A Real Madrid star is shining at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, just as FIFA wants, but no one expected that name to be Gonzalo Garcia.
Kylian Mbappe's spectacular goal in stoppage time helped Real win 3-2 against Borussia Dortmund, who will lead the Play of the Day clips. However, Garcia's contribution in the first half was very important when Mbappe was still on the bench.
This is not the first time in this tournament that the young Spanish star has overshadowed his more famous teammates. Garcia's first-half goal put him on par with Benfica's Angel Di Maria and Al Hilal's Marcos Leonardo in the lead of the tournament's scoring charts4.
Before the tournament in the US starts, if a Real striker is chosen to win the Golden Boot, the top candidates will be Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, or even attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham.
But Garcia is in a good position to win that award when entering the semi-final against Paris St-Germain. Especially since Di Maria and Leonardo had to return home. If the 21-year-old returns to Madrid with the Golden Boot, it will highlight coach Xabi Alonso's attacking options.
However, as the La Liga and UEFA Champions League schedule begins for Madrid, the Golden Boot award won in a vibrant summer in the US may not help Garcia's starting prospects at the Bernabeu.
Maybe harsh, but that's how things work at Real. Big stars - Mbappe, Vinicius, Bellingham - are almost certain to have a starting position, regardless of which coach is in charge. And the FIFA Club World Cup Golden Boot will not be able to turn Garcia from a promising young player into a superstar immediately.
In addition to the club's legends Raul and Emilio Butragueno, Real have a sad record in training and debuting promising young strikers.
In the past 30 to 40 years, many young strikers at the Bernabeu have been highly anticipated, but their development has been hampered by some big stars, such as Ronaldo Nazario, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Alvaro Negredo, Juan Mata, Jese, Jose Callejon, Joselu, Pablo Sarabia and Roberto soldado all showed promise in Real's youth teams, and some also played for Bastilla before leaving.
Therefore, the question for Garcia is whether he will follow the same path or break the mold, like Raul and Butragueno.
Before the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Garcia had played for Real six times without scoring any goals. However, he has scored 4 goals in 5 matches in the US, along with another assist.
Garcia has proven that he can score, move intelligently and have a great tactical awareness. And perhaps the most important thing for Alonso is Garcia's hard work without the ball.
Alonso said he wanted more than that from Mbappe, a player whose work efficiency had not reached his level of talent. And Alonso's faith in Garcia in this tournament could be a way for Mbappe to realize he needs to improve his game.
If Mbappe had not missed Real's three group stage games after being hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis last month, Garcia could have watched the tournament from the bench.
But instead, Garcia has accumulated 379 minutes of play out of a total of 450 possible minutes in 5 matches and has really contributed greatly to Los Blancos. He has emerged as a surprise star of the tournament.
However, Garcia will have to compete with some real talents such as Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick. Therefore, Alonso needs to make an important decision when everyone is healthy and ready.
