* The scintillating attacking play of Sundowns — particularly in the first half — thrilled their travelling supporters and Ribeiro Costa’s goal is a contender for goal of the tournament
* The technical ability he showed to evade two challenges and the way he accelerated away was befitting of a final
By Alex Brotherton, BBC Sport
Germany’s Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund were outplayed for large parts of an entertaining FIFA Club World Cup ‘25 contest coming from behind to defeat South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3.
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Sundowns scored the opening goal in the 11th minute through forward Lucas Ribeiro Costa, who collected the ball inside the centre circle, surged through the middle of the Germans’ defence and finished coolly past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
By six minutes later, Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams gifted Dortmund an equaliser when he passed the ball straight to Felix Nmecha, who slotted into the empty net.
The 18-time South African champions seemed unfazed — Iqraam Rayners saw two shots blocked when he could have passed, while the pace and trickery of Tashreeq Matthews down the left flank caused Dortmund plenty of issues.
Yet once again the Sundowns caused their own downfall — Dortmund stole possession 35 yards from goal before Julian Brandt stood up a cross for Serhou Guirassy to head home his 35th goal of the season.
From that point, the momentum swung in Dortmund’s favour, and in the 45th minute Bellingham chested the ball down in the middle of the penalty area before firing a shot — via a slight deflection — past a wrongfooted Williams for his side’s third goal.
Sundowns continued to create clear chances after the break — Kobel did brilliantly to tip Rayners’ effort on to the crossbar — though the offside flag would have ruled it out, before Teboho Mokoena’s free-kick was deflected narrowly over.
But Dortmund scored again when Khuliso Mudau inadvertently deflected Daniel Svensson’s low cross past his own goalkeeper but Sundowns pulled one back with Rayners bundling home after first hitting the post with a header.
Sundowns substitute Lebo Mothiba set up a grandstand finish when he slotted past Kobel in the 90th minute following a break, but Dortmund hung on for a victory that moves them top of Group F with four points.
The scintillating attacking play of Sundowns — particularly in the first half — thrilled their travelling supporters and Ribeiro Costa’s goal is a contender for goal of the tournament — the technical ability he showed to evade two challenges and the way he accelerated away was befitting of a final.
Few fans outside of South Africa would have known much about the team known as ‘the Brazilians’, but their no-holds-barred approach — even when 4-1 down in sweltering 32C heat — will have won over plenty of neutrals.
The Sundowns attacking trio of Rayners, Matthews and Ribeiro Costa ran riot in the first half, though poor finishing left them with just one goal to show for their efforts.
Williams made up for his costly first-half blunder with several key saves, without which Dortmund would have extended their lead.
Mamelodi Sundowns will finish their group campaign against Fluminense in Miami on Wednesday while Borussia Dortmund face Ulsan in Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane had a hand in both goals to help Bayern Munich beat Boca Juniors and reach the Club World Cup knockout stages.
Striker Kane opened the scoring on 18 minutes by stroking home from 10 yards, before Miguel Merentiel converted a delightful equaliser in the second half.
With six minutes remaining, Kane poked the ball into the path of former Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise, who netted the winner with a cool, side-footed finish from the edge of the area.
A point for Vincent Kompany’s side in the final group game against Benfica will guarantee top spot and a possible last-16 meeting with Chelsea — if the Blues progress in second place.
“Big performance from the guys,” superior player of the match Kane told Dazn. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and we knew we were coming into a hostile environment. It is great to get the goal and qualify.
“It is a massive tournament, playing against the best teams in the world, but it is us against us, that is the mindset and we have to compete at our best level. So far, so good.”
In the group’s other game on Friday, Portuguese side Benfica thrashed Auckland City 6-0 and the New Zealand part-timers are out after conceding 16 goals in their opening two games.
Inter Milan kept their hopes of winning the Club World Cup alive by coming from behind to snatch a late victory against Urawa Red Diamonds in Seattle.
Ryoma Watanabe’s 11th-minute strike looked to have earned the Japanese side a shock victory, but Lautaro Martinez’s spectacular overhead kick and Valentin Carboni’s stoppage-time strike eliminated the Japanese side from the competition.
Inter — playing under Cristian Chivu for the second time after Simone Inzaghi’s departure this month — dominated the first half but paid the price for failing to track Watanabe’s run when the winger rounded off a slick counter-attack with a low finish.—Additional reporting by Shamoon Hafez, BBC Sport; edited by Maravi Express
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