All eight groups in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup consist of four teams. In Group A, Al Ahly, Inter Miami, Palmeiras and Porto will fight for the top two spots in the group to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Portuguese side Porto are the favorites to advance from this group on DraftKings Sportsbook, followed by Palmeiras from Brazil and Inter Miami. Egypt’s Al Ahly are big underdogs to make it through the group stage.
Inter Miami To Qualify From Group (-105)
Lionel Messi carried Argentina to a World Cup victory in 2022 and then followed that up in 2024 by winning the Copa America in the United States. Now I’m not saying that Inter Miami is going to replicate what Messi has done with his international team recently, but I certainly think he can lead this team out of the group.
He doesn’t have to do it himself, as Miami has added Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in recent seasons. All of these players have one thing in common, and that’s experience. They have all played in the biggest knockout tournaments both for club and country throughout their careers. Many of the teams in this tournament don’t have players with this kind of know-how, so Miami needs to lean on their best players throughout this group stage because they know how to survive and advance.
Miami is currently having a pretty good season in the MLS, ranking third in the Eastern Conference after 16 games.
Compared to other groups in the tournament, this should be considered a good draw for Miami. They avoided all the superstar European teams, and their biggest competition will likely be Porto, who are coming off a bad season for their standards. The same can be said for Palmeiras in Brazil, who are in the middle of their season but currently sit in fourth place. The club has the most domestic league titles in history, finished runner-up last year and won the league in 2023. Then, there’s Al Ahly. They have won their domestic league for three straight seasons, but I would consider them massive underdogs in this group due to the lack of talent in the Egyptian league.
Inter Miami opens up the tournament against Al Ahly, and this is an absolutely crucial game to get three points and put themselves in a position to qualify. If they can do that and then get a win or draw against Porto, the American side should have a fantastic chance of qualifying in the final game against Palmeiras. Goal difference is crucial in group play and can sometimes be the difference between qualifying and going home.
A big performance on the opening night is needed from Miami.
