ORLANDO, Fla. -- After reaching the FIFA Club World Cup's round of 16 with a goalless draw against FC Salzburg, new Al Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi took a moment to explain why the tournament is so important for his team.
For many of the European clubs in the U.S. this summer, it has been hard to escape the feeling that the huge prize pot on offer is providing the main motivation. Al Hilal, controlled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund with its estimated worth of nearly $100 billion, don't need the money.
What they do want, according to Inzaghi, is to show the world they deserve a seat at football's top table. They've already earned a creditable 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the group stage, and up next is a round-of-16 match against Manchester City on Monday.
"Our goal was to achieve [being in] the group of the best teams in the world," Inzaghi said. "We were not coming here just to have fun. We were coming here to play a World Cup and we wanted to reach this stage."
That it was Inzaghi speaking on behalf of Al Hilal at Audi Field is proof of their lofty aspirations. A month ago, the Italian was on the touchline as his Inter Milan side lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. His record at Inter -- two Champions League finals and a Serie A title in four years -- combined with his tactical ingenuity and ferocious passion made him one of the most sought-after coaches in Europe, and he was previously linked with jobs at Manchester United and Barcelona.
But it was Al Hilal who snapped him up. Negotiations before the Champions League final were kept secret, and just four days after Inter's defeat in Munich, the deal was announced.
"It shows our ambition," Al Hilal chief executive Esteve Calzada told ESPN. "It puts us in a very good position to compete."
Founded in 1957, Al Hilal weren't starting from scratch, but they've been transformed by the wave of investment in Saudi football. Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al Nassr in January 2023 thrust the Saudi Pro League into the spotlight, and Al Hilal followed it up with their own Galactico signing as Neymar joined from PSG eight months later for a fee of €90 million. Injuries limited the now-33-year-old Brazil international to only seven appearances before returning to boyhood club Santos, but the transfer put Al Hilal on the global football map.
Where once the majority of football fans outside Saudi Arabia would have struggled to name any of their domestic teams, it's now not uncommon to see Al Hilal shirts for sale in Europe. They've got more than 40 million followers on social media, which is comparable to some Premier League clubs.
Their squad for the Club World Cup is full of familiar names, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Renan Lodi, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Rúben Neves and João Cancelo.
And it's not just players who have been poached from Europe: Like Cancelo, Calzada is also a former Manchester City employee.
A key part of City's off-field success for more than a decade -- alongside CEO Ferran Soriano, sporting director Txiki Begiristain and former chief footballer operations officer Omar Berrada (the group were also together at Barcelona) -- Calzada rose to the position of group chief commercial officer at City Football Group before making the move to Al Hilal in January 2024.
"It will be very emotional to reunite with my friends [for the round of 16 game vs. City]," Calzada said. "I worked there for 12 years, and it's probably the first time that I'd like Manchester City to lose."
The SPL has ambitions of one day being recognized as one of the top five leagues in the world, and for Calzada, like Inzaghi, the Club World Cup is a chance to see how Al Hilal measure up.
"It's a real opportunity, especially when you play against the likes of Real Madrid and now Manchester City," he said. "It's a huge tournament, and we took it as a great opportunity, first of all, to compete but also to show our level."
Al Hilal were so keen to make another splash that they made attempts to sign Man United midfielder Bruno Fernandes and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen in FIFA's specially created transfer window in June.
Even without those reinforcements, five points from three games -- and just one goal conceded -- was enough to progress from Group H. It was one of just three groups in which a European team was eliminated.
Real Madrid and Al-Hilal shared the points in an exciting opening game for both at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Back in Saudi Arabia, the mission to represent the SPL on the world stage has transcended traditional club rivalries, and there have been reports of Al Nassr and Al Ittihad fans showing public support for Al Hilal.
"For us it's not so much of a surprise because we see the level of our team and we see how the level is progressing," Calzada says. "That's why when we have the opportunity to show it to everyone else, it's amazing. It's not a marketing play, it's a competition, and we want to go as far as possible."
City will start the game in Orlando on Monday as heavy favorites, particularly with Al Hilal dealing with mounting injuries, but there are still high expectations for their opponents, historically Saudi's most successful club.
Inzaghi is only in charge because Jorge Jesus was sacked in May after missing out on the SPL title to Al Ittihad and defeat in the semifinals of the Asian Champions League Elite. At least at home, second place is not enough.
"They call Al Hilal the Real Madrid of Saudi Arabia," Calzada said. "There's a responsibility because everyone expects to win any game; coming runners-up like ... last season is certainly not a success for us."
Success at the Club World Cup has already been achieved. The aim was to test themselves against the best, and a good performance against City will only emphasize the feeling that Al Hilal are not that far away from matching Europe's elite.
"It doesn't feel smaller than any of the big clubs that I've worked for," Calzada said. "The club had been run very successfully, and now there is just a more ambitious plan. We want to go more global. We've moved into a new stadium, we're modernizing. The foundation was there, and it can only get better with the type of things we're trying to do."