Seattle Sounders touch down in Spain ahead of Club World Cup
The MLS side are the first to represent the North American league after their CONCACAF Champions League win over Pumas UNAM.
Seattle Sounders are in Marbella as they ready themselves to represent MLS for the first time ever at a FIFA Club World Cup competition.
The Sounders secured their place in the FIFA Club World Cup after winning the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, becoming the first MLS side to win the tournament. Seattle overcame Liga MX side Pumas UNAM 5-2 on aggregate in the two-legged tie which included a 3-0 home win in the second leg at Lumen Field in front of a record crowd of 68,741.
The expedition left a snowy Tacoma airport behind on Saturday as Brian Schmetzer takes his side to the Costa del Sol in Spain’s south coast where the squad will spend time preparing ahead of the competition which kicks off in Morocco on 1 February.
The MLS side will play two low key friendly games in Marbella with Austrian side Wolfsberger AC set to be one of the opponents.
Sounders head to Tangiers
The Sounders kicks-start their Club World Cup campaign in Tangiers on 4 February and will face the winners of the opening game as Auckland City face Cairo based Al Ahly. The winner’s of that second round game will advance to face UEFA representatives Real Madrid in the semi-final in Rabat on 8 February.
The 2022 Club World Cup tournament will take place from 1 to 11 February and will feature seven sides with the respective winners from each confederations top competition with Champions League winners Real Madrid and Flamengo (Copa Libertadores winners) firm favourites. The other five participating sides are: Auckland City (Oceania), Al Hilal (AFC) Seattle Sounders (CONCACAF), Wydad Casablanca (CAF) and Egypt’s Al Ahly as guests given that Wydad are the ‘host nation’ and also CAF Champions League winners.