Man City To Face Asian Champions Urawa Red Diamonds In FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Finals

Manchester City's first ever game at a FIFA Club World Cup will be against Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan in the 2023 semi-finals on Tuesday.

Manchester City's first ever game at a FIFA Club World Cup will be against Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday.

The Japanese side beat Leon of Mexico 1-0 in the second round on Friday.

That game was played in front of a modest crowd of 2,525 at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City in Jeddah.

But Tuesday's semi-final between Urawa and City is expected to take place in front of a near-full King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, which has a capacity of 62,345.

Dutch forward Alex Schalk - who previously played in Scotland with Ross County -scored the winning goal for Urawa against Leon, who ended Friday's game with 10 men after a late red card was shown to Colombia international William Tesillo.

Urawa only finished fourth in Japan's J1 League this year after winning the 20th edition of the AFC Champions League in May.

Players from Urawa Red Diamonds pictured celebrating with the AFC Champions League trophy after beating Al-Hilal 2-1 over two legs in the 2022/23 final :: IMAGO/AFLOSPORT

City will start Tuesday's semi-final as heavy favorites to progress to the final, which will be against either Al Ahly of Egypt or Brazil's Fluminense.

The Club World Cup has been won by a team representing Europe in each of the past 10 editions.

But it has only ever been won by three clubs from England - Manchester United (2008), Liverpool (2019) and Chelsea (2021).

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