Club World Cup | Inter 2-1 Urawa Red Diamonds: Carboni spares Inter blushes | OneFootball

Inter fought from behind this evening against an Urawa Red Diamonds side that defended remarkably in the face of constant pressure. Ryoma Watanabe opened the scoring for Urawa in the first half before Lautaro Martinez scored a spectacular equaliser and Valentin Carboni scored a late winner to deny the J-League side a shock result

This result gets the Nerazzurri their first win under the management of Cristian Chivu, after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Monterrey in their opener.

Relive the match on our liveblog.

Whilst Chivu’s side dominated their opposition for the entire match, Urawa had to dig in and, to their credit, fought off the star-studded Inter attack well.

Inter were by far the more dominant side in the first 45 minutes. Nicola Zalewski offered a lot of attacking threat on the left-hand side behind Lautaro Martinez and Urawa struggled to get the ball out of their half for the first 20 minutes.

However, with their first attack of the game, a dangerous counter-attack provided talismanic forward Ryoma Watanabe the chance to give the Japanese side the lead – and he duly delivered.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JUNE 21: Ryoma Watanabe #13 of Urawa Red Diamonds celebrates with Yoichi Naganuma #88 after scores his team’s first goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group E match between FC Internazionale Milano and Urawa Red Diamonds at Lumen Field on June 21, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Inter continued to dominate for the remainder of the first half after the Urawa opener, with Lautaro Martinez rising to meet a lofty ball in the penalty box and thumping his header across the bar. Inter hovered in the Urawa final third for large swathes of the half but were unable to open their account before the half-time whistle.

Inter complete second-half comeback

The second half picked up where the first left off, with Inter on top of the game and passing the ball around within Urawa’s half. A double half-time substitution saw the Nerazzurri introduce Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the place of Zalewski and Francesco Pio Esposito coming on for his brother Sebastiano.

Kristjan Asllani and Federico Dimarco both had decent volleys fire off target in the opening ten minutes of the half as Chivu’s side continued to put pressure on the Urawa defence. Asllani then had another attempt fire just wide and over minutes later.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JUNE 21: Nicola Zalewski #59 of FC Internazionale Milano controls the ball during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group E match between FC Internazionale Milano and Urawa Red Diamonds at Lumen Field on June 21, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Urawa defended incredibly well in the face of the Inter storm, trying desperately to give themselves any kind of respite but fought valiantly as visible exhaustion began to creep into the side.

As the game drew on, Inter debutant Luis Henrique was caught in possession and a quick Urawa counter-attack nearly gifted them a second goal – however, Watanabe’s scuffed shot flew over the bar. Moments later, down the other end of the pitch, Mkhitaryan narrowly missed as his side-footed attempt went wide.

Inter finally levelled the scoring in the 78th minute when Lautaro Martinez did fantastically well to score an overhead kick off of a Nicolo Barella corner.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JUNE 21: Lautaro Martinez #10 of FC Internazionale Milano celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group E match between FC Internazionale Milano and Urawa Red Diamonds at Lumen Field on June 21, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

The chances came thick and fast in the aftermath of the equaliser, with Esposito and Martinez both firing headed attempts at goal that Urawa handled without issue.

In the 90th minute, Urawa’s Thiago Santana went to the ground in the penalty box and there were huge shouts for a penalty. However, the VAR determined there was not enough in it to overturn the referees decision.

Deep in stoppage time, Inter substitute Valentin Carboni pounced on a loose ball in the box to score the winner past the tired Urawa defence.