Inter Milan Advance to Club World Cup Last 16 After Fiery Win Over River Plate

Inter Milan secured their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a heated 2-0 victory over Argentine side River Plate, who ended their final Group E match with just nine men and exited the tournament.

The match at Lumen Field in Seattle was marred by tempers flaring, culminating in River Plate’s Marcos Acuña needing to be restrained by teammates and staff—including captain Franco Armani and Inter boss Cristian Chivu—after charging at Inter winger Denzel Dumfries, who was leaving the pitch. Dumfries was escorted through a barrage of objects thrown by fans as he headed down the tunnel.

The chaos followed a melee sparked by a rough challenge from Acuña on Dumfries, which led to Gonzalo Montiel receiving a second yellow card and being sent off. River had earlier gone down to 10 men when Lucas Martínez Quarta was shown a straight red in the 66th minute for denying Henrikh Mkhitaryan a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Just minutes later, 19-year-old Francesco Esposito netted his debut goal for Inter to break the deadlock. Defender Alessandro Bastoni sealed the win with a powerful left-footed strike in stoppage time.

“We got the job done,” said Inter head coach Cristian Chivu. “We’re happy to move into the next stage. River came at us strong in the first half with high intensity, but we managed the game better in the second half—especially after the red cards.”

What’s Next?

Inter, runners-up in last season’s Champions League, will face Brazilian side Fluminense in the last 16 on Monday at 20:00 BST.

Elsewhere in Group E, Mexican club Monterrey beat Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 to finish second with five points—one ahead of River Plate—and advance to the knockout stage. They’ll take on Germany’s Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, 2 July at 02:00 BST.