Can Sundowns pull off an upset and beat Dortmund in the Club World Cup?
Mamelodi Sundowns take on the second-most decorated German football club, Borussia Dortmund, in the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup (CWC) group stage on Saturday at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
Downs had a fine start to the competition, securing a 1-0 victory in the Group F opener against South Korean team Ulsan HD on Wednesday, putting them top of Group F. Dortmund drew goalless against Brazilian side Fluminense.
Borussia have far more experience in international competition and compete in one of the world's top four leagues in the Bundesliga, plus regularly challenge for honours in the world's toughest continental club competition, the Uefa Champions League.
They might not have had the best 2024-2025 season, finishing fourth in the Bundesliga, but reached the Champions League semifinals. It should be a mismatch between the German giants and the 2024-2025 Caf Champions League runners-up Sundowns.
But Downs showed against Ulsan they have grown in international competition from their regular campaigns in the tough conditions of the African Champions League — in their only other appearance at the CWC in Japan in 2016 they lost convincingly against two Asian teams.
The weather in the midsummer US, and perhaps motivation of the big European clubs for the new, expanded version of the now 32-team CWC, have seen some upsets. Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal drew against Real Madrid, Inter Miami beat FC Porto and Botafogo stunned European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Bafana Bafana legend Delron Buckley believes the Brazilians can pull off a surprise and beat Dortmund, who he turned out for in the 2000s.
'I think Sundowns can surprise Dortmund and get something out of this game,' Buckley told the Sowetan.
'They need to get their facts right about Dortmund. They must be very physical because Dortmund are a German team and are very physical, and when they're in possession, everything is quick.'
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