Late rally falls short as Seattle Sounders lose 2-1 to Botafogo in Club World Cup opener
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JUNE 15: Jair Cunha #32 of Botafogo and Jackson Ragen #25 of Seattle Sounders FC react after the final whistle during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group B match between Botafogo FR and Seattle Sounders FC at Lumen Field on June (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - A last-second save from goalkeeper John on Pedro de la Vega in the final minute of stoppage time allowed Botafogo to hold on for a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders in the first game of the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday night.
With Seattle pushing for the tying goal in the final minute, Cristian Roldan's shot was blocked away from goal before caroming back to de la Vega in the box. His chance couldn't slip by John as the whistle blew moments after for a tightly-fought loss against one of the best club teams from Brazil.
"I'm fiercely proud of the effort that the guys put in," head coach Brian Schmetzer said.
Roldan scored the only goal for the Sounders in the 75th minute as Seattle attempted to rally from a two-goal halftime deficit. Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus each scored for Botafogo in the first half to put the Sounders into chasing mode.
Seattle dominated the shot attempts in the match, besting Botafogo by a 23-12 margin, but Botafogo had six shots on goal to five for the Sounders.
"Obviously, they're a great team, and they put us under pressure in moments, but we matched it," Schmetzer said. "The difference in the first half was just quality in a couple of key moments."
An ill-advised yellow card against Sounders defender Nouhou Tolo changed the complexion of the contest for Seattle. Tolo had just completed a stretch of strong defending at the edge of the box against Artur Victor Guimarães as he had to retreat with a backward pass. But Guimarães turned and bumped Tolo, which caused the Seattle defender to lose his composure and shove Guimarães to the turf.
The easy yellow card decision gave Botafogo a free-kick chance that they didn't let go to waste. Jair Cunha directed a strong cross from Alex Telles by a helpless Stefan Frei for the opening goal in the 28th minute.
The Sounders played evenly with Botafogo throughout the first 25 minutes of the match. Frei delivered a big save on an Igor Jesus chance in the 10th minute and another stop on Telles in the 14th. Seattle had prime looks from Alex Roldan, Jesus Ferreira and Albert Rusnák all sailing wide of the goal.
But the foul on Tolo allowed Botafogo to pounce.
Rusnák had another chance in the 43rd minute to get Seattle on the board only to redirect Cristian Roldan's pass wide of the goal again.
Botafogo immediately attacked off Rusnák's miss as Igor Jesus' header off a Vitinho cross slipped inside the post beyond the reach of a diving Frei for a 2-0 lead.
"Nouhou didn't need to get into an altercation, foul," Schmetzer said. "The second goal, marking inside the box, life or death inside the box, but it is what it is. We're down 2-0."
Added Cristian Roldan: "Nouhou does good things for us, but unfortunately today in that play in particular he lost his head a bit.
Despite four solid looks, the Sounders had no shots on goal in the first half.
"I think the difference at this level is in front of goal," CRoldan said. "You saw their two chances, they're expected goals and their result. The difference was in the box, whether it was defending, whether it was scoring a goal. We obviously showed that we can perform against Botafogo, but it's another thing about having a complete performance and locking down defensively and scoring goals in their box."
Frei delivered another save on Guimarães in the 49th minute to keep the deficit at just two.
Seattle's first shot on goal was a prime look for Rusnák in the box. Alex Roldan and Ferreira combined to set up Rusnák for a free chance, but John came up with the stop for Botafogo.
The Sounders continued to ramp up the pressure. Alexander Barboza and Joaquin Correa each picked up yellow cards for Botafogo as Seattle kept pushing in the offensive end. Finally, Cristian Roldan got Seattle on the board in the 77th minute, heading a chance towards goal that deflected off a Botafogo defender and by John to cut the lead to 2-1.
Roldan got another header chance two minutes later that deflected just wide of the goal and led to a corner kick, and substitute Paul Rothrock's chance off the volley missed wide of the frame.
Frei came up with one more stop on Joaquin Correa in the 90th minute as Seattle continued to push for an equalizer. Jackson Ragen and de la Vega each whiffed on chances to send the ball on goal with Rothrock creating opportunities off strong runs up the wing.
The final scramble gave Seattle multiple chances for a last-second tally, but none found the net for the needed goal.
"We created a bunch of chances," Schmetzer said. "And I think, you know, if you looked at the statistics, you would say that (the) Sounders were in a good spot, but obviously everything is the scoreline, and we couldn't find that second goal, we couldn't find a third goal, although we had plenty of chances."
What's next:
Seattle will face Atlético Madrid in their second match on Thursday. Atlético Madrid lost 4-0 to UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain earlier on Sunday.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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