Club World Cup round-up: Inter Miami and Palmeiras advance; Porto, Al Ahly and Atletico Madrid crash out

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras, securing a last-16 Club World Cup match against Messi's former club, PSG. Miami fought back from two goals down to secure their spot, setting up a historic encounter for Messi and the MLS.

Miami Gardens: Lionel Messi faces a reunion with his former club Paris Saint-Germain after his Inter Miami side reached the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a 2-2 draw with Palmeiras.

The Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to draw at Hard Rock Stadium, a result which secured both teams a place in the knock-out stages.

Goals from Tadeo Allende and Luis Suarez had Miami on course for a second surprise victory in the tournament after their win over Porto.

But the Brazilian side struck twice in the last 10 minutes through Paulinho and Mauricio to make sure of their place in the next round.

Few expected Miami to make it out of the group but they now face the European champions while Palmeiras will have an all-Brazilian encounter with Botafogo.

For Messi, who celebrates his 38th birthday on Tuesday, the tie in Atlanta will see him face his former club PSG for the first time since leaving them to join Miami in 2023.

"It's a historic night for the MLS because we are into the best 16 teams in the world and all the MLS have to be proud of Inter Miami," said Miami coach Javier Mascherano.

The result meant that Egyptian club Al Ahly and Porto were both eliminated despite producing a highly entertaining 4-4 draw at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

There were six Argentines in the Miami starting line-up which took the field in front of a large Brazilian contingent in the 60,914 crowd.

The travelling fans were on their feet in the opening minutes when Gustavo Gomez powered a header goalwards from a corner but Oscar Ustari was down well to save.

Miami grabbed the lead in the 16th minute when Suarez brilliantly chested a long ball into the path of the on-rushing Allende who showed pace to break clear of the Brazilian defence and then composure to fire past Weverton.

- 'Great game' -

Palmeiras's tactics of sitting off Miami were not working with Messi dropping deep and linking up with Sergio Busquets and Federico Redondo as the Major League Soccer side enjoyed plenty of possession.

The only chance for Palmeiras before the break came when Facundo Torres found himself in a promising position after some sloppy Miami defending but he screwed his shot wide.

Messi's first real effort on goal came four minutes after the restart when he eked out just enough room on the edge of the box for a low shot but Weverton was down well.

Allende threatened again when he broke down the right and flashed a shot just wide of the post and Messi drove a bouncing ball narrowly over the bar as Miami pushed for a second goal.

That came in the 65th minute with the 38-year-old former Barcelona striker Suarez rolling back the years as he dribbled past two defenders and then blasted into the top corner.

Top spot in the group mattered to Miami as it would have avoided the clash with PSG but it was not to be as Palmeiras earned themselves a crucial point with their late revival.

Substitute Paulinho fired home in the 80th minute after a lovely reverse pass from Allan Andrade.

Then, with three minutes left on the clock, Maxi Falcon's header fell straight to Mauricio who pounced on the opportunity, rifling into the far corner to make it 2-2.

"It was a great game from us, it's difficult to play against one of the best teams in South America," said Mascherano.

"Maybe at the end we had the game in our hands so the feeling is strange but before the start of the tournament if someone told me we were going to have this kind of performance against these kind of teams I would have signed for it."

Abel Ferreira, the Palmeiras head coach, was highly critical of his team's opening 45 minutes but pleased with their reaction.

"I told them at half-time that it was impossible to do worse than what we did in the first half. We were unable to contain our opponents or put pressure on them up front. But our spirit of fighting until the end was particularly important in the second half, and we were rewarded for that," he said.

Porto, Al Ahly out after sharing eight goals in thriller

Porto and Al Ahly were both eliminated from the Club World Cup after a 4-4 draw on Monday in the game of the tournament to date.

Because Palmeiras and Inter Miami drew 2-2 to finish first and second in Group A respectively, both teams at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey ended up deflated, with Porto going behind and then pulling level four times on the night.

"I'm very sad, very very sad, I feel like we should have scored five or six goals, the opportunity was there to win the game," said Palestine international Abou Ali, who netted a hat-trick for Al Ahly.

The Egyptian side took the lead after 15 minutes as Abou Ali slotted a low effort past Claudio Ramos.

Porto quickly hit back through 18-year-old starlet Rodrigo Mora, who drove through the Al Ahly defence and rounded the goalkeeper.

Abou Ali restored his team's lead with a penalty just before half-time, but a stunning Williams Gomes strike pulled Porto level in the 50th minute.

Abou Ali completed his hat-trick little over a minute later with a towering header.

With the game lurching end-to-end Porto responded in kind two minutes later as Samu Aghehowa nodded in for 3-3.

Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane curled home brilliantly from range to give Al Ahly the lead but they could not hold on.

