⚽Your daily update on the Club World Cup: Al Ahly and Portugal’s Porto are officially out of the running after securing just one point each following a 4-4 draw. Inter Miami and Palmeiras have qualified for the round of 16, joining PSG and Botafogo, who scraped through after an intense face-off with Atlético.

Group A: The eight goal match between Al Ahly and Porto — which ended in a thrilling 4-4 draw — wasn’t enough for either club to qualify, with the Portuguese club finishing in third place with two points, topping Al Ahly in fourth place on goal difference. Al Ahly was constantly in the lead, yet failed to maintain its advantage, missing out on many clear chances. The match saw Wessam Abou Ali score a perfect hat-trick, scoring one goal with his right foot, another with his left, and third with his head.

Inter Miami and Palmeiras officially qualify for the round of 16 after their match ended in a 2-2 draw, with the Brazilian FC securing the lead with five points over Inter Miami on goal difference.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain qualified for the round of 16 after securing the group lead following its 2-0 win over the US Seattle Sounders. Brazil’s Botafogo qualified as group runner-up, with Atlético eliminated despite beating Botafogo 1-0. PSG, Botafogo, and Atlético were level on points, with six each.

Club World Cup regulations state that direct head-to-head results are used in the case of a point tie. As each of the three clubs won against one of their competitors and lost to the other, the decisive factor was goal difference in direct face-offs, which left Atlético with the short end of the stick.

Things get heated in the round of 16. Palmeiras will go head to head with Botafogo in an all-Brazilian clash on Saturday, meaning that Brazil has guaranteed a representative in the quarterfinals. Messi will go head to head with his former teammates as Inter Miami battles it out with PSG on Sunday.

Who’s qualifying tonight? Tonight and tomorrow at dawn, four matches will seal the fate of Groups C and D. Both groups are awaiting the qualification of two more teams — Bayern Munich and Flamengo have already secured their spots.

Group C: Portugal’s Benfica will go head to head with the German Bayern Munich tonight at 10pm. The Bavarian club has already guaranteed qualification with six points in tow. The Eagles — with four points — need to secure victory or a draw to qualify for the next round.

Argentina’s Boca Juniors will face New Zealand’s Auckland City in a relatively uncomplicated match at 10pm. Boca Juniors needs to secure victory with a considerable goal difference to ensure qualification.

Group D: Tunisia’s Espérance is in for a tough night against England’s Chelsea at 4am. The Tunisian club secured the only victory for Arab clubs in the current edition of the Club World Cup in the last round, placing the club third in the group with three points, level with Chelsea in second place on goal difference. A victory is essential if Espérance hopes to qualify, as goal difference favors The Blues.

Flamengo plays Los Angeles at 4am. The former has already qualified with six points, with the latter out of the running after losing two consecutive matches.

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