Club World Cup Daily: Ait-Nouri stars for Man City in dominant win over Juventus

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is off and running, and has produced plenty of talking points and storylines already. Let's catch you up on what's happening, what you've missed and what's still to come.

We will update this file throughout each matchday with the latest reporting, analysis and fun from the competition.

The lead: Rayan Aït-Nouri shows class in Man City win over Juventus

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Manchester City haven't had a recognized left back in the squad for nearly four years, but Rayan Aït-Nouri seems determined to show Pep Guardiola what he's been missing, playing a key role in Thursday's 5-2 win over Juventus.

It was August 2021 when City last played with a proper left back -- Benjamin Mendy's final appearance before he was suspended by the club. Guardiola has made do in the meantime with a series of stopgaps. Nathan Aké, João Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte, Josko Gvardiol and Nico O'Reilly have all filled in. Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were pressed into action during in-game emergencies.

Aït-Nouri, though, is already showing the benefits of having a specialist. After arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of the Club World Cup, the 24-year-old was so bright on his debut against Al Ain that when Guardiola was asked to assess his performance, he simply said: "Wow."

The City boss picked a stronger team against Juventus -- handing starts to Rodri and Rúben Dias for the first time -- and Aït-Nouri was even better. He created two big chances inside the opening 10 minutes. After just four minutes, the Algerian -- playing high up the pitch and tucked into midfield at times -- arrowed a cross at Bernardo Silva, who saw his header saved. Moments later, it was Aït-Nouri's pinpoint pass through the Juventus defense that allowed Jérémy Doku to cut inside and score the first in what was an impressive win over the Italian side at Camping World Stadium. Aït-Nouri almost capped his first-half performance with a goal of his own, but his shot into the turf from outside the box was stopped from nestling in the corner by a diving Michele Di Gregorio.

It's exactly the kind of attacking output that Aït-Nouri was brought in to produce. He got five goals for Wolves in all competitions last season. Perhaps even more impressive was his seven Premier League assists. That matched Kevin De Bruyne's output and was one more than Trent Alexander-Arnold.

It's still early days, but Aït-Nouri looks to have filled a gaping hole in Guardiola's team. And having signed a fee of only £31 million, he could yet go down as one of the transfers of the summer. -- Rob Dawson

Today's top Club World Cup news

• Haaland outpaces Messi, Mbappé to 300 goals
• Xabi Alonso calls on Vini, Mbappé to improve off the ball
• Connelly: Why every last-16 team will, won't win

Sights and sounds around FIFA Club World Cup

Vlahovic struggles in his Premier League audition

Dusan Vlahovic is arguably the player who has been linked most with a move to the Premier League without actually coming close to a transfer to England's top flight. The Juventus forward went into the Group G clash against Manchester City with reports in Italy suggesting that he is on Manchester United's list of summer targets.

In the past, the 25-year-old has been targeted by Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, but after hitting 49 goals in 108 games for Fiorentina, he opted to stay in Italy with a move to Juventus in 2022. With Juventus open to offers for Vlahovic this summer, the game against City was a chance to prove his credentials to United, or any other major club in the market for a new striker, but the Serbia forward had a frustrating 90 minutes against Pep Guardiola's side in Orlando.

Vlahovic missed two good chances before finally getting on the scoresheet in the 84th minute -- when the game was lost for Juventus, who had already conceded five against City. And while he took his goal well to make the score 5-2, Vlahovic struggled against City defenders Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji and did little to suggest he could be the answer to United's goalscoring problems. -- Mark Ogden

Al Ain exit tourney with win over Wydad

With no consequences on Thursday, Al Ain finished their Club World Cup participation with a breezy, busy 2-1 win over Wydad AC in Nashville to ensure they went home on a high note.

It has been a tough tournament for the 2023-24 AFC Champions League winners, whose naive defending was picked apart to the tune of 11 goals by Man City and Juventus. Early in Thursday's clash, it looked to be another long afternoon as the Moroccan side found the net inside four minutes: right back Mohamed Moufid's low cross found Cassius Mailula unmarked in the box, and Mailula had time to control and fire into the top corner beyond Rui Patrício.

Yet Al Ain quickly regrouped and bossed much of the first half, with eight shots and over 60% of the ball. They got their well-deserved equalizer in first-half injury time, with Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba converting a penalty -- after some 30 seconds of waiting -- following Ayoub Boucheta's clumsy challenge. Then, just five minutes into the second half, they scored again in somewhat controversial fashion. Kaku's curled, left-footed finish from 15 yards out was highlight-worthy, but rewatching his goal reveals Al Ain's good fortune. Matías Palacios looked to have lost possession inside the area after a clumsy touch, but remarkably, he won the loose ball with a heavy challenge -- one lucky not to have been reviewed -- before getting back to his feet and finding Romero unmarked for the elegant finish.

The second half played out at a gentler pace from there, with Al Ain preventing Wydad from registering a single shot on target en route to victory.

In the end, Group G was really the only group to be resolved before the final round of games, which is a cruel fate for two teams that brought plenty of panache in their carry-on luggage for this Club World Cup party. -- James Tyler