Cancelo confronts a Club World Cup packed with footballing exes

Someone once said the best thing about Madrid is that you never run into your ex. Ironically, in a country as vast as the United States, Cancelo's odds of bumping into one seem significantly higher.

The Portuguese full-back, now 31, holds the unique distinction of having the most "exes" — footballing ones — at the revamped Club World Cup.

He begins the tournament with Al-Hilal, now managed by Simone Inzaghi, against none other than Real Madrid — the club from the city where this anecdote began.

After a solid loan spell at Barcelona, Cancelo followed the Saudi riyal trail, joining a squad packed with talent: Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Al-Dawsari, Malcom and Mitrovic.

Al-Hilal are the eighth stop in his career, and remarkably, six of his former or current clubs are in this very competition. But he's not alone in this multiple-ex saga.

Danilo, for instance, is with Flamengo at a tournament that also features Porto, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Juventus — five clubs in total. Achraf Hakimi's tally stands at four: PSG, Inter, Dortmund and Madrid.

For now, Cancelo won't cross paths with any of them in the group stage — Al-Hilal share Group H with Real Madrid, Pachuca and Salzburg. Of those, he's only faced Madrid, but never wore white himself. If Al-Hilal reach the last 16, though, a reunion is very much on the cards.

The tournament bracket indicates Group H winners or runners-up will meet teams from Group G — home to both Manchester City and Juventus. On paper, those two should advance over Wydad Casablanca and Al-Ain, raising the possibility of the right-back facing one of his old flames.

He spent just one season with Juventus, clocking 34 appearances before heading to Manchester City. There, under Pep Guardiola, he enjoyed the most transformative years of his career — morphing into a hybrid midfielder-full-back.

But it didn't end amicably. "We had our differences, but I thank God I got to work with him," he told Portuguese TV recently. He made 154 appearances, scored nine goals and provided 21 assists over three and a half seasons.

Three more sides remain. If Al-Hilal go deep into the tournament, they could potentially meet Inter Milan in the quarter-finals — the Italians are in Group E and lie on the same side of the draw.

Cancelo played 28 games there before moving to Juventus via Valencia. Elsewhere, both Benfica — where he made his professional debut — and Bayern Munich — where he spent time on loan post-City — are parked in Group C.

At this rate, if Joao Cancelo keeps progressing, he might need a full fixture wall just to manage his footballing exes.