Mamelodi Sundowns landed in a tricky Group F in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup draw conducted in Miami on Thursday.
In the expanded 32-team tournament that will take place between June 15 and July 13, 2025, Sundowns will face Brazilian side Fluminense, Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and Ulsan HD from South Korea.
The three teams will pose different challenges for the Brazilians but who are they?
Fluminense
Founded in 1902, Fluminense are one of the oldest clubs in Brazil and play their home matches at the iconic Maracana Stadium which hosted the final of the 2024 FIFA World Cup.
Fluminense draws its name from the Latin word “flumen” which means “river” and have won the Brazilian league four times, the last one in 2012.
They had won all the other cups available with only the Copa Libertadores missing and they claimed it in 2023 to seal their place at the FIFA Club World Cup, before adding the Copa Sudamericana this year.
Former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is one of their star players.
Borussia Dortmund
Founded in 1909, Dortmund were started by 18 football players from Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia in West Germany and they are nicknamed Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellow), for the colours used in the club's crest.
They are one of the most popular clubs in the world and enjoy a huge following in Germany, having won eight Bundesliga titles, the last one in 2012.
Dortmund have lived in the shadows of rivals Bayern Munich but have still managed to compete. They have five DFB Pokal (German Cups) as well as the UEFA Champions League won in 1997.
Now coached by former player Nuri Sahin, some of Dortmund’s star players include Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy, Julian Brandt, captain Emre Can and star forward Karim Adeyemi.
Ulsan HD
Representing Asia, Ulsan HD will be the only team from South Korea at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Unlike the other two, Ulsan HD are a relatively young club founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i FC in 1983, the same year the K League was launched.
The club was based in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province at the time but moved to Gangwon Province in 1987. It was not until 1990, though, that Ulsan became the home of the Hyundai Horang-i.
Ulsan HD have won the Korean league five times, including the last three, claimed all domestic cups and are also two-time winners of the Asian Champions League (2012 and 2020).
They qualified for the 2025 tournament via the AFC ranking pathway, having put together an impressive run in a four-year period between 2021 and 2024.
