Al Ahly vs Inter Miami Bet Builder Tips: Messi to start Club World Cup in style

The Club World Cup finally gets underway in the wee hours of Sunday morning as Al Ahly take on Inter Miami (01:00 BST, Channel 5). The eyes of the world (if you live in Gianni Infantino’s mind) will be watching this opener and there will certainly be a level of intrigue around this competition as it gets underway. 

Betfred are covering the Club World Cup comprehensively and you can find an extensive list of football previews on our site. But let’s get going, below you can find my Al Ahly vs Inter Miami Bet Builder Tips.

Inter Miami to win

You can’t teach old dogs new tricks, but perhaps you don’t need to. Inter Miami have become the ultimate old boys club. At this Barcelona reunion party, Sergio Busquets is pulling off some dad dancing, Jordi Alba is trying to rekindle with an old flame and Luis Suarez is demolishing the buffet. Lionel Messi? Well he’s still the magician of course. 

There’s also head coach Javier Mascherano to throw into the mix, and they sit third in the Eastern Conference after an inconsistent start. However, they have gone unbeaten in their last three outings, scoring a whopping 12 goals in that time and winning their last two fixtures convincingly. 

Inter Miami Fifa Club World Cup predictions

Messi and Suarez remain top dogs, and I just think that attacking quality will be too much for Al Ahly to live with, despite their strong domestic form. They drew 1-1 with fellow Club World Cup underdogs Pachuca in a warm-up match, which may indicate the level they are at heading to the United States of America.

Inter Miami should be able to win this opener. 

Al Ahly vs Inter Miami Odds

BTTS

The curtain-raiser should be a thriller if Inter Miami play in their usual way. Mascherano is setting up in a 4-4-2 most of the time, with Messi and Suarez up top. The Argentina has never been a runner off the ball and although Suarez was in his heyday, he’s lost that running power and energy in his latter years. 

That means they don’t contribute defensively, and the quality isn’t there at the back to keep teams out with just eight outfielders defending. Inter Miami’s last clean sheet came 10 games ago on April 19, and they’ve conceded a glut of goals since then. 

Al Ahly Fifa Club World Cup predictions

Both teams have scored in eight of their last nine games, with results in that time including 3-3 draws with Philadelphia Union and San Jose Earthquakes, a 4-2 win over Montreal and a 4-3 defeat to FC Dallas. There should be goals in this one.

Lionel Messi to score

I just had to add this to the selection didn’t I? The greatest player this writer has ever seen is doing pretty well at the age of 37, scoring 10 and assisting seven goals in 13 MLS outings this year. He’s also got five in seven in the Concacaf Champions Cup, so there’s plenty of goals still left in those boots. 

He’s going to be the best player on the pitch, and Inter Miami are only in this competition because of Messi. Surely he can deliver us some opening day magic?

Offers

We will be Top Price on Manchester City to win the 2025 Club World Cup with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Saturday).

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any Club World Cup match played on Sunday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Monday’s Club World Cup matches.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.