Al Ain finish the FIFA Club World Cup with a win against Wydad AC in the final game of the tournament in DC

For both Al Ain and Wydad AC, their match on Thursday afternoon at Audi Field was merely a formality, as both teams had been eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup and were playing for pride and to end the tournament on a positive note. 

In a hot and humid summer day in our nation’s capital, where temperatures reached the high 90s, Al Ain was able to bow out of the Club World Cup on a high note as they defeated Wydad by a final score of 2-1 and claimed the third-place spot in Group G, while Wydad finished bottom of the group. 

Al Ain and Wydad SC faced each other in their final group stage match on Thursday afternoon. Photo Credit: Al Ain

Audi Field says goodbye to the FIFA Club World Cup 

Considered one of the smallest venues in the tournament, Audi Field was able to attract considerable crowds to the three games it hosted throughout the tournament, averaging 15,038 fans across all three matches. 

The highest-attended game out of the three was the match featuring Juventus and Al Ain, where 18,161 fans gathered to watch the Italian giants defeat the UAE outfit 5-0. While 16,167 showed up to watch the scoreless draw between Red Bull Salzburg of Austria and Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia. 

With the respectable crowd that gathered at Audi Field to witness the game, braving the heat and humidity, despite being overlooked as a host city for the 2026 World Cup, Washington, D.C., showed throughout this tournament spoke to the love of the game that is felt throughout the city and its surrounding areas. 

The Game 

Wydad opened up the scoring in the 4th minute when Mohamed Moufid played a short pass to Nordin Amrabat in the midfield. Amrabat sent a blazing pass to Moufid down the right-hand side of the pitch. Moufid sent a low cross into the box, finding Cassius Mailula inside the box. The South African striker, who is currently on loan with the Moroccan side from Toronto FC, settled the ball and unleashed a blistering shot that went past goalkeeper Rui Patricio to give Wydad the early lead. 

“I want to thank Lorch (Thembinkosi Lorch, his teammate) for giving the message that I'm alone,” said Mailula about the goal. “It’s amazing to score in front of our fans.” 

Wydad had a chance to double their lead in the 20th minute when Ayoub Boucheta connected with Lorch inside the area. Lorch played the ball back to Boucheta, who took a one-time shot, but the ball clipped the crossbar as it went out of play. 

In the 41st minute, Adis Jašić was brought down in the box by Boucheta. Originally, the referee of the match, Drew Fischer, waved play on, but he went to VAR to review the foul on Jašić. After reviewing the play, Fischer determined that indeed Boucheta brought Jašić down in the box and called a penalty in favor of Al Ain. It would be Tonglose International Kodjo Laba who would step up to take the penalty. Laba would not miss from the spot, placing his shot opposite of goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid to tie the game towards the end of the first half. 

Kodjo Laba is celebrating with his teammates after scoring from the penalty spot. Photo Credit: Al Ain

“I’m very happy,” said Laba when asked about scoring his first goal of the tournament. “I want to thank all my teammates because as the striker, it’s my job to score, help my teammates score, and help the team win the game.” 

Al Ain would find the game winner in the 50th minute, after Wydad defender Guilherme failed to clear a cross, that ended up bouncing off of him and Laba would pick up the rebound in the box, Laba played dragged the ball towards the endline and played a low cross inside the box to Matías Palacios. Palacios would control the ball inside the box and play a short pass to Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra. Kaku, as the Paraguayan international is known, laced a one-time shot that settled in the upper-hand side of the net. 

Alejandro "Kaku Romero Gamarra and Matías Palacios celebrating the game-winning goal. Photo Credit: Al Ain

“I am very happy for the goal, for the victory, and for helping the team,” said Kaku. “It's nice to go down in history for this victory.” 

After the game, Kaku said this about the experience of competing in this competition. 

“It was a very difficult group, with City [Manchester] and Juventus, I think we competed well,” said Kaku. “It was a great experience, and we must improve for the future if we return to the Club World Cup.” 

After the game, Al Ain's head coach said this about his team winning their final group stage game: 

“The target from the beginning was to win the last game and in the first two games to try to do our best,” Ivic said. “We can be satisfied.” 

The Other Group G match

At the same time Al Ain and Wydad were playing in DC, another game was taking place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL, as Manchester City and Juventus were playing at the same time to determine who would take first place in the group. 

Man City would come out victorious with a resounding 5-2 victory against their Italian counterparts. 

With the result, Manchester City won Group G with 9 points and will stay in Orlando to take on Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, who finished second in Group H, will face off in the round of 16 Monday night. Juventus finished in 2nd place in the group with 6 points, and will travel to Miami, where they will face Spanish giants Real Madrid for their round of 16 tie Tuesday afternoon.