Will Al-Hilal advance to the round of 16 after all?
The decisions in the group stage of the Club World Cup are coming up! There is a lot of tension in Group H, where three teams still have a chance of reaching the round of 16. However, the representative from Saudi Arabia has the worst cards. Only if Al-Hilal wins against Pachuca and there is a winner in the parallel match between Salzburg and Madrid will the team of new coach Simone Inzaghi still have a chance of reaching the round of 16.
What is certain, however, is that the round of 16 will take place without Mexican representative CF Pachuca. As expected, the weakest team in the group lost its first two matches against Real Madrid and Salzburg. And the bookies’ predictions for Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca also clearly favor the team from Saudi Arabia.
The odds for the Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca match are just as clear, with both teams expected to score on Friday. After all, “Los Tuzos” put in a reasonably convincing offensive performance and scored against both group favorites.
Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca prediction AI
Our AI BETSiE is far less convinced than the bookmakers of an Al-Hilal victory in her Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca AI prediction. The AI beauty calculates just a 46.8% chance of victory for Inzaghi’s team, while the bookmakers’ odds put the chance of victory at around 60%.
In addition, the Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca AI prediction, just like us, expects goals from both sides this coming Friday. While Al-Hilal has an xG value of 1.46, the Mexicans also have an xG value of 1.1.
Al-Hilal – Statistics & current form
There are plenty of European stars in the ranks of the Saudi Arabian team. Among others, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves pull the strings in midfield for Al-Za’eem, with Renan Lodi, Kalidou Koulibaly, Joao Cancelo and former Sevilla keeper Bono waiting in the wings. Up front, 40 million euro striker Marco Leonardo is waiting for his chance. It is therefore no surprise that Simone Inzaghi’s team is the favorite in an Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca prediction.
The team from the desert has individual class. In addition, new coach Simone Inzaghi, who was still on the sidelines at Inter Milan in the Champions League final last month, seems to have already perfectly translated the word “Catenacchio” into Arabic – or rather into the numerous languages spoken by his international players.
In the two matches against the other favorites in the group, Salzburg and Madrid, only the latter managed to beat goalkeeper Bono. Despite great offensive quality, however, little came out of the front line. Al-Za’eem only scored one goal in their first two matches of the Club World Cup. However, our Al-Hilal vs. Pachuca prediction at the betting providers with a US license is confident that one or two goals will be scored against the weakest opponent in the group so far this Friday.
Decisive match for Al-Hilal’s promotion
Al-Hilal’s record in all Club World Cup finals is not bad. In the five games played in this competition so far, the Saudis have not lost four times. On closer inspection, however, only one of the five final tournament games was ultimately won. And Inzaghi’s team is still waiting for its first victory in the group stage. If they don’t manage to do so on Friday, Al-Hilal will have to pack their bags again immediately after the preliminary round.
Al-Hilal’s expected line-up:
Bono – Renan Lodi, Koulibaly, Hassan Al Tambakti, Cancelo – Nasser Al Dawsari, Neves – Aldawsari, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom – Leonardo
Pachuca – Statistics & current form
As one of two representatives from the land of cacti, Pachuca is flying the Mexican flag high at this Club World Cup. However, it was always going to be a tough ask for Jaime Lozano’s team against the best in European football. Both Salzburg and Real Madrid showed the Mexicans their limits. As a result, “Los Tuzos” have no chance of reaching the round of 16 before their final group stage match.
Can Pachuca get three points to say goodbye?
And even against Al-Hilal, a team whose squad strength is more on par with the Mexicans, the odds for Pachuca against Al-Hilal at Bet-at-Home show that Lozano’s team are only outsiders. With this bookie’s 500% boost for Club World Cup bets, the odds of victory for the underdog would rise to almost immeasurable heights. The first two games have already clearly shown why the traditional Mexican club is lagging behind both nationally and, even more so, internationally.
There is simply a lack of quality in all areas of the team. In the 2025 Clausura, they only managed eighth place, followed by immediate elimination in the quarter-finals of the playoffs. As a result, coach Guillermo Almada had to throw in the towel after three and a half years and was replaced by Jaime Lozano. After winning the championship in 2022, the founding member of the first Mexican soccer league has only qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League once since. However, thanks to its surprise success in North America’s premier competition the following year, CF Pachuca is represented at this year’s Club World Cup.
The club, which was once founded by English miners, will vacate its camp at the University of North Carolina after Friday’s match. Nevertheless, the Mexicans naturally want to bow out of the competition with their heads held high. We don’t think CF Pachuca will win, but Lozano’s team could at least score again – “Los Tuzos” have scored against both group favorites so far.
Predicted line-up for Pachuca:
Moreno – Gonzalez, Pereira, Bauermann, Rodriguez – Palavecino, Montiel – Kenedy, Bautista, Dominguez – Rondon
Al-Hilal – Pachuca Head-to-head record / H2H record
Premiere for Pachuca: The club has never faced a team from Saudi Arabia in a competitive match. Their upcoming opponent Al Hilal, on the other hand, has already made acquaintance with a Mexican team. At the 2019 Club World Cup, the match for third place between Al Hilal and CF Monterrey ended in a draw after extra time.
The Mexicans then prevailed in a penalty shootout. Should Pachuca also manage a victory against the Saudis, high betting odds can be found at the bookies for a tip on the supposed underdog in the match between Al Hilal and Pachuca.
Al-Hilal – Pachuca Tip
While CF Pachuca is only playing to finish the competition with honor, Al-Hilal is still fighting to advance to the round of 16. The Saudi Arabian team is therefore likely to be far more motivated to win the upcoming match. Although, like our AI lady BETSiE, we consider the odds for the expected favorite to win to be a little too low, we are going for tip 1, Al-Hilal against Pachuca.
After all, individual class is likely to make the difference in this duel. Al-Za’eem is particularly strong in attack, while Lozano’s team is vulnerable. The team from the Mexican league has already conceded five goals, most recently against Real Madrid, despite having a man advantage for almost 90 minutes. At least they have managed to score a consolation goal in every group game so far.
If they manage to do so again this Friday, the odds for both teams scoring against Pachuca are not particularly high. This is because the bookmakers also consider this a likely outcome. And Pachuca could well score again, even if they don’t keep a clean sheet at the back. Ultimately, we expect Inzaghi’s team to prevail thanks to their attacking quality.
A promising betting approach is therefore to bet on Al-Hilal scoring more than one goal in the game on Friday. Those who want to take a little more risk should go for the “Al-Hilal win and both teams score” tip, for which high odds can be found at the bookmakers. In any case, we do not consider a 2-1 or 3-1 win for the team from the Saudi Arabian league to be unlikely at all.