Urawa Reds are an Asian football powerhouse, with three AFC Champions League crowns and a stocked trophy cabinet, and this week they'll aim for even more silverware in the FIFA Club World Cup.

The Club World Cup brings together the six confederation champions from around the globe, plus the winners of the host’s domestic league. Urawa, as the kings of Asia, enter in the second round, where they will play Concacaf champions Club León from Mexico. If they win that, a date with UEFA winners Manchester City awaits them.

These are exciting times for the Reds, but not unfamiliar ones. After all, they’ve played in the Club World Cup twice before, finishing third in 2007 and fifth in 2017. Now, they hope to take it a step further and make the final, which would match Kashima Antlers’ 2016 trip to the ultimate match as the best performance by a Japanese club at the Club World Cup.

Urawa enter their second round contest against León following a win over Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo to close out the 2023 Meiji Yasuda J1 League season. It was a classic Reds performance, with their league-best defense shutting down one of Japan’s top attacks and opportunistic counterattacks delivering a win.

The Reds’ formula of defending stoutly and making the most of their chances should play well against León, who just went out of Mexico’s Liga MX play-offs with a 4-2 aggregate loss. Their defense can be leaky, giving Urawa chances to score. If the Reds can find the back of the net, they can then lean on their defense, which has been up to the task all year.

The centerback pairing of Alexander Scholz and Marius Høibraten makes up the heart of their Urawa team and the duo have constantly shown their ability to get the job done not only against domestic opposition, but also international strike forces. That is what won them the Asian crown and in this competition it is now what Urawa hopes will catapult them to a deep run towards the world championship.

Urawa’s Club World Cup kicks off on Friday at 11:30 pm JST against Club León, live from Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.