It was a solid debut for River Plate at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, taking a 3-1 win over Japanese rivals Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday. The team coached by Marcelo Gallardo now leads Group E and could be on to the quarterfinals with just another win.

The Millonario is one of the favorites to advance after getting drawn as a seeded team into the group with Urawa, Mexico’s Monterrey, and Italian side Inter Milan. Gallardo’s team came out firing on all cylinders, controlling the game from the get-go. They scored their first goal just 11 minutes in, as striker Facundo Colidio headed in a cross from defender Marcos Acuña nearly unopposed.

As the game developed, the Japanese outfit started to find solutions for River’s attacks, and Gallardo’s team would have to wait until the second half to increase its lead. Striker Sebastián Driussi took advantage of a misunderstanding between defender Marius Hoibraten and goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa and headed home River’s........

© Buenos Aires Herald