Kenan Yildiz is good. Keep him.
That is perhaps the coldest take I’ve ever delivered on this blog, but there isn’t much else to say after the Turkiye international absolutely took over Juventus’ Club World Cup match against Wydad Casablanca on Sunday. From early on at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the world champion Philadelphia Eagles (GO BIRDS!), the 20-year-old phenom looked completely in charge.
The only reason he didn’t come out of the game with a hat trick was because whoever makes these calls at FIFA made the rather ridiculous decision that the deflection his shot took for the opening score made it an own goal. Regardless of that person’s inability to properly extrapolate the flight path of a soccer ball, it was a standout performance that deserves all the plaudits he’s been getting in the hours since the game ended.
While Wydad is still nowhere near Juve’s league, they are a step up from Al Ain, and they definitely played with the intention of spoiling Juve’s party. But after some real threats in the latter part of the first half, the Moroccan giants were neutralized for the most part in the second — at least until it was too late for them to do anything about the results. A few late saves and a stoppage-time penalty put the game’s final margin at 4-1, extending Juve’s goal difference to plus-8 and putting them in a good position to perhaps top the group when the tournament’s first true test, against Manchester City, comes calling later this week.
Igor Tudor made no changes to the team that spanked Al Ain on Thursday. Michele Di Gregorio sat at the bottom of the 3-4-2-1, screened by Pierre Kalulu, Nicolò Savona, and Lloyd Kelly. Alberto Costa and Andrea Cambiaso patrolled the wide areas, while Weston McKennie and Khéphren Thuram manned the midfield. Francisco Conceição partnered with Yildiz in the hole behind Randal Kolo Muani.
Wydad manager Amine Benhachem had seen his side fall 2-0 to City in midweek, and was looking to spoint things for the Bianconeri and keep his team in the tournament. He made only one change to that lineup, using a 5-4-1 setup. Mehdi Benabid played in goal, with Fahd Moufi, Guilherme Ferreira, Bart Meijers, Abdelmounaim Boutouil, and Mohamed Moufid arrayed in front of him. Nordin Amrabat, Oussama Zemraoui, Mehdi El Mourbarik, and Thembinkosi Lorch made up the midfield, while Samuel Obeng stood alone at the top of the formation.
Much like Thursday’s game, Wydad spent the first few minutes on the front foot, registering the game’s first shot on target and making it clear that they didn’t intend to be cannon fodder for a European side. But in the sixth minute, Yildiz took a feed from Cambiaso and then performed a neat one-two with Thuram, making an excellent run into the channel that had been vacated by a defender who was sucked in to address the Frenchman. He took the return ball and fired for the far post from the top corner of the six-yard box. The shot took a deflection from Boutouil and flew past a wrong-footed Benabid, somehow getting credited as an own-goal to the center-half when it was pretty clear that the shot would have been on target had it not been touched.
It took another 10 minutes for Yildiz to double the lead, and he did it with one hell of a bang.
Cambaiso started the move by driving toward the box and along its upper edge, leaving it for Yildiz as he ran into traffic. Yildiz let the ball take one bounce and caught it with his laces just as it took a second. It was one of the cleanest shots you’ll ever see, rocketing into the top corner in seconds.
Juventus FC v Wydad AC: Group G - FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
But Wydad clearly weren’t going to let this game turn into the first-half rout that Al-Ail had been subjected to.
It wasn’t long before Amrabat had a throw-in flicked to him, turned, and slotted an excellent through ball past a poorly-positioned Cambiaso directly into the stride of Lorch. Di Gregorio scrambled out to close the angle, but the South African executed a perfect chip over his shoulder to cut the lead in half. Wydad’s fans at that end of the field celebrated their club’s first goal of the tournament by setting off some massive smoke bombs that had somehow gotten by security. The prevailing winds pushed the smoke directly across the field, and referee Hector Martinez had to call for the first-half cooling break, and allow said cooling break to go on for a bit longer than normal, to allow the smoke to dissipate before continuing the match.
The second half started more slowly, but Juventus slowly started taking command of proceedings, winning a series of corners, the last of which nearly produced their third goal when it flew to Cambiaso at the back post, whose volley hit the post flush. Kolo Muani whiffed at a great cross by Kelly not long after, and eventually the kid took over again.
It was Kolo Muani who got things started, charging down the left side before squeezing a pass through two defenders to lead Yildiz into the channel. He slammed on the brakes and watched Boutouil hurtle past him, faked a shot to get himself set and freeze the keeper, and slid the ball into the far post netting to put the game away.
Wydad didn’t let Juve simply see the game out, and gamely looked for a goal to set up a grandstand finish. Di Gregorio had to make a pair of saves as stoppage time began to prevent that, getting down to stop a low drive at his near post by Selemani Mwalimu and then flying to punch a header from Moufid over the bar on the ensuing corner.
