Real Madrid beat Al Hilal 5-3 in Morocco to win FIFA Club World Cup for fifth time

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Real Madrid have beaten Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal 5-3 in Morocco to win the FIFA Club World Cup – their fifth in eight years

Real Madrid players celebrate with the trophy after winning the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco in February 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Real Madrid have won the FIFA Club World Cup for the fifth time in eight editions after beating Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal 5-3 in Morocco on Saturday night.

The 14-time European champions went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes thanks to goals from Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde, but Al Hilal pulled one back shortly afterwards through Malian forward Moussa Marega.

Karim Benzema, back in the team after injury, then made it 3-1 to Madrid after 54 minutes and Valverde scored his second of the night to put Los Blancos 4-1 up before an hour had been played.

But Al Hilal did not give in and former Atletico and Villarreal forward Lucas Vietto scored twice, either side of another Vinicius effort, to take the game to 5--3 with just over 10 minutes to play.

That was the end of the scoring, though, and Madrid came through an entertaining content to claim their fifth Club World Cup since 2014.

This current edition, although played in 2023, is the 2022 competition.

As well as their five Club World Cups, Madrid also won the Intercontinental Cup (which preceded this tournament) on three occasions.

Ben Hayward
Ben Hayward
Freelance Writer

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.