With a minute remaining, Pepe pulled Porto level for the fourth time to save his team's blushes on the night, although elimination in the group stage was a shock for the Portuguese side.

PSG ease past Seattle Sounders and into Club World Cup last 16

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi scored either side of half-time as European champions Paris Saint-Germain eased to a 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders on Monday to secure their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup.

PSG needed to bounce back from their 1-0 loss at the hands of Botafogo in their last Group B outing and they were too strong for the MLS side without ever really playing to their full potential.

Kvaratskhelia deflected a wayward Vitinha shot into the net to open the scoring on 35 minutes in front of 50,628 fans at Lumen Field, Sounders' home stadium.

Hakimi then made it 2-0 just before the midway point in the second half to kill off any prospect of a comeback by the hosts.

PSG are through and advance as group winners on goal difference, climbing up from second place because of Botafogo's late defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid at the same time in Pasadena.

The French champions will now go through to a tie against the Group A runners-up in Atlanta on Sunday, as they leave the west coast for the first time since arriving in the United States.

"It wasn't easy because the pitch was very different to what we are used to in Europe so we couldn't play with the fluidity that we like, but we adapted," said PSG coach Luis Enrique.

He complained that the ball "bounced around like a rabbit" but also praised the opposition for their performance.

"It was a great match, difficult for us, tough from the beginning because Seattle played a great match, with intensity and quality on and off the ball," said the Spaniard.

- Dembele again absent -

The Paris coach made four changes to his line-up following the defeat at the hands of Botafogo, with captain Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves all coming in.

However Ousmane Dembele, their top scorer during the European season just finished with 33 goals in all competitions, played no part for a third game running after travelling to the tournament with an injury.

The Sounders needed a big win combined with a defeat for Atletico to progress to the last 16, something which was always going to be a big ask for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League winners.

They didn't have the quality to overly trouble PSG, who saw Desire Doue threaten early on with a powerful shot that was tipped over by home goalkeeper Stefan Frei.

A mistake by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at the other end gifted a chance to the home side, but it was not an easy one for Jesus Ferreira and he fired off-target.

The UEFA Champions League winners got the opening goal 10 minutes before the interval when the ball came out to Vitinha on the edge of the area and his attempt took a rather lucky touch off the back of Kvaratskhelia to find the net.

The second goal arrived on 66 minutes after Doue played a delightful pass out to the wing for Bradley Barcola and the substitute cut in from the left before setting up Hakimi to control and slot in his 10th goal since the season began.

Atletico win in vain as Botafogo advance at Club World Cup

Brazilian side Botafogo booked their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup on Monday despite a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid which was not enough to prevent the Spaniards crashing out.

Atletico, routed 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in their opening game of the tournament, went into the final round of Group B fixtures knowing they would likely need a big win to advance.

With PSG defeating the Seattle Sounders 2-0 elsewhere in Group B, that task proved beyond Diego Simeone's men in another sweltering midday kick-off in front of 22,992 fans at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

Former France international Antoine Griezmann scored the game's only goal, lashing home a Julian Alvarez cross in the 87th minute to give Atletico a victory that ultimately was in vain.

Botafogo -- who upset European champions PSG 1-0 in their second group game -- finished the group stage in second on six points behind the French giants, who top the section on goal difference.

Atletico, who also finished with six points, missed out on goal difference behind Botafogo.

"We're frustrated that we didn't qualify -- we had six points," Atletico coach Simeone said afterwards. "At the end of the day we were punished because it wasn't enough.

"I'm proud of the work of my guys. We played our hearts out; we won two games but unfortunately we are not going through."

Botafogo, the South American champions, started brightly against Atletico, with the lively Venezuelan international Jefferson Savarino testing Jan Oblak in the opening minutes.

Atletico though grew into the contest and controlled possession and territory as the first half wore on.

Argentina international striker Alvarez had a promising opening in the 41st minute, but saw his shot deflect off Botafogo centre-half Alexander Barboza for a corner.

Atletico thought they had made a crucial breakthrough on the stroke of half-time when Alvarez appeared to be kicked in the penalty area, prompting a penalty check by the video assistant referee.

But while Alvarez appeared to be fouled, the review spotted a foul on Barboza in the build-up and no penalty was given.

"None of the decisions went our way," Simeone said of the incident afterwards.

With time running out in the second half, Atletico spent long periods camped in Botafogo territory with the Brazilians seemingly content to soak up pressure.

The side from Rio de Janeiro came closest to breaking the deadlock on 67 minutes, with Igor Jesus's first-time volley from Cuiabano's cross parried away by Oblak for a corner.

Yet in the closing stages Griezmann grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal, taking advantage of poor marking to tuck away Alvarez's whipped cross -- but it was too little, too late for them.