Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior delivered a standout performance as the team comfortably booked their place in the Club World Cup last 16 with a 3-0 win over Salzburg on Thursday.
The Brazilian opened the scoring five minutes before the break after latching onto a sublime pass from Jude Bellingham. He then provided the assist for Federico Valverde to double Madrid’s lead in first-half added time.
Gonzalo Garcia added a third late on, his second goal of the competition, securing Madrid’s unbeaten finish in Group H with seven points. That result sets up a last-16 encounter with Juventus in Miami on Tuesday.
Salzburg, meanwhile, exited the tournament, with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia clinching second spot in the group following a 2-0 victory over Mexico’s Pachuca in Nashville. Al Hilal now face Manchester City in the next round.
Madrid, still adjusting to life under new boss Xabi Alonso, were once again without star striker Kylian Mbappé, who is yet to appear at the tournament due to illness.
Nonetheless, a strong crowd of 64,811 turned out at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, cheering enthusiastically for Bellingham in particular, as cooler conditions replaced the recent heatwave.
Continuing his preference from his Bayer Leverkusen days, Alonso set up with a back three—Aurélien Tchouaméni slotting in between Antonio Rüdiger and Dean Huijsen—with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fran García deployed as wing-backs.
Vinicius, who netted twice when the two sides met in the Champions League earlier this year, proved decisive again. Although denied by Salzburg goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky on 20 minutes, he made no mistake when Bellingham played him in with a pinpoint ball that split the defence. Holding off two defenders, Vinicius struck a low left-footed effort into the corner to register his 22nd goal of the season.
Salzburg nearly responded when Arda Güler lost possession on the edge of Madrid’s box, presenting Petar Ratkov with a half-chance, but it was Madrid who struck again moments later. A loose forward pass deflected kindly for Vinicius, who drove into the penalty area and cleverly back-heeled the ball for Valverde to slot home.
Salzburg continued to press after the break, needing Al Hilal to do them a favour to stay in the competition. They created opportunities but lacked the finishing touch and were ultimately punished again.
With six minutes left, Alexander-Arnold’s ball forward should have been dealt with by Salzburg’s Joane Gadou, but his miscontrol allowed Garcia to steal in and calmly lift the ball over the onrushing keeper.
