Club World Cup Final 2016: Schedule, Time, Prediction For Real Madrid vs. Kashima Antlers

After smooth passage past Club América on Thursday, now standing in Real Madrid’s way of a second FIFA Club World Cup title in three years will be the only team in the competition without a continental championship to its name in 2016. Kashima Antlers, winner of Japan’s J-League, was invited into the competition as the local representative for the tournament host. And it has already made history as the first host-country club to go all the way to the final in a competition that became a permanent fixture on the FIFA calendar in 2005.

Its success shouldn’t be a complete surprise, however. After all, a Japanese club has reached the semifinals in four of the previous seven years that the country has hosted the event, which also includes the champion of the six continental confederations. And Kashima Antlers has been by some distance the most successful club in the J-League’s 23-year history, winning the championship eight times.

Yet the team still arguably rode its luck to make it this far. After getting past African champion Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinal, Kashima was outplayed for much of its semifinal contest against Atlético Nacional. The South American champion hit the crossbar before the deadlock was broken in controversial circumstances when history was made with a first ever use in a FIFA competition of the video assistant to award Kashima a penalty.

A 3-0 win was as impressive a result as it was eye-catching. But Kashima will know that the task it will face in Sunday’s final in Yokohama will be on a whole different level.

Real Madrid was made to work for its semifinal win by a resilient Club América side, but it was always on top over the course of a 2-0 victory, secured by goals in injury time in both halves from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

For Ronaldo, it meant reaching yet another milestone, in this case the 500th goal of his club career. Just three days after winning the Ballon d’Or, the Portuguese had another reason to celebrate in a memorable year.

It has been a dream year for Zidane, too. Approaching the anniversary of his first year in charge at the Bernabeu, his first in top-level coaching position, Zidane has a chance to add global glory to the Champions League title to which he led the club in May.

He also has guided the team to a club record. The win over Club America made it 36 matches unbeaten, dating back to April. And the squad at his disposal could be boosted for his attempt to make it 37 matches in the final by the return of his captain.

Sergio Ramos sat out the semifinal with a minor muscle injury picked up in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna that maintained Madrid’s 6-point lead atop La Liga. But, speaking after the semifinal, Ramos told a Spanish television station that he was “feeling better,” and, “I hope to be able to play on Sunday.”

Prediction: The only time the European side has failed to win the Club World Cup since 2005 is when being beaten 1-0 in the final. And a similar backs-against-the-wall effort and snatching something at the attacking end is surely the only way the Kashima Antlers can come out on top this time around. But such a scenario is still hard to envision. Given more time to acclimate to the conditions and the time zone, Real Madrid could well be even stronger on Sunday than in the semifinals. A comfortable victory should lie in store.

Predicted Score: Real Madrid 3-0 Kashima Antlers

Venue: International Stadium Yokohama
Date: Saturday, Dec. 15
Time: 5:30 a.m. EST