Real Madrid beats Pachuca 3-1 in Club World Cup while playing most of the match with 10 men

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler scored first-half goals and short-handed Real Madrid bounced back from a disappointing performance in its Club World Cup opener to beat Pachuca 3-1 on Sunday in front of 70,248 spectators at Bank of America Stadium.

Seven minutes in, defender Raul Asencio received a red card, forcing Real Madrid to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.

It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power.

Bellingham got Madrid on the board in the 35th minute when he took a pass from Fran Garcia just inside the box and belted a perfectly placed left-footed shot past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno into the right corner.

Eight minutes later, Güler made it 2-0 when he delivered a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner off an assist from Gonzalo García. Federico Valverde put the final touches on the win in the second half with a sliding right-footed shot off an assist from Brahim Díaz.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was on form with five saves in the first half. He turned away two point-blank shots in the early going and finished with 10 saves.

Elías Montiel ended Courtois' bid for a shutout when he scored in the 80th minute for Pachuca, which fell to 0-2 in group play.

Kylian Mbappé has missed both Club World Cup starts after being hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. He did not travel to Charlotte, but the team remains hopeful that he'll be ready to play on Thursday night against Salzburg.

There were some uneasy minutes early in the match for Madrid when Asencio pulled down Pacheco’s Agustin Palavecino as he was entering the box following a breakaway, forcing Aurelein Tchouameni to move to center back. But Madrid stayed on the attack and Bellingham had the breakthrough goal.

Madrid looked very much out of sync on Wednesday, playing Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal to a 1-1 draw in Alonso’s first game when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved. That changed on Sunday as the talented roster began to mesh, with precise passing leading to both first-half goals.

The game was played on a temporary grass field. The stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, who play on an artificial surface. ... With temperatures in the low 90s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius), players were given a water breaks midway through each half.

“We stayed together really well. It’s impressive how the team comes together to win the game. I’m really happy with the team today.” — Bellingham.

“I’m here to win. That is my way. I want to make a statement. We played well on some occasions but I can’t settle for just that.” — Pachuca coach Jaime Lozano.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

Referee Ramon Abatt shows a red card to Real Madrid's Raul Asencio during the Club World Cup Group H soccer match between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Pachuca's Carlos Moreno, bottom, and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior battle for the ball during the Club World Cup Group H soccer match between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Real Madrid's Gonzalo Garcia, front, and Pachuca's Federico Pereira battle for the ball during the Club World Cup Group H soccer match between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, left, and Pachuca's Agustin Palavecino battle for the ball during the Club World Cup Group H soccer match between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Real Madrid's Arda Guler celebrates after scoring during the Club World Cup Group H soccer match between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Having proved they could win as a favorite without ex-coach Lane Kiffin in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the No. 6 Mississippi Rebels face a tougher test against No. 3 Georgia in a quarterfinal matchup at the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night.

Georgia (12-1, CFP No. 3 seed) was the only team this season to defeat Ole Miss (12-1, CFP No. 6 seed) when they met in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 18. But that game was a thriller, with the Rebels leading after three quarters before the Bulldogs stormed back with 17 unanswered points in the fourth for a 43-35 victory.

The winner of the rematch moves on to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for a CFP semifinal against 10th-seeded Miami, which defeated Ohio State, 24-14, in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night.

For the Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart, last year’s Sugar Bowl brought a heavy dose of sadness that had more to do with life — and the loss of it — than football.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2025, Georgia players and coaches were in a hotel just a few blocks up Canal Street from where an attacker turned right onto Bourbon Street and plowed his truck into pedestrians — killing 14 — before dying in a shootout with police.

After the Sugar Bowl was delayed by a day, causing a number of traveling fans to miss the game, Georgia lost to Notre Dame. Then Smart’s father, Sonny, who’d injured his hip in a fall on New Year’s Eve, died in a New Orleans-area hospital from complications during surgery.

This year, there was a considerable law enforcement presence in New Orleans in the days before the Sugar Bowl, including numerous National Guard soldiers posted in groups on corners of the historic French Quarter.

The Rebels, who are in the CFP for the first time, went 11-1 during the regular season before Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30.

Kiffin was replaced by Pete Golding, a feisty defensive coordinator who made his head-coaching debut in a 41-10 rout of Tulane in the CFP’s first round.

Golding also happens to be from Hammond, Louisiana, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, and he was eager to have a sizeable contingent of Ole Miss fans, family and friends behind his team in the Superdome.

While Georgia has been a perennial powerhouse and has won two national titles under Smart in 2021 and 2022, the Rebels exceeded expectations as quarterback Trinidad Chambliss became one of the most compelling stories in college football.

Chambliss was a transfer from Division II Ferris State who came in as an injury replacement in September and kept the starting job, passing for 3,298 yards and 19 TDs to go with 506 yards and eight TDs rushing.

Georgia QB Gunner Stockton, who made his first career start as an injury replacement himself during last years' Sugar Bowl, also had a strong season, passing for 2,691 yards and 23 TDs while also rushing for 442 yards and eight TDs.

Last season, Stockton backed up Carson Beck, who has since transferred to Miami. The Hurricanes' victory in the Cotton Bowl meant Georgia could go against their former star QB by advancing out of the Sugar Bowl.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Mississippi head coach Pete Golding and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shake hands and laugh at the end of a joint press conference for the upcoming Sugar Bowl and college football playoff (CFP) quarterfinal game in New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)