Mexican football took a look at its presence at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup with an excellent result. Rayados de Monterrey, with a goal from Sergio Ramos, drew 1-1 with Inter Milan on Tuesday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Making their sixth appearance in the Club World Cup, Monterrey showed the personality to compete well against the European runner-up, a team with a much higher salary cap, but who in fact had to come from behind on the scoreboard.

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Hours before the match, River Plate defeated Urawa Reds of Japan 3-1 in the opening round of Group E, with which the Argentine club established itself as the leader of the group. Monterrey will face River Plate on Saturday, also in Pasadena, in a match that looks heated.

Sergio Ramos' signature shot

The cry for goal exploded in the 25th minute when Spaniard Sergio Ramos, as he has done countless times in his legendary career, rose in the box and headed in a corner kick taken by Oliver Torres. The chipped ball beat goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

The 39-year-old's goal was celebrated in the Rose Bowl as if the game had been played at BBVA Stadium in Monterrey. The vast majority of the 40,311 spectators (a very good crowd on a Monday afternoon/evening) at the old stadium were supporters of the Mexican club.

Inter, who by now had possession, responded immediately with great danger, but goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was brilliant in blocking a free kick from Sebastiano Esposito.

Shortly before halftime, Inter got the reward for their first-half performance with a set piece equalizer. Albanian Kristjan Asllani sent the ball into the box where Brazilian Carlos Augusto beat the defenders and easily passed to Argentinian Lautaro Martínez, who only had to tap it in to make it 1-1 in the 42nd minute.

Monterrey could have gone into the locker room with the lead,but it was actually Inter who had the better chances after the first 45 minutes.

Monterrey hit the post and then defended well

Both teams had opportunities in the second half, including a Rayados shot that hit the post. Sergio Canales found space outside the box and fired a left-footed shot that rattled the base of the post in the 64th. Germán Berterame slipped and couldn’t connect well with the counterattack, which went wide.

In the 68th, Lautaro Martínez was left alone in the Monterrey box and his touch of the ball went into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

In the 77th, striker Martínez missed a free kick from a half-turn in the box, sending the ball wide with an imminent goal for the Italian team. And three minutes later, Nicola Zalewski missed another dangerous shot.

In the closing stages of the match, Monterrey looked stronger and created danger, such as Colombian Nelson Deossa's foray into the box on a counterattack in the 93rd minute. His left-footed shot rattled the net from just outside the goal.

Rayados started with Esteban Andrada; Ricardo Chávez, Gerardo Arteaga, Víctor Guzmán, Stefan Median and Sergio Ramos; Óliver Torres, Sergio Canales, Lucas Ocampos and Jorge Rodríguez; Germán Berterame.

The European runners-up started with Yann Sommer; Francesco Acerbi, Benjamin Pavard, Carlos Augusto, Matteo Darmian and Alessandro Bastoni; Kristjan Asllani, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolo Barella; Lautaro Martínez and Sebastiano Esposito.