Overview
The clash between Monterrey and Inter Milan saw two teams from Mexico and Italy face each other for the first time in an official match. The Spanish team hopes to improve the results of the two previous matches against European clubs.
Both of Monterrey's previous two FIFA Club World Cup matches against European opponents ended in defeats: 1-3 against Chelsea in 2012 and 1-2 against Liverpool in 2019.
Monterrey qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup as the champion of the CONCACAF Champions League 2021. More recently, they were defeated in Liga MX's Apertura 2024 final, losing 2-3 overall to Club America in December last year. They also stopped in the quarter-finals of Clausura 2025.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan entered this tournament after a disappointing end in the 2024-2025 season.
After losing to Napoli in the Serie A title race, they were beaten 5-0 by Paris St Germain in the UEFA Champions League final. This is the biggest defeat in the history of the tournament's finals.
Inter Milan also won the runner-up position in the Italian Super Cup and were eliminated in the Coppa Italia semi-finals. This means they have finished the season without a major trophy for the first time since 2019-80.
Lautaro Martinez has once again become Inter Milan's main scoring threat throughout the campaign, with 22 goals in tournaments in the 2024-2025 season. This achievement makes him the top scorer for Inter for the fourth consecutive season.
The Argentine striker hopes to lead his team to victory at the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time since 2010, when the tournament only had 7 participating teams.
Predicting the result
Serie A giants Inter Milan are a strong candidate for a win in the match held in Rose Bowl, Pasadena.
They are rated with a 73.1% chance of winning, compared to their opponents' 10.7%. The remaining 16.2% is the possibility of the two teams sharing points.
Before the match, Inter Milan (94.5%) was also the team rated much higher to advance to the knockout round of Group E, above River Plate (49.7%), Monterrey (37.5%) and Urawa Red Diamonds (18.4%).
Score prediction: Monterrey 0-3 Inter Milan
Expected lineup:
Inter Milan: Sommer, Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Sucic, Dimarco, Thuram, Martinez.
Monterrey: Andrada, Medina, Rodriguez, Ramos, Arteaga, Ambriz, Chavez, Torres, Canales, Corona, Berterame.
The match between Monterrey and Inter Milan takes place at 8:00 a.m. on June 18 (Vietnam time).
