The tireless title collectors from Manchester City have crowned the most successful year in their history with a triumph at the Club World Cup.

In the final in Jeddah, the favored Champions League winner beat the Brazilian top team Fluminense Rio de Janeiro 4-0 (2-0) to win their fifth title this year.

In high temperatures in Saudi Arabia, world champion Julian Alvarez (1st) got the team off to a perfect start with his goal after just a few seconds, with Fluminense defender Nino (27th) also scoring an own goal. Phil Foden (72nd) and Alvarez (88th) took away the Brazilians’ hopes of a comeback.

ManCity thus continued the impressive series of European winners at the Club World Cup. For the 11th time in a row and for the 16th time overall, the triumph went to a team from Europe. In 2012, Corinthians Sao Paulo won and thus achieved the fourth and so far last victory of a team from South America.

Manchester’s triumph was never in jeopardy, even without top scorer Erling Haaland. Because the Norwegian was not in the squad for the semi-final victory over the Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan, he was also not allowed to play in the final. His replacement Alvarez showed that he could be relied upon: after Nathan Ake had hit the post, the Argentine converted the rebound to take an early lead.

This gave the clear favorites from Manchester a further boost in confidence – but the next goal was helped by the opposition. Nino unfortunately deflected a shot from Foden into his own goal, and shortly before half-time, goalkeeper Ederson made a strong save to prevent the Brazilians from scoring (40′).

The English champions continued to dominate the second half, but did not push hard for a third goal. With their usual possession and patience, Guardiola’s team dealt with their opponents – and then scored again through Foden and Alvarez.

Before Jeddah’s triumph, Manchester had won the English Championship, the FA Cup, the European Super Cup and the Champions League. At the Club World Cup, ManCity are now the fourth English club to win the title, after Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

The roles are not as clearly defined as in the previous format for the next Club World Cup in 2025: 32 teams will be competing in a group stage and a subsequent knockout round. The German record champions Bayern Munich will also be taking part in the premiere in the USA.