JAKARTA - River Plate beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Messi Cup final in Miami, United States, on Monday, December 15, 2025, local time.
Bruno Cabral broke the deadlock in the 28th minute with a superb finish using the outside of his foot into the right-hand corner at Chase Stadium.
Then, just 30 seconds after kick-off, River took advantage of Atletico Madrid's sloppy pass, Cabral calmly passed the defender, before placing the ball into the top left corner.
The Argentine team played with only 10 players after Valentin Sayago received a second yellow card, but Atletico Madrid was unable to create enough chances to cause any real problems.
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The course of the match was actually fierce. River showed their quality and seemed superior in the early minutes of the match, before Atletico started to create opportunities.
The Argentine team almost took the lead in an extraordinary situation when the match was only five minutes old, with Joaquin Amor's acrobatic salto kick slightly off target.
Five minutes later it was the Spanish team's turn to almost score, with Aitor Perez's effort just wide.
Atletico again caused problems, with Alvaro Obarrio sending a breakthrough pass that unfortunately did not find a teammate ready to score.
Meanwhile, Fuster's efforts were thwarted by a brilliant save from River goalkeeper, Estefano Sarro, when faced one-on-one, where the goalkeeper somehow managed to prevent the ball from going past the goal line.
Cabral then took control of the game by scoring two goals in less than a minute. Since then, Atletico Madrid's task has become difficult.
They did attack more aggressively, but it was too late. With time running out and the 2-0 lead still intact, River Plate Manager Martin Pellegrino made two changes. Ramiro Franco and Gianfranco Ledestre brought additional energy and reinforcement to the team.
Atletico Madrid almost made the match interesting in the final minutes, but in the end River Plate's tenacious defense remained firm.
The Messi Cup is a global football tournament featuring the eight best U-16 teams in the world, including three clubs Messi has played for, Newell's Old Boys, Barcelona, and Inter Miami, as well as teams from England, Chelsea and Manchester City.
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