Mamelodi Sundowns won their opening game at the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup on Tuesday as striker Iqraam Rayners netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over South Korea’s Ulsan HD.

The result of the match played in the early hours on Wednesday morning in South Africa put this month’s Caf Champions League runners-up top of Group F after Borussia Dortmund were held 0-0 by Fluminense earlier in the day. It also earned Downs a first win at a Club World Cup in their second participation in the event.

It was also a first victory for an African side at the new-look 32-team tournament in the US after Egypt’s Al Ahly drew their opener against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami while Esperance of Tunisia lost to Flamengo on Monday.

Rayners' goal came nine minutes before half time at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando in a match delayed by just over an hour due to the threat of lightning in central Florida. That meant the match kicked off close to 7pm Florida time after a scheduled 6pm start and at close to 1am on Wednesday morning South African time.

The teams had come onto the pitch to start the match before French referee Clement Turpin ordered them back to the change rooms as a precaution.

Rayners had two other first-half strikes ruled out after VAR checks, one for handball and the other inches offside.

The effort that counted was a well-worked movement with Sundowns’ Brazilian playmaker Lucas Ribeiro slipping a pass through the Ulsan defence for the former Stellenbosch FC striker to poke into the net.

Sundowns could have been ahead inside the opening 20 seconds after some slick passing set up a chance for Ribeiro but his effort was blocked.

It set the tone for almost total dominance by Sundowns, who had more than 70% of possession, though their passing game was too pedestrian at times and they were wasteful in front of goal.

Ulsan looked for chances on the counter and had their best opportunity in the fourth minute after a quick break, but the Korean club’s Brazilian forward Erick Farias missed with the goal at his mercy.

Ulsan were rarely on the front foot but did have two opportunities that Sundowns scrambled off the line.

This is Sundowns' second participation at a Club World Cup. Their first came in Osaka in 2016 where they lost 2-0 to host Japanese club Kashima Antlers and 4-1 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea.

Downs had their best possible start to a tough group campaign. They meet Borussia in their second match at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday (6pm SA time) and Brazilian outfit Fluminense at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on June 25 (9pm).