Inter Milan Eliminates River Plate and Avoids Dortmund Clash
Inter Milan of Italy and Borussia Dortmund of Germany secured the top spots in Groups E and F, respectively, thereby avoiding a head-to-head encounter in the Round of 16. Inter achieved this with a 2–0 victory over Argentina’s River Plate, while Dortmund edged South Korea’s Ulsan 1–0 in the third round of the FIFA Club World Cup group stage.
This result eliminated River Plate from the tournament, as Inter topped the group with 7 points, ahead of Mexico’s Monterrey, who delivered a resounding 4–0 win over Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in the final round.
In the knockout stage, Inter will now face Brazil’s Fluminense, who played to a goalless draw with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns on Monday at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Monterrey will face Dortmund on Tuesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
A Stormy Encounter in Seattle
At Lumen Field in Seattle, young Francesco Pio Esposito scored the opening goal in the 72nd minute with a strike from inside the box following an assist by Croatian substitute Petar Sučić. Alessandro Bastoni added a second with an impressive solo effort and a shot from the edge of the area in stoppage time (90+3).
With Monterrey leading 2–0 in the other match, River Plate was out of contention due to a three-way tie on points, where Inter advanced thanks to more goals scored in head-to-head matchups.
River Plate needed a 2–2 draw, assuming Monterrey had finished the first half with a 3–0 lead, to qualify alongside them for the Round of 16. However, with Inter in second place based on the other result, they pushed hard to win their match.
River’s hopes faded when defender Lucas Martínez Quarta was sent off with a straight red card for fouling Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the 66th minute — just six minutes before Inter scored their first goal, exploiting the numerical advantage. Gonzalo Montiel was also sent off in the 90+6th minute after receiving a second yellow card.
The fiery clash continued after the final whistle, as River Plate left-back Marcos Acuña attempted to confront Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries. Several of Acuña’s teammates tackled him to the ground to calm him down.
Meanwhile, at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, Monterrey secured their win over Urawa with goals from Colombia’s Nelson Deossa (30’), Germán Berterame (34’, 90+7), and Jesús Corona (38’).
In Cincinnati, Sweden’s Daniel Svensson scored Dortmund’s winner in the 36th minute, assisted by England’s Jobe Bellingham — the younger brother of Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.
Elsewhere, in Miami, Fluminense got the job done with a goalless draw against Mamelodi Sundowns.
