From Inter Miami's Lionel Messi facing former side Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid meeting Juventus and Chelsea taking on Benfica, here is how the last 16 of the Club World Cup have shaped up:
The French superstar was taken to hospital on Thursday for tests and treatment after suffering gastroenteritis, before later being released.
Veteran playmaker Messi curled home a fine free-kick in a man-of-the-match performance in Atlanta, the winning goal in Miami's 2-1 Group A victory over their Portuguese opponents.
Coach Pep Guardiola used this occasion to field something of an experimental line-up.
New head coach Xabi Alonso will make his debut on the Real bench for the Group H match at Hard Rock Stadium and could be without several regulars.
Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez scored a well-worked equaliser to cancel out Sergio Ramos's opener for Monterrey in a hard-fought tussle in front of 40,311 fans at the Rose Bowl.
The UEFA Conference League winners defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with only 22,000 fans present at the 71,000-capacity arena.
FIFA controversially awarded Lionel Messi's Inter Miami a backdoor route into the tournament, ensuring the sport’s biggest name would be there after he propelled soccer to new heights in a country often ambivalent to the world’s most popular game.
At the heart of the Club World Cup lies this improbable meeting of worlds.
Manchester City won the Club World Cup for the first time to end 2023 with five trophies after a 4-0 win over Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday.
City will lock horns with Al Ahly of Egypt on Friday.
In addition, Saudi sports channel SSC reported that each player will get 500,000 riyals from the country's minister of sports for the Flamengo victory.
