Youcef Belaili scores in Esperance's 1-0 victory over LAFC in the Club World Cup

Youcef Belaili scores in Esperance’s 1-0 victory over LAFC in the Club World Cup

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Esperance de Tunis’ Yan Sasse, left, and Los Angeles FC’s Ryan Hollingshead battle for the ball during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Los Angeles FC and ES Tunisie in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Esperance de Tunis’ Youcef Belaili celebrates with fans after scoring his team’s first goal during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Los Angeles FC and ES Tunisie in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga, right, battles for the ball with Esperance de Tunis’ Yassine Meriah during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Los Angeles FC and ES Tunisie in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Esperance de Tunis supporters react during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Los Angeles FC and ES Tunisie in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Esperance de Tunis’ Elias Mokwana, and Los Angeles FC’s Ryan Hollingshead, right, battle for the ball during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Los Angeles FC and ES Tunisie in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

By JORDAN SMITHERMAN

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Yousef Belaili scored in the 70th minute and Esperance de Tunisie beat LAFC 1-0 on Friday night in the Club World Cup to remain in contention to advance and eliminate the California MLS team.

LAFC had one final chance to tie it in the 99th minute on Dénis Bouanaga’s right-footed shot off a penalty kick just in front, but goalkeeper Béchir Ben Säid smothered it.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were in the crowd of 13,651 at 30,000-seat GEODIS Park on a steamy late afternoon.

Key moment

After a back-and-forth pace, Belaili came through with a right-footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom left corner through goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ legs.

Takeaways

Esperance will finish the round Tuesday night against Chelsea, with second place in Group D and a spot in the round of 16 on the line.

Not only was LAFC eliminated, it has been shot out in both of its matches. LAFC had two goals wiped out by offsides in the first half.

What they said

“Overall, I didn’t think we played well enough tonight to win,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said.

“Gave us the feeling that we can keep playing,” said Esperance coach Maher Kanzari.

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