Pachuca vs Salzburg Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2025 FIFA Club World Cup | Group Stage

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The second CONCACAF vs UEFA fixture of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup takes place in Cincinnati as Pachuca take on Salzburg in Group H

Kick-off date/time:

How to watch on TV & online: UK – DAZN / US – DAZN

Pachuca team news: Competition up front

Veteran striker Saloman Rondon is likely to lead the line for Pachuca although Brazilian striker John Kennedy, 12 years his junior, is a more mobile option.

Defender Andreas Micolta faces a race against time to be fit for this Group H encounter.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Moreno; L Rodriguez, Bauermann, Barreto, Gonzalez; Palavecino, Montiel; E Rodriguez, Bautista, Idrissi; Rondon

Unavailable:

Questionable: Micolta (Injured)

Salzburg team news: A number of concerns

Karim Konate and Nicolas Capaldo are expected to miss this one, while boss Thomas Letsch will check on the fitness of Alexander Schlager, John Mellberg and Maximiliano Caufriez ahead of kick-off.

Stefan Lainer, who has arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach, is one of a number of new arrivals who could make their Salzburg debut in this contest.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Schlager; Lainer, Gadou, S Baidoo, Mellberg; Bidstrup, Kawamura; Dorgeles, Gloukh; E Baidoo, Ratkov

Unavailable: Konate (Injured), Capaldo (Injured)

Questionable: Schlager (Injured), Mellberg (Injured), Caufriez (Injured)

Key stats

• Seven-time title winners in Mexico, Pachuca claimed their place at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ when they won the Concacaf Champions Cup for the sixth time in June 2024 with a 3-0 win over Columbus Crew in the final. The success extended Pachuca’s perfect record in the final of Concacaf’s showpiece club tournament, having triumphed in all six they have featured in.
• On the global stage, Pachuca reached the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024™ in December 2024 (lost v. Real Madrid), they reached the decider by defeating Brazilian side Botafogo in the FIFA Derby of the Americas before edging Egyptian giants Al Ahly in a penalty shootout in the FIFA Challenger Cup.
• Salomón Rondón was the top scorer in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup with nine goals, his last two coming in Pachuca’s 3-0 victory over Columbus Crew in the final. The Venezuelan striker also won the Best Player Award.
• Salomón Rondón was the second top scorer at the 2024 Copa América in the USA last summer having scored three times for Venezuela in their run to the quarter-finals.
• Salzburg secured their berth at the Club World Cup via the UEFA ranking pathway. They have featured in the UEFA Champions League group stage/league phase in each of the last six seasons and impressively reached the knockout rounds in 2021/22 where they lost out to Bayern Munich.
• Salzburg remarkably won ten successive Austrian league titles from 2013/14 to 2022/23.
• Salzburg reached their first, and so far, only European final in 1994 when they lost 2-0 on aggregate against Italian club Inter in a two-legged final.
• Salzburg are one of only eight teams to have won the UEFA Youth League – the elite competition for U-19 players in European football. They were victorious in the final of the prestigious tournament in 2017 against Benfica and reached the final again in 2022 where they lost out against the same opponent.
• Pachuca have two FIFA U-20 World Cup winners in their playing roster. Santiago Homenchenko won the 2023 edition with Uruguay and Gustavo Cabral tasted success with Argentina 18 years earlier in 2005 in a team featuring Lionel Messi.

Pachuca vs Salzburg prediction

CONCACAF Champions Cup winners in 2024, Mexican side Pachuca certainly have some pedigree. Indeed, they have won their domestic league on seven occasions and reached the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup back in December, where they lost to Real Madrid.

They have not fared as well in Liga MX in recent times though, finishing 16th in last year’s Apertura and eighth in the regular season of this year’s Clausura, although they did reach the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

They will face off against Salzburg, who qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup on account of being ninth in UEFA’s ranking path.

Letsch, who took over from Pep Lijnders in December after the former Liverpool assistant endured a miserable stint in charge, guided Salzburg to a third-placed finish in the Austrian Bundesliga's regular season, before they came second in the Championship Round.

As Salzburg are one of the less decorated UEFA representatives on the continental stage, Pachuca will sense an upset here, but the reality is that they have gone through some struggles themselves in recent times. This is a difficult one to call, and a share of the spoils could well be in the offing between two sides who are not at their peak.

Pachuca vs Salzburg tip: Draw