Juventus FC v Wydad AC: Group G - FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
The game game wasn’t without a final sting, as Juve were afforded the opportunity to up their goal differential a bit more when Dusan Vlahovic was tackled to the ground by Guilherme. The striker immediately picked the ball up and walked to the spot with it, then put it past Benabid’s dive to finish off the Bianconeri’s second group win in two.
LE PAGELLE
MICHELE DI GREGORIO - 7.5. Made a couple of really good saves at the end of the game to preserve the goal difference, which could be a huge factor against City on Thursday.
PIERRE KALULU - 7. Deuces wild on his counting stats; two each of tackles, interceptions, and clearances, including a last-man tackle early in the second half. Made the occasional run into the offensive side of the field.
NICOLÒ SAVONA - 7. Another really strong game in the middle of the back three. He led the team in clearances and even had a key pass. Now, how might he fare against the jump in quality?
LLOYD KELLY - 6. Didn’t make any horrific mistakes, but he was still demonstrably weaker than the rest of the back three. He did push up well to dovetail with Cambiaso and provided a key pass.
ALBERTO COSTA - 6. Wasn’t quite as dynamic as he was on Thursday, but still defended well and served as an outlet on the right side in attack, even though his pass completion was down around 60 percent.
WESTON McKENNIE - 6. Made a key pass but didn’t look as sharp as he did Thursday, and Tudor was probably right to take him off to make sure he didn’t get booked and suspended for the City game.
KHÉPHREN THURAM - 7. Got jobbed out of an assist when the first goal was ruled and own goal, but he was all over the place in midfield. Made a game-high five tackles — no one else on either side had more than two — and constantly carried the ball through the middle of the field to initiate the attack.
Juventus FC v Wydad AC: Group G - FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images
ANDREA CAMBIASO - 6. Got the assist on the second goal with a good layoff, and nearly helped put the game away with his volley onto the post. He looked good on the offensive side today, but he was poorly positioned on Wydad’s goal and let Lorch latch on to the pass.
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO - 6.5. He was a threat in being that Wydad was constantly aware of, and paid a lot of attention to after his performance against Al-Ain. Wasn’t as successful with the ball but definitely attracted the defenders and created room for others. Shows you just how much Wydad was focused on not letting him beat them that he was fouled four times.
KENAN YILDIZ - 9. Dude absolutely took over the game. Both of the goals he was credited for were special in their own way, especially the first, which was one of the cleanest, sweetest strikes you’ll see in this sport. Even the one that was (dubiously) ruled an own goal was marked by a fantastic run behind his defender to get to the return pass. This tournament is starting to look like a coming out party, and will officially be one if he performs well against City.
RANDAL KOLO MUANI - 6. Really wasn’t able to get much of the service he got last game, and what he did get he wasn’t able to do much with — although he really should’ve scored the third goal in the 55th minute, but couldn’t make contact. He worked well as a passer and facilitator at the top, though, and put in an inch-perfect ball to Yildiz for the team’s third goal.
SUBS
TEUN KOOPMEINERS - 5.5. Did OK defensively but wasn’t able to create a bunch on offense. Was solid enough defensively, though. I’d like to see him up in the hole with Yildiz at some point soon.
NICO GONZÁLEZ - 5.5. Gave the ball away a few times and didn’t do much when it comes to attack.
MANUEL LOCATELLI - 6. Kept things tight in midfield at a point where Wydad wasn’t going away just yet.
DUSAN VLAHOVIC - 6. Took his penalty well, but wasn’t able to do much of anything out of open play.
FEDERICO GATTI - NR. On to provide some extra defensive muscle in the last few minutes.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
When it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Tudor trusted the same lineup as he did on Thursday, and he was again rewarded for it. Yildiz has really blossomed under his care behind the striker, when it looked like he was starting to stagnate out wide under Thiago Motta. It’s why I’d be very interested in seeing how he dovetails with Koopmeiners in that position when he’s healthy enough.
Juventus FC v Wydad AC: Group G - FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Photo by Carl Recine - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
The team’s mindset remained the same as it did last game: relentlessly attack the inferior opponent, and don’t let them back into the game. They were less in control of things than they were against Al Ain, and at the end of the first half were given a run for their money, but Juventus stayed composed and didn’t lose their cool after giving up what turned out to be more of a freak goal than anything else.
This is a team that looks revitalized from a mental standpoint and is playing up to their talent level as opposed to down to their opponents. All of that, of course, is about to be tested in a big way in the next game. The City that they face on Thursday will be a lot different to the scuffling side that Juve beat in the Champions League last year. It will be a true test of the team’s grit and resolve to see if they can win their group.
LOOKING AHEAD
Thursday is the group stage finale against Manchester City. They walloped Al Ain 6-0 in the late game on Sunday, bringing them even with Juve on goal difference. Juventus hold the tiebreaker on goals scored, 9-8, which means a draw is all that’s required for them to go through as group winners. Then they’ll move on to the round of 16, where they’ll play either Real Madrid, Red Bull Salsburg, or Al-Hilal, depending on how the Group H standings finish.