Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will square off against Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in their FIFA Club World Cup campaign opener on Sunday. Both teams will play in the competition for the first time in history. Defending UEFA Champions League winners have traditionally excelled in the competition, so Les Parisiens are strong favorites.
The Parisians will play for the first time since their 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan in the Champions League final last month. They concluded the 2024-25 campaign on a five-game winning streak and will look to continue that form here.
Atletico will also be in action for the first time since May. They concluded their 2024-25 campaign with a 4-0 win over Girona in La Liga. They went trophyless for the fourth consecutive season.
Les Parisiens head into the match as strong favorites, having defeated Inter Milan 5-0 last month. Having suffered a narrow home loss to Atletico in November, they will look to avenge that defeat here, as it was one of just seven defeats across all competitions in the treble-winning 2024-25 campaign.
Ousmane Dembélé was injured in the UEFA Nations League earlier this month and will miss this match. Bradley Barcola was also injured in that competition but has resumed training and is an option for Luis Enrique.
Los Colchoneros had scored four goals apiece in three of their last four games of the 2024-25 campaign and will look to continue their prolific run here. They have lost just two meetings against French teams, though one of them was registered against Lille in October.
Diego Simeone has a full-strength squad at his disposal, led by Antoine Griezmann.
While both teams will look to get their campaign underway with wins, we back the defending UEFA Champions League winners to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: PSG 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Tip 1: Result - PSG to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes
Tip 4: At least one goal to be scored in the second half - Yes