Club World Cup Team Betting Predictions: Al Hilal

Al Hilal suffered a bitterly disappointing season, losing their league title to Al Ittihad, who finished eight points clear of the Blue Waves at the top of the Saudi Professional League. The Riyadh club were bested by another Saudi side, Al Ahli, in the AFC Champions League semi-finals, and head coach Jorge Jesus paid for his failures in early May as he was sacked.

Al Hilal made a big splash earlier this month, bringing in Simone Inzaghi, a Champions League finalist with Inter Milan twice in the last three seasons, as their new manager, and expectations will be grand ahead of their participation at the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup. Below are my Al Hilal Fifa Club World Cup 2025 predictions ahead of their trip to the USA, where they take on Real Madrid, Salzburg and Pachuca in Group H.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, CF Pachuca, Salzburg

Fixtures: Real Madrid vs Al Hilal (20:00 BST, June 18), Salzburg vs Al Hilal (23:00 BST, June 22), Al Hilal vs CF Pachuca (02:00 BST, June 27)

Player to watch: Aleksandar Mitrovic

The explosion of the Saudi Pro League a couple of years ago was led by the country's most successful club, Al Hilal, who signed Neymar, Malcom, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milenkovic-Savic, to name just a few players, as part of a £316.8m recruitment drive.

Marcos Leonardo and Joao Cancelo joined the cast last summer, and while Neymar's injury-hit time at the club was brought to an end earlier this year, the rest are still on Al Hilal's books, with many still thriving.

However, while they scored at least 15 more goals than any other side in the 2024/25 Saudi Pro League, Al Hilal only posted the joint-fourth-best defensive record, conceding 41 times in 34 games, despite the best efforts of Morocco international Bono between the sticks and the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly and Renan Lodi in defence.

Club World Cup 2025 Odds

Jesus had led Al Hilal to a league and cup double in 2023/24, but at such a club, one must pay the price for failure, and the following campaign has certainly been that.

Inzaghi has been parachuted in ahead of their participation at the 2025 Club World Cup, and the Blue Waves were desperate to make Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes his first signing, only for the Portuguese playmaker to turn down an eye-watering move.

Still, Inzaghi can't complain too much about his squad, which on paper, should prove too much for Group H rivals Pachuca and Salzburg, though Real Madrid are will likely coast to top spot.

Quite how quickly the Italian tactician can get a tune out of the team, and implement his own methods, remains to be seen, but remember, this is a manager who has proven himself as one of the best in Europe, and he's not being asked to turn water into wine, so the hierarchy are right to be expectant.

Player to watch: Aleksandar Mitrovic

The former Fulham forward made an instant impact in Saudi Arabia, scoring 28 goals in as many SPL games in 2023/24, and had injury not restricted his appearances, there's an argument to be made that he could've scooped the Golden Boot ahead of 35-goal Al Nassr marksman Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mitrovic struck 40 times in 43 outings across all competitions last season and is on 28 from 36 this term, despite missing over two months of action.

The 30-year-old ended the regular campaign with seven goals in his last eight starts, and he looks certain to lead the line in America.

Premier League defences will know all about Mitrovic, but by deciding to move to Al Hilal, the Serbia international ruled himself out of competing in competitions like the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League, so it will be good to see him test himself against some of Europe's best defenders at this tournament.

He has something to prove still, as he failed to catch fire at Euro 2024, blanking in all three of his appearances, and while he has more than proven his worth in Saudi Arabia, this is a competition where he can truly make his mark and solidify himself as an Al Hilal great.

Football Odds

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Prediction: To Qualify (Group H) @ 1/1

I'm confident the quality of Al Hilal's squad, complemented by the expertise of their new head coach, will see the Saudi side qualify as runners-up in Group H ahead of Salzburg and Pachuca.

However, should they finish second, they would face the winners of Group G, which could be Juventus, Al Ain or Wydad AC, but much more likely, Manchester City, who would be expected to beat an Inzaghi-led team, as they did in the 2023 Champions League final when beating Inter 1-0.

Therefore, Al Hilal to qualify from Group H looks like the best bet at 1/1.

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