Botafogo FR, Brazilian side, pulled off the biggest shock of the tournament so far with a lone goal triumph over newly crowned European Kings Paris Saint-Germaine (PSG) at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 on Friday 20 June, 2025 at Rose Bowl.
24-year old striker, Igor Jesus, found the back of the net in the 36th minute when his strike from outside the area deflected off defender Willian Pacho and beat Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Brazilian club beautifully defended to keep out Luis Enrique’s young side, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Goncalo Ramos wasting amazing chances to level on Friday morning.
The outcome leaves Botafogo, who clinched their first Copa Libertadores title in 2024, on the verge of qualification to the knockout stages.
Massive margin in the quality of both clubs at the FIFA Club World Cup following Bayern Munich’s ten (10) goal Zero(0) victory over New Zealand side, Auckland City, in the opening game of the tournament.
The Les Parisiens were expected to win comfortably given the fact that, they are the current Kings of Europe and finishing the 2024/25 season with a treble, including the Coupe De France and Ligue 1.
In his post-victory comments, goalscorer, Jesus said: “A lot of people wondered, but we showed how strong Botafogo is. We knew it was going to be a difficult match – they defended well.
“This Club World Cup is intense and difficult and all the teams are highly motivated, especially when they’re playing against us.”
Following two victories in two encounters, Botafogo are almost through to the knockout stages.
The Brazilian club will slug it out with Spanish side, Atletico Madrid, in their final group stage match on Monday.
PSG are still favourites to also scale through and they field against Seattle Sounders on Monday at the same time.
