Who will Mamelodi Sundowns face in their group at the 2025 Club World Cup? We run through their three opponents, writes Nick Said.
ULSAN HD FC
COUNTRY: SOUTH KOREA
FIXTURE: 18 JUNE, INTER&CO STADIUM, ORLANDO (KICK-OFF 00H00 SA TIME)
Sundowns will open their campaign against South Korean opposition in a game that kicks off at midnight on 18 June South African time.
Their opponents are relatively new having been founded in 1983 and the team are owned by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, as with several football clubs in Asia that are the property of large corporations.
They have won the K-League on five occasions, most recently 2024, which was their third successive championship season. They have also twice before been Asian Champions League winners, in 2012 and 2020.
Ulsan are coached by former winger Kim Pan-gon and are mostly homebased players, but do have a couple of Swedes in their squad in midfielders Darijan Bojanic and Gustav Ludwigson.
They also have the Brazilian striker Yago Cariello. Sundowns will see this as the perfect opportunity to get their campaign off to a positive start against a tricky, but beatable opponent.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
COUNTRY: GERMANY
FIXTURE: 21 JUNE, TQL STADIUM, CINCINNATI (KICK-OFF 18H00 SA TIME)
A game that will kick-off at mid-day in the United States, potentially playing into the hands of Sundowns, who may be more used to the expected summer heat.
Dortmund have not had a great season in the Bundesliga to date having been stuck in mid-table, a far cry from their usual place contesting for the league.
They remain a quality side though with the likes of strikers Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier, midfielder Emre Can and United States international Giovanni Reyna.
They will be a tough nut, poor season or not, and if Sundowns can get anything out of this they will be pleased.
There is a South African connection here too – former Bafana Bafana players Steven Pienaar and Delron Buckley were both previously on the books of Dortmund, while Sundowns’ current winger Tashreeq Matthews was in the youth set-up at the Bundesliga club.
FLUMINENSE
COUNTRY: BRAZIL
FIXTURE: 25 JUNE, HARD ROCK STADIUM, MIAMI GARDENS (KICK-OFF 21H00 SA TIME)
Sundowns will finish their pool campaign with a clash against real Brazilians in Fluminense.
The South African ‘Brazilians’ will know this could be their toughest game of the lot.
Fluminense play their home games at the famed Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro and are among the most decorated teams in Brazilian football. They are coached by Mano Menezes and have produced several stars for the country down the years. They were also Club World Cup runners-up in 2023 when they lost to Manchester City in the final, albeit by a 4–0 scoreline.
