The 15th match of the FIFA Club World Cup—and the second of four to take place at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium—was interrupted by an hour-long lightning delay Wednesday night, yet Austria’s FC Salzburg still claimed the win over Mexico’s CF Pachuca 1-0.
The stands were relatively empty for the matchup between Mexico and Austria, with attendance at 5,282—about a quarter of the size of Sunday’s crowd between Bayern Munich and Auckland City, which clocked in at 21,152.
Despite this being the first time that Salzburg qualified to participate in the Club World Cup, the Austrian newcomers didn’t back down against their Mexican counterpart. This is Pachuca’s fifth appearance in the Club World Cup.
Pachuca is one of the top clubs in Liga MX, having won seven league titles. Founded more than a century ago, Pachuca won its first of six Concacaf Champions Cup in 2002. Its most recent win in the Champions Cup—a shutout of local Columbus Crew 3-0 in 2024—makes it one of the most successful clubs in league history, and ultimately secured its spot in the Club World Cup. The Tuzos last made an appearance in the Cup in 2017, earning third place.
Salzburg, meanwhile, is known as the best club in Austria overall. The only team from its region to qualify for the Club World Cup, the Red Bulls boast 17 UEFA league titles—including 10 consecutively from 2014 to 2023—nine Austrian Cups, and three Austrian Supercups.
This year is Salzburg’s first appearance in the Club World Cup. The club secured its spot after FC Bayern Munich knocked Arsenal out of the UEFA, moving Salzburg up in rankings and securing it the final spot for a European team to join the tournament.
Salzburg is well-known for its roster of young athletes—more than half of the team is age 21 or younger. The average age of Wednesday’s starting lineup is 22. In fact, the Austrian club’s goalkeeper is one of the youngest on the team: Christian Zawieschitzky (52), is only 18 years old. The 6’1” goalie signed on to join Salzburg late last year after moving through the Red Bull Football Academy (winning three league titles), and playing with the UEFA Youth League team and co-operation club FC Liefering. Two months after he joined, the Red Bulls decided to extend his contract an extra two years, from 2026 to 2028.
He, and the rest of the team, had ample opportunity in the match to show their prowess despite their youth. The first 45 was relatively evenly matched, although Salzburg took the slightest lead in possession. Salzburg came out strong from the beginning of the game, making its first shot at nine minutes. After that, Pachuca returned the favor, pulling off four shots on Salzburg’s goal, including two shots by power forward and team captain Salomón Rondón (23), one being a header that tapped the crossbar instead of the net. Rondón is also captain of the Venezuelan national team.
The teams continued to trade shots for the remainder of the half, making runs between the two sides’ penalty boxes. Ultimately, Salzburg star midfielder Oscar Gloukh (30) pulled off the first goal of the match. In the 42nd minute, Gloukh drove a shot into the right side of the goal, just out of reach of Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Moreno (25). The half ended Salzburg 1-0.
The beginning of the second half was fairly uneventful until it reached the 53rd minute, when officials spotted lightning and suspended the game. Between heavy rains, rumbling thunder, and bolts of lightning, gameplay was delayed for more than an hour.
When weather cleared and play resumed, Pachuca took no time bringing the score back to even—Pachuca defender Bryan González (8) scored the first point for the Tuzos in the 56th minute.
Pachuca continued to carry off shots until the 75th minute, when its defender, Federico Pereira (16) received the first and only yellow card of the match. Less than a minute later, Salzburg made its second, winning goal of the night—a header by forward Karim Onisiwo (9), who subbed in for Edmund Baidoo (20) in the second half, off an assist by captain Mads Bidstrup (18).
While further shots were exchanged throughout the remainder of the half, none came to fruition, and the first-time tournament-playing Austrian club claimed victory of the match.
Salzburg now sits at the top of the rankings for Group H, while Pachuca fell down to the bottom of the list.
Pachuca next plays Spain’s Real Madrid CF at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte at 3 p.m. on June 22. At 6 p.m. the same day, Salzburg will take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
The next match at TQL Stadium will be a face-off between South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns FC and Germany’s Borussia Dortmund at noon on June 21.
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