Paris Saint-Germain, PSG, booked their place in the Round of 16 of the 2025 Club World Cup with a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Monday, June 23 in Pasadena, California. The French team did not need to shine: an efficient, well-organized performance and some quality individual plays were enough to seal their qualification as Group B leaders.
Compelled to win after the surprising 0-1 defeat against Botafogo, Luis Enrique fielded most of his first-choice players who had already beaten Atletico Madrid 4-0 on the first matchday. The only novelty was the inclusion of young Senny Mayulu in place of Gonçalo Ramos, playing as a false nine.
A pragmatic PSG
The game had some tense moments, especially at the beginning.
In the 19th minute, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made a serious error at the start, giving the ball to Jesus Ferreira, who wasted an unbeatable chance by sending his shot wide.
PSG responded forcefully.
In the 35th minute, Portugal’s Vitinha shot from the edge of the area and Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia deflected the ball just wide to open the scoring (0-1).
El equipo francés no necesitó brillar
From that moment on, Seattle lost the defensive solidity it had shown at the beginning.
In the second half, the French team took advantage of one of the few spaces left by Seattle.
On 66 minutes, Bradley Barcola led a lethal counterattack that was finished off by Achraf Hakimi with a precise finish to make it 0-2 for PSG.
Sounders bid farewell with dignity
Seattle, representing MLS in this Club World Cup, tried to react in the last minutes, looking to score at least one goal in front of their fans.
Cameroon’s Nouhou Tolo even saved a third PSG goal by clearing Warren Zaire-Emery’s shot off the line.
Despite their efforts, the home side failed to seriously trouble Donnarumma.
They left the tournament without a win, but they looked like a competitive team against European powers.
PSG, who benefited from Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win over Botafogo, finished with 6 points.
The same as the other two teams, but with a better goal difference in head-to-head matches.
Thus, they will face in the round of 16 the second-placed team in Group A, which includes Palmeiras, Inter Miami, Porto and Al Ahly.
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