Real Madrid vs. Club América: Start Time, Prediction, Team News For FIFA Club World Cup Semifinal

Zinedine Zidane will begin his quest to end a dream first year in charge of Real Madrid when taking on Mexican giants Club América in the semifinals of the Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan, Thursday.

It was just four days into 2016 that the former Madrid star was appointed as the club’s new coach following the hasty dismissal of Rafa Benitez. And, other than ultimately being unable to overturn a deficit to Barcelona in La Liga last season, everything has so far gone as well as he could possibly have hoped.

Lifting the European Cup for an 11th time with victory over neighbors Atlético Madrid has given Real Madrid, for the second time in three years, the chance to bring the curtain down on 2016 with the Club World Cup title. And the team arrived in Japan on the back of a dominant start to this season. Six points clear at the top of La Liga, Real Madrid has gone a club-record 35 matches unbeaten, a run that stretches back to April.

History suggests that streak won’t come to an end on Thursday. Since the FIFA Club World Cup formally began as an annual competition in 2005 no European Champions League winner has ever failed to make it to the final. Still, Zidane has insisted he won’t be looking ahead to a possible final on Sunday against either South American champion Atlético Nacional or local side Kashima Antlers.

"The most important game is our next game, the only thing in my head at the moment is Thursday's game,” he said after arriving in Japan. “We will give everything to win.”

Not only is history in favor of Real Madrid, it is also very much against Club América. Although a Mexican side has won the Concacaf championship in all but one year of the Club World Cup’s existence, the country has never had a team in the final and in five years its representative failed to even make it into the semifinals.

That was the fate that befell América last year when being ousted at the quarterfinal stage. This time around, though, the Concacaf Champions League winner cleared the first hurdle, courtesy of a second-half comeback and a double from Silvio Romero to defeat Asian champions Jeonbuk Hyundail 2-1 on Sunday.

The win had extra significance for América, having earned the club a dream finale to its centennial year with a meeting with arguably the biggest club in the world. But, given Real Madrid’s recent form, it will now have to make sure that dream doesn’t descend into a nightmare on Thursday.

América, however, is in fine form of its own, having reached the final of the Liga MX Apertura playoffs, which it will contest when it returns to Mexico.

The club will surely be hoping, too, that having already come through a match in Japan could count in its favor. While Real Madrid had a luxury of a bye to the semifinals, it will also have to combat jetlag after only flying to Japan following its 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

The encouraging news for Zidane is that he has almost a fully fit squad at his disposal, with Toni Kroos making his return at the weekend and now only Gareth Bale unavailable.

Prediction: Real Madrid is not quite as dominant as its record suggests and it has had some trouble putting away weaker teams of late, notably drawing 3-3 with Legia Warsaw in the Champions League and only edging past Sporting Gijon. However, Zidane’s side should still have too much for a Club América side that will be combatting a different class of an opponent than anything it has come up against in recent times.

Predicted Score: Real Madrid 3-1 Club América

Kickoff Time: 5:30 a.m. EST