Hussein El-Shahat became just the fourth player to score at three Club World Cups on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of three greats.
Hussein El-Shahat matched the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale by scoring at a third Club World Cup as Al Ahly beat Auckland City 3-0 in the first round.
El-Shahat opened the scoring with a low 25-yard drive on the stroke of half-time in Tangier on Wednesday, before neat one-on-one finishes from Mohamed Sherif and Percy Tau made Al Ahly’s victory safe.
The winger’s effort took him to three goals in three editions of the tournament, having also found the net for Al Ain in 2018 and with his current club in 2021.
Ronaldo, Messi and Bale are the only other players to net at three separate Club World Cups, while Ronaldo is the competition’s all-time top scorer with seven goals.
Ronaldo is also the only player to score for two separate champions at the tournament, doing so for Manchester United in 2008 and Real Madrid in 2016 and 2017, while Messi found the net during Barcelona’s triumphant 2009, 2011 and 2015 campaigns.
Wednesday’s game was also notable for referee Ma Ning announcing the rationale for his decision to send off Auckland’s Adam Mitchell to the crowd after being sent to the VAR monitor, as part of a 12-month trial across FIFA tournaments.
Al Ahly’s reward for their comprehensive win is a second-round tie against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, the winners of which will face European champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca will face Al Hilal in the other second-round fixture, with the victors going on to face Copa Libertadores champions Flamengo for a spot in the final.
