Harry Kane scored twice and Bayern Munich made a fast start count, beating Brazil’s Flamengo 4-2 in Sunday’s Club World Cup round of 16 to set up a heavyweight quarterfinal clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
The Bundesliga champion wasted no time rebounding from its only tournament loss to Benfica, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead and holding off Flamengo’s second-half push to secure a spot in the last eight.
Kane opened the scoring nine minutes in with a deflected shot that wrong-footed goalkeeper Agustín Rossi. He later doubled his tally with a clinical finish off a pinpoint assist from Joshua Kimmich.
Bayern will now face Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday in Atlanta. PSG advanced with a 4-0 rout of Lionel Messi and Inter Miami earlier Sunday.
Bayern struck first when Flamengo midfielder Erick Pulgar headed the ball into his own net off Kimmich’s corner in the sixth minute.
Although Flamengo created several chances, the Brazilian side failed to capitalize and never came closer than a goal.
Luiz Araujo had Flamengo's best opportunity of the first half with a left-footed shot toward the far post, but Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer slid across to make a brilliant save.
Gerson finally got Flamengo on the board in the 32nd minute, beating Neuer to cut the deficit in half. But Leon Goretzka quickly restored Bayern’s two-goal cushion.
Flamengo again pulled within one when Jorginho converted a penalty in the 54th minute, sending Neuer the wrong way to make it 3-2. But Kane put the match out of reach in the 73rd, finishing with his third goal of the tournament.
The 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium – home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins – has been one of the better-attended venues of the tournament and was nearly full Sunday, with many fans wearing Flamengo’s iconic red-and-black kit.
Bayern’s win ensured that at least four European clubs will advance to the quarterfinals. It also set up a rematch of the 2020 Champions League final, which Bayern won 1-0.
“I know a lot of my game is judged on goals, and I’ve been doing it throughout my career,” Kane said. “But what maybe some of the German fans and some of the Bayern fans are realizing is that I’ll do anything for the team to help us win.”
“We had our opportunities, but unfortunately, they were the superior team in this fixture,” Flamengo coach Filipe Luis said through an interpreter. “The corner kick at the beginning of the match sort of took down our confidence a little bit.”
