Ulsan HD fall to Mamelodi Sundowns to begin FIFA Club World Cup

Ulsan HD's Ko Seung-beom and Mamelodi Sundowns' Themba Zwane go after the ball during the Club World Cup group F soccer match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Tuesday, June 17. AP-Yonhap

Korean champions Ulsan HD FC have begun their FIFA Club World Cup with a 1-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns FC.

Iqraam Rayners scored the lone goal of the match for the South African league winners against the K League 1 club in their opening Group F match at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday (local time).

This is the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup, featuring 32 teams paired into eight groups of four. The top two clubs from each group will advance to the knockout phase.

Ulsan HD, three-time defending K League 1 champions, will next play the Brazilian side Fluminense FC at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at 6 p.m. Saturday (7 a.m. Sunday in South Korea), with the finale against the German club Borussia Dortmund scheduled at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 3 p.m. on June 25 (4 a.m. on June 26 in South Korea).

Coached by Kim Pan-gon, Ulsan HD have been widely regarded as one of the worst teams in the tournament. Kim had said in his prematch press conference Monday that his team will try to make the K League 1 and its fans proud. However, they now face an uphill battle to make it out of the group stage after dropping the opening match.

Ulsan nearly conceded the opening goal 20 seconds into the match, with defender Kim Young-gwon blocking a shot by Arthur Sales with his face.

Sundowns thought they had the first goal in the 29th minute when Rayners redirected home a corner taken by Lucas Ribeiro. But it was wiped off the board upon video review, which showed Rayners had the ball go off his left forearm.

Rayners scored the one that counted in the 36th minute, taking a slick through ball from Ribeiro and beating goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo with ease.

Rayners put the ball in the net for the third time three minutes later but he was ruled offside on the would-be scoring play.

Jo kept this a one-goal match by turning aside a dangerous-looking free kick from Teboho Mokoena in the 44th minute.

Ulsan came out of the break a more determined side but Sundowns proved too tough to crack in their own end.

Ulsan had a near goal foiled by some strong defensive effort by their opponent in the 81st minute. Substitute Matias Lacava sent a through ball toward Erick Farias but defender Keanu Cupido cleared it out of harm's way before it could reach the Brazilian forward in front of a gaping net.

Sundowns won the possession battle 63-31, and had 10 shot attempts to Ulsan's five.

The start of the match was delayed by 65 minutes due to lightning in the area.

Earlier Tuesday, Fluminense and Borussia Dortmund ended in a goalless draw to begin their Group F campaign.