Meet the teams that will try and prevent Real Madrid from winning back to back Club World Cups

Real Madrid v Kashima Antlers- FIFA Club World Cup Final
Real Madrid celebrating their FIFA Club World Cup win in 2016

#4 Urawa Red Diamonds

Urawa Red Diamonds v Al-Hilal - AFC Champions League Final 2nd Leg
Urawa Red Diamonds celebrating their AFC Champions League win with their fans

Urawa is taking part in its second-ever Club World Cup; their debut came ten years ago, when they lost to eventual champions Milan in the semis. The two-time AFC Champions League winner will be confident of making the semi-finals again as they meet the winner of Al-Jazira vs Auckland in the quarters.

Urawa, who have won the J-League only once so far, picked up their 2nd Champions League title after beating Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal last month 2-1 on aggregate. Brazilian Rafael Silva scored both goals, the Sao Paulo-born forward is a new signing at the club, having previously played three years for Abirex Niigata.

The J-League season finished last weekend and 'The Reds' ended the campaign in 7th spot with Silva scoring 12 times during the year. It was 31-year-old Shinzo Kiroki who stole the headlines though as he had by far the best season of his career with 20 goals in 33 games.

50-year-old local manager Takafumi Hori is in charge of the team after he replaced Serbian, Mihailo Petrovic back in July. He couldn't save the league season with the team winning only five of 14 games under him, but their run in the Champions League was certainly impressive. They beat J-League champions Kawasaki along the way 5-4 on aggregate after losing the first leg away from home 3-1.

Quick Links

Edited by Jake Flock
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications