Charlotte, June 23
Ten-man Real Madrid defeated Mexico's Pachuca 3-1 in their Group H clash at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup on Monday (IST).
Madrid entered the match at Bank of America Stadium sitting second in the group behind FC Salzburg, following a 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in their opener. The Spanish giant was without star striker Kylian Mbappe, who is recovering from gastroenteritis.
Center back Raul Asencio was shown a straight red card just seven minutes into the match for fouling Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon as the last defender outside the box, reports.
Despite being down a man, Vinicius Jr. nearly capitalised on a defensive error a few minutes later. Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Moreno miscontrolled a soft back pass but managed to poke the ball away just before Vinicius could reach it.
Pachuca then tested Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois twice, with close-range efforts from Robert Kenedy and Alan Bautista, but the Belgian made both saves.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring for Madrid in the 35th minute, collecting a pass from Fran Garcia inside the box and firing into the bottom right corner. Madrid doubled the lead just before halftime when Gonzalo Garcia set up Arda Guler, who slotted the ball into the far post.