Group H of the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) remains wide open after a scoreless draw between Salzburg and Al Hilal in Washington DC, where the stalemate ends with the 16-match scoring bar of the Red Bulls.
2025 Club World Cup
0-0
Match report
Looking for building on the momentum that is generated by becoming the first Asian side to prevent the defeat against European opposition at the CWC when drawing with Real Madrid last time, started Hilal strong and came close to a opener within three minutes.
Joao Cancelo and Malcom combined the right side, but the Portuguese full-back could only drag his shot wide from a promising position in the box. The Saudi side fully controlled the first half, but was still grateful to goalkeeper Yassine Bounou for the preservation of parity.
The structure of the patient Salzburg eventually came to life when Frans Kratzig's floating cross on improvised fashion was met by Karim Onisiwo, but Bounou reacted brilliantly to tip the ball over the bar.
The men of Simone Inzaghi regrouped from there, and although they had full control over the competition, they were desperately struggling to edit the Salzburg goalkeeper.
Their greatest chance of half arrived at 21 minutes when the cross of Salem Al Dawsari was met by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but his header was blocked by the retreating Jacob Rasmussen, who also recovered to thwart Marcos Leonardo's Rebound.
A change in the system during the break, the men of Thomas Letsch offered a larger foot on the ground after the restart, and they were seductive close to a open only three minutes in the second period.
Salzburg recycled a corner with a great effect, but Bounou was present to deny John Mellberg of point-white range before Kalidou Koulibaly Dorgeles Nene's Rebound released from De Lijn.
Again, all Hilal was calm and close to Annalo, whose toxic strike was thrown away in safety before the Malcom strike was bent from the target.
Against the cooling break, Salzburg stood the side that looked full of energy, and their self -confidence continued to grow as soon as the game resumed when Yorbe Vertessen shot wide.
For all their efforts, Salzburg eventually found no way beyond Bounou, with the draw that ended their three-match-winning series and denied them the opportunity to secure the passage to the last 16.
They are confronted with Real Madrid on match day three and need a victory to guarantee progression, while Hilal should also overcome against Pachuca if they qualify, despite expanding their unbeaten run to seven games.
Line-ups
Salzburg XI: Lainer, Onisiwo, Jacob Rasmussen, Mads Bidstrup, Frans Krätzig, Dorgeles Nene, Oscar Gloukh, Christian Zawieschitzky, Soumaïla Diabaté, Joane Gadou, Edmund Baido
Subs: Yorbe Vertessen, Maurits Kjaergaard, Jonas Krumrey, Samson Baidoo, Mamady Diambou, Petar Ratkov, Sota Kitano, Adam Daghim, Tim Trummer, Jannik Schuster, Salko Hamzic, John Mellberg, Enrique Aguilar
Al-Hilal Saudi FC XI: Koulibaly, Annalo, Bounou, Salem Al Dawsari, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Lodi, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Hassan Tambakti, Marcos Leonardo
Subs: Yasir Al Shahrani, Mohammed Kanoo, Ali AlbuLayhi, Ali Lajami, Mohammed al-Yami, Abdullah al-Hamdan, Khalifah al-Dawsari, Hamad al-Yami, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Moteb al-Harbi, Musabed al-Juwed al-qahtani, ahmad, ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad al-Juwed al-Qahtani, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Ahmad, Abrasyin, Abdulaziz al-Hood