Why Urawa Reds captain didn't shake hands with River Plate players ahead of Club World Cup match

Urawa Reds captain Marius Hoibraaten didn't shake the hand of any River Plate player before their Club World Cup clash - and the reason why has been revealed.

The 30-year-old wore the captain's armband for his side's 3-1 defeat in Group E on Tuesday night.

Urawa went 2-0 down through goals from Facundo Colidio and Sebastian Driussi, before Yusuke Matsuo pulled one back from the penalty spot in the second half.

But Maximiliano Meza scored to make it 3-1, with Marcos Acuna becoming the third player in the tournament to register more than one assist in this year's Club World Cup.

One of the other most notable moments happened before kick-off, with Hoibraaten walking past all of his opponents without shaking their hands at Seattle's Lumen Field.

Marius Hoibraaten did not shake hands with River Plate players (Image: DAZN)

There were much confusion at the incident, but the Norwegian reassured fans in his post-match interview that the non-handshakes were very much accidental.

"At the fans of River Plate," he began. "Forgot to do the handshake because the settings were new.

"I was confused and in my zone, and I didn't understand we were supposed to do it. That's why I walked without doing the handshake.

"Seems like I don't care about you or the players. This was never my intention. I apologised to the players in the locker room after the game and now I apologise to you."

The 'new settings' Hoibraaten was referring to is likely the new kick-off procedure for the Club World Cup, which sees every player introduced separately before then running onto the pitch.

Handshakes still take place, however, but in a different section of the pitch to what is traditional.

Hoibraaten is the only active Norwegian player in the Japanese J1 League, having been signed from Bodo/Glimt in 2023.

Urawa finished in 13th position during the 2024 J1 League, but qualified for the Club World Cup via winning the 2022 AFC Champions League.

They have had a much stronger start to the 2025 season, though, and sit in fourth position after 21 matches under the management of former Lech Poznan boss Maciej Skorza.