Rayners gives Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 win over Ulsan HD in Club World Cup matchup
Rayners gives Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 win over Ulsan HD in Club World Cup matchup
Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners celebrates after scoring the opening goal with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Arthur Sales during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Ko Seung-beom ad Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena go after the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Kim Young-gwon and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa chase the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Ulsan HD’s Jung Woo-young go after the ball with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners celebrates after scoring the opening goal with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Arthur Sales during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners celebrates after scoring the opening goal with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Arthur Sales during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Ko Seung-beom ad Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena go after the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Ko Seung-beom ad Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena go after the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Kim Young-gwon and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa chase the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Ulsan HD’s Kim Young-gwon and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa chase the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Ulsan HD’s Jung Woo-young go after the ball with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ulsan HD’s Jung Woo-young go after the ball with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Iqraam Rayners and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro Costa during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Iqraam Rayners scored from point-blank range in the 36th minute to give Mamelodi Sundowns a 1-0 win over Ulsan HD after an hour-long weather delay in the group stage of the Club World Cup on Tuesday night.
Mamelodi was aggressive on offense in front of a crowd of fewer than 1,000 fans at the 25,500-person capacity Inter&Co stadium, but the South Korean club had the first real scoring chance of the game on a counterattack when Erick Farias missed the one-time shot just over the crossbar.
The relentless possession control from the South African team became too much for Ulsan and Rayners converted on a soft touch into the bottom-right corner.
Key Moment
Ulsan nearly scored the equalizer in the 80th minute as winger Matías Lacava took a dangerous shot directly in front of the Mamelodi goal, but goalkeeper Ronwen Williams stifled the chance.
Takeaways
With the win, Mamelodi sits atop the Group F standings with three points. Ulsan is now last in the group with zero points. Mamelodi and Ulsan continue their group stage campaigns June 21 with matches against Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense respectively.
What they said
“It’s not easy to achieve victories. Today, I think we released a lot of energy in the right way.” — Miguel Cardoso, Mamelodi Sundowns manager.
“We couldn’t garner the victory or score any points. Even though we didn’t accomplish all the objectives, I believe we had a satisfactory result. Under very difficult conditions, our players did their best.” — Kim Pan-gon, Ulsan HD manager.
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