Latest news with #BocaJuniors
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
In The End, Auckland City's FIFA Club World Cup Involvement Came Good
Christian Gray (left) produced one of the moments of the tournament so far. Back home in New Zealand, Christian Gray will soon be sharing something special with his students. They may even already know. As he and his Auckland City teammates approached their final Group C encounter with Boca Juniors at FIFA's Club World Cup in the United States on Tuesday, they would have feared the worst. Already eliminated from the tournament, