and Vittor Rock, who joined this season, further enriched the team's offensive choices.
Ferreira's team has flexible tactics and can change the formation according to the on-field situation to conduct offense and defense. He recently said: "We are not particularly outstanding in one aspect, but are very balanced in all aspects. We can perform well in both positional offense and defensive counterattack. We are good at set pieces, we are also good at compressing opponents' space and using defensive structure to limit their advancement."
Given the team's continuous success, talent reserve and tactical maturity in recent years, Palmeiras is undoubtedly the biggest favorite in Group A's top spot.
Focus Battle
The most eye-catching game in Group A may be the opening game of this Club World Cup: Cairo Nationals play against Miami International at home.
This team, which has just been crowned the Egyptian League champion, also performed well in the international arena before. In the Club World Cup four years ago, they defeated Palmeiras to win the third place. After the Club World Cup was reorganized, they were eager to break through in the group and show their style in the knockout round. The same is true for Miami International, which plays at home. Considering that the other two group matches will be played against Porto and Palmeiras respectively, facing Cairo's nationals, they will definitely strive to win. Compared with other games, this game may not be the highest technical and tactical level, but it is likely to be a very ornamental showdown.
As a record 12-time African Champions League winner, Cairo nationals know how to perform well on important occasions. The team is led by all-around midfielder Emam Ashur and Palestinian striker Wesham Abu Ali, who has scored 35 goals this season. The joining of Egypt international forwards Ahmed Said Zizzo and Trezege also significantly improved the team's strength.
There are many well-known stars such as Messi, Suarez, Busquets, and Alba in the Miami International team, but the team's 2025 season started well. Under the new coach Mascherano, the team has lost 19 points in the first 16 MLS games and was eliminated by Vancouver's white hat in the semi-finals of the Central and North America and the Caribbean Champions League.
Therefore, the vulnerability of Miami International's defense may make this game more stalemate than expected.
The most "star-like" team in the group
Although all the stars under their command are over 30 years old, the names of Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba still make Miami International the "star-team" of Group A. However, in the football world, the gathering of stars may not be equivalent to strong strength.
After winning the 2024 MLS regular season championship trophy, some important players' departure has had an impact on Miami International, especially on the defensive end. Diego Gomez, Julian Gresel, Robert Taylor, Mattias Rojas and Leo Campana all played key roles last season, and their departure made the team less smooth as before.
In addition, Drake Karende's continued absence due to a groin injury, making the 38-year-old Oscar Ustari the first choice for goalkeepers - however, Ustari's performance this season is not stable, with the actual number of goals conceded in the league 1.8 more than expected.
Setting ball defense is another weakness of Miami International, but the personal abilities of frontcourt players are still creating a lot of opportunities and scoring goals.
The 2025 Miami International is a team led by individual players, but the lack of selfless cooperation has hindered the team's overall performance.
Players expected to emerge: Estewan
18-year-old Estewan will join Chelsea after the end of this tournament - Palmeiras has reached an agreement with the Premier League club last summer. Chelsea will pay a fixed transfer fee of €34 million and an additional €23 million floating bonus linked to the player's performance.
Estewan's amazing performance at the youth level accelerated his growth and made his debut at Palmeiras at the age of 16. In the 2024 season, he contributed 13 goals and 9 assists to help the team win the runner-up in the Brazil League (second only to Botavgo).
He performed well in one-on-one confrontation, able to drive left and right to drive the ball, and had the speed to throw away the defender. His left foot can threaten the goal from various angles and create opportunities for his teammates in sports and set pieces.
Since the 2025 season, Estewan has appeared more in attacking midfield positions, which is also his long-term planning development direction.
As he said: "I changed to the winger in the end of my youth training to avoid too much physical confrontation and get one-on-one opportunities. In this way, I won the position in Palmeiras because the midfield competition is fierce. But I am more like a midfielder, and that is my most comfortable position. In a few years, I hope to return to my original position."
Therefore, whether Estewan is on the wing or in the middle, please pay attention to his wonderful performance.
Story worth paying attention to: Can Porto complete self-salvation
, a team that won the Portuguese top league championship 30 times, won the third place in the 2024-25 season. They failed to challenge the champions Portugal Sports and Benfica during the sprint, and eventually fell behind by 9 points and 11 points respectively..
In addition, in the new Europa League, they only scored 11 points in eight group matches, and were eliminated by Roma in the first round of knockout matches; the Portuguese Cup lost to Morerens in the top 32; the Portuguese League Cup semi-final lost to Portuguese Sports - all this disappointed Porto fans this season.
The positive performance in the Club World Cup may help them recover their face and become the restart opportunity the club needs.
Another story is the performance of Cairo's nationals under the new coach Jose Rivero. The first game officially led by the Spanish coach was the opening match against Miami International. His predecessor, Marcel Kohler, was fired at the end of April, due to a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at home in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals, resulting in the defending champion being eliminated due to a away goal disadvantage.
Although Kohler led Cairo Nationals to win two league titles (and most of the third championship schedule), won the Egypt Cup twice (the country's domestic cup), and won the African Champions League championship again, in the 2024-25 season, he was under pressure because of his team's tactical style that was biased towards defensive counterattacks and was inconsistent with the lineup characteristics.
The position of Cairo National Coach has always attracted much attention. Rivero, 49, has coached in Finland and South Africa before, and he needs a strong start to win fans' recognition.
Things you may not know
There is a midfielder with a prominent family background in Miami International.
Federico Redondo is the son of former Argentina international and Real Madrid legend Fernando Redondo. Redondo won the Champions League championship with Real Madrid in 1998 and 2000, and won the Cup again in 2003 as an AC Milan player. In addition, Redondo Jr. is also the nephew of another former Real Madrid player, Santiago Sorari.
Therefore, in this home game, can Federico Redondo stand up and reproduce the family's brilliant achievements?
(Armour)
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