This Monday a historic moment marked in the round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, because Hilal Manchester City eliminated to get a surprise place in the quarterfinals. The Side of Simone Inzaghi triumphed about the Pep Guardiola team in an exciting collision and placed the Saudi club under the top eight teams in the world.
Al Hilal's starting eleven was full of players who recently participated in Europe, perform at a high level and have implemented the game plan of the Italian coach to perfection. As a result, the Saudi Pro League giants anticipated the next round of the first extensive edition of the FIFA tournament. Their next opponent: Fluminense.
The Line-up of Inzaghi contained stars such as Yassine Bono, Kalidou Koulibaly, João Annalo, Renan Lodi, Rúben Neves, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Malcom and Marcos Leonardo. However, they were without Aleksandar Mitrović and in their last group stage match against Pachuca they lost Captain Salem Al-Dawsari to a hamstring injury.
This situation points to a potential vulnerability for Major League Soccer, especially with regard to the rules for the acquisitions of players. Inter Miami – The furthest advancing MLS team in the tournament – strongly relies on only four important players: Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
The Fort Lauderdale Club is currently working under the U22 initiative, which makes two designated players possible – in this case Messi and Busquets. This model enables teams to report a maximum of four young talents under the age of 22 (or they have joined that age) and offers an extra $ 2 million in general allocation funds to promote the development of young people.
Although this schedule can enable Inter Miami to fit Suárez and Alba more easily in his MLS selection, it also illustrates the gap on the international stage. In comparison with Al Hilal, Inter Miami follows considerably in terms of Squad market value and therefore the caliber of talent that it can acquire.
According to Transfermarkt, the team of Al Hilal is currently appreciated at $ 181 million, while Inter Miamis is only worth $ 77.9 million. Combined with the high level of Simone Inzaghi coaching, these means have already helped to achieve a better result than every American club at the FIFA Club World Cup.