2025 FIFA Club World Cup Picks & Predictions (Wednesday)
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup rolls on with two evening matches on Wednesday night. At TQL Stadium in Cincinnati at 6:00 p.m. ET on DAZN, Pachuca and RB Salzburg meet in their Group H opener, while Al Ain and Juventus square off in a Group G opener at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. at 9:00 p.m. on DAZN.
Here are our top 2025 FIFA Club World Cup soccer picks and predictions for Wednesday evening’s matches.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
2025 FIFA Club World Cup Picks & Predictions
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Pachuca (+155) vs. RB Salzburg (+155) Picks
In the first battle in the evening window, we are likely to have a very close matchup as Group H play gets underway in Cincinnati.
Pachuca of Mexico’s LigaMX didn’t have a very good season in the Apertura, managing to check in just 16th in the table. Tuzos did take care of Al Ahly FC in a friendly on June 8th, who played to a draw in Group A play. That match was a 1-1 draw, decided in a penalty shootout, however. Pachuca has managed just two victories in the past six matches, a stretch which saw the LigaMX entrant also post a pair of losses and a pair of draws, so it isn’t in the best of form.
For Red Bull Salzburg, a.k.a. Die Roten Bullen, it had issues of its own this past season. A manager change mid-stream during the season in the Austrian Bundesliga play resulted in a runner-up finish, however. The club hasn’t played since May 24th, so rust could potentially be a factor here, as last week’s friendly against Seekirchen was canceled for an undisclosed reason.
We have Pachuca, which will likely experience a home-crowd feel in Cincinnati, with Salzburg feeling like it’s in a road match. The fact that the Red Bulls have not had a warm-up match in nearly a month is a little worrisome. Let’s play the draw here and go with a lower-scoring affair at TQL Stadium.
Pick: Draw (+240), Under 3.5 Goals (-196)
Al Ain (+750) vs. Juventus (-310) Picks
In the late match in D.C., Al Ain looks to stun the world against Juventus, as Group G play gets underway in the nation’s capital.
Juventus, of Serie A in Italy, takes on Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates Pro League. It is the third Asian Club to face an Italian team in FIFA Club World Cup history, and it’s the first-ever meeting between these two clubs on the pitch. Al Ain is in the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time ever, and it reached the final in 2018, before getting pounded by Real Madrid.
Juventus is the favorite of the group, and it looks to get off to a strong start. It last appeared in the Intercontinental Cup, a similar type of event, winning both in 1985 against Argentinos Juniors and in 1996 against River Plate.
Juventus had a 48.4% dribble rate across all competitions during 2024-25, third-most among Euro teams in this tournament behind Manchester City (50.7%) and Real Madrid (49.3%).
If Al Ain is to be successful, watch for headers in the zone. It had 13 headed goals in the UAE Pro League, second behind Al Hilal, another Gulf club in this tournament. Juventus had 10 headed goals in Serie A, so that’s something to watch closely.
This match shouldn’t be very close, although Al Ain could potentially stick around and make things a bit uncomfortable for at least the first half. Let’s go with a draw result at half time, before Juventus pulls away in the second half.
I am going to take Juventus to win 2-0 for a correct score play and play the under. Let’s also back Juventus laying the goals.
Pick: First-Half Draw (+150), Juventus -1.5 (+108), Under 2.5 Goals (-104) & Correct Score – Juventus 2:0 (+550)