Al Hilal had been there, done it, and got the t-shirt. Today, as was the case 12 months previous, they kicked off their FIFA Club World Cup™ campaign in their opponents’ backyard. At the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, however, there was more vociferous support among the 12,500-plus present for Al Hilal. They duly thrashed Al Jazira 6-1.

At the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the overwhelming majority of the 44,000 present were fanatically cheering for Wydad. The African champions almost had them in seventh heaven. In the 94th minute, though, Mohamed Kanno’s penalty took the game to extra-time. A goalless half-hour later and it was on to penalties. After Al Hilal converted their first four attempts, Musab Aljuwayr – the youngest member of Ramon Diaz’s squad – was drenched in the responsibility of securing a semi-final against Flamengo. The midfielder made no mistake.

“It is an incredible feeling,” defender Jang Hyunsoo told FIFA+ post-game. “Amazing because Musab is only 19 years old. He is very young, but he stepped up to take the fifth penalty. “Before the shot, he was sitting with us and I told him to be confident and hit it firmly. We won because we believe in each other. He is a very good player, so I believed in him and trusted that he would score.

“[It’s an] incredible feeling. You know these things happen. In every competition we have injuries and missing players, but this can’t stop us. We are taking it step by step. We are a strong team with good players and good tactics, so we are just going to play our own game.” Al Hilal now travel to Tangier to take on Flamengo on Tuesday. The winners will face Al Ahly or Real Madrid in the final.