East Asian football suffers defeat at FIFA Club World Cup

Urawa Red Diamonds suffered a humiliating defeat on the day they were eliminated from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

On the morning of June 26, Urawa Red Diamonds and Ulsan HD ended their journey at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ with two defeats. Urawa Red Diamonds suffered a 0-4 defeat to Monterrey while Ulsan lost 0-1 to Borussia Dortmund.

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The two representatives of East Asian football ended their difficult journey in the tournament, losing all six matches, scoring four goals and conceding 15. Although Urawa Red Diamonds and Ulsan HD entered the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as the two representative representatives of Japanese and Korean football, the numbers exposed the clear gap between East Asian clubs and the top teams from Europe and South America.

Urawa Reds, who reached the semi-finals of the 2007 and 2023 FIFA Club World Cups, opened with a 3-1 defeat to River Plate, with the team's consolation goal coming late after falling behind through goals from Facundo Colidio, Sebastián Driussi and Maxi Meza.

In the second match against Inter Milan, Urawa took the lead thanks to a Thiago Santana goal but eventually lost 1-2 thanks to an injury-time winner. The Japanese club's final match against Monterrey ended in a 0-4 defeat, as Urawa Reds were beaten by a Mexican side determined to qualify for the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, Ulsan HD showed an even weaker face. As the champion of K.League 1 for three consecutive years (2022-2024), they are expected to create a surprise in a group with Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns.

Ulsan HD also lost all 3 matches in the group stage.

However, the Korean club started with a 1-0 defeat to Sundowns. Their second match against Fluminense ended 4-2 in favour of the Brazilians, despite Ulsan leading 2-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Lee Jin-Hyun and Um Won-Sang. In their final match against Dortmund, Ulsan HD lost 1-0 in a one-sided game for the Germans.

Difference

Urawa and Ulsan's failure at the 2025 Club World Cup was not entirely unexpected, but rather a consequence of the inherent limitations of East Asian club football when compared to the world's top teams.

Unlike the Japanese and Korean teams, which are filled with stars playing in Europe such as Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) or Son Heung-Min (Tottenham), clubs like Urawa and Ulsan rely mainly on domestic players and a few non-star foreign players.

J.League and K.League, despite their sustainable development and being a launching pad for young talent, do not recruit big stars from Europe like the Saudi Pro League or Qatar Stars League. This leaves Urawa Reds and Ulsan lacking individuals capable of making a difference against teams like Inter Milan or Dortmund.

Urawa Reds, despite winning the 2022 AFC Champions League, declined after losing many key players and only ranked 13th in the 2024 J.League. Ulsan, despite dominating the K.League, also failed to maintain their form in the 2024/25 AFC Champions League, showing the difference when facing teams outside Asia.

The 32-team FIFA Club World Cup 2025 is a much tougher competition than previous editions, with Asian teams facing off early against giants from Europe and South America.

2 super goals brought Ramos and teammates into the 1/8 round of the Club World Cup. On the morning of June 26, Monterrey won 4-0 against Urawa in the final match of the group stage of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.

Source: https://znews.vn/bong-da-dong-a-tham-bai-o-fifa-club-world-cup-post1563809.html