Dortmund Progressing Nicely at the Club World Cup
For many, the Club World Cup may as well not be happening. The competition used to be a fun distraction for the European team that won the Champions League, but the decision of FIFA to expand it to include 32 teams and shift it to the summer means that it is now taking up much more of the pre-season of the teams that are in it than is ideal.
The fact that it is being hosted by the United States of America during a time of extreme political disruption under Donald Trump is also off-putting. For Borussia Dortmund, though, there has been progress and now they can dream of winning it.
Steady Progress For Der BVB
Whilst many might complain about the expansion of the Club World Cup, and not without reason, the truth of the matter is that Borussia Dortmund have never played in it before this year, having not won the Champions League yet. They were put into Pot 2 when the draw was made, which resulted in them being in Group F once the competition got underway. They began their campaign with a 0-0 draw with Brazilian side Fluminense, following that up with a 4-3 win against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns. The final group stage came with a 1-0 win over South Korea’s Ulsan HD.
Having notched up seven points, Dortmund joined Palmeiras, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Flamengo, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Real Madrid as group winners, joining another eight teams who finished second in the knockout stage. The nature of the draw meant that they went up against the Mexican team Monterrey, playing them in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and taking a 2-0 lead early on thanks to a brace from Serhou Guirassy. Although Monterrey struck back in the 48th minute, Der BVB were able to hold on to their 2-1 lead and progress to the quarter-finals.
Draw Opening Up Nicely
Former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp has been public in his criticism of the Club World Cup, declaring that the winner will be the ‘worst of all time’ and labelling the tournament as ‘pointless’. His old club, with whom he won two Bundesliga titles, have a good chance of being those winners, if the draw continues to open up for them. Although big names such as Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich have made it through to the next round, there have already been some shock casualties in a competition that boasts prize money of a billion dollars.
Koulibaly gives Al Hilal the lead over Man City in extra time
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 1 July 2025 at 04:13
Inter Milan were the first big name to fall, losing 2-0 to Brazilian side Fluminense in the 3pm kick-off on the 30th of June. Just a few hours later, the Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal caused an even bigger shock, knocking out Manchester City thanks to a 4-3 win in extra-time. Less than 24 hours later and Juventus were to fall, at least being knocked out by a team that would be considered to be bigger than them in Real Madrid. It means that there is definitely a path forward for Der BVB, who will need to defeat the Spanish giants for the first time since 2013-2014 if they are to make the semi-finals.
Worth Winning?
In some ways, the Club World Cup is a little big like one of the smaller domestic cups; it might be a pain to play in, but if you make it to the quarter-finals, then you might as well try to win it. Real Madrid have had the better of Borussia Dortmund in all but one of the knockout rounds in which the two sides have faced one another, so there is little doubt that Xabi Alonso’s side will be well-fancied ahead of their quarter-final meeting on Saturday. Even so, the fact that Alonso is a new manager at the Bernabéu whilst Niko Kovač has found his rhythm with Die Borussen could play its part.
If they make it past the Spanish giants, then they will have a semi-final tie against either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich. That is a mouth-watering prospect for a team that just scraped into the Champions League places at the end of the season and will be keen to see whether they’ve got the chops to compete in the biggest club competition on the planet. Win that and it will be a final against one of Fluminense, Al-Hilal, Palmeiras or Chelsea, and that would be a tie that Der BVB will fancy their chances in. The prize money for the winner stands at around $126 million. That would definitely be worth winning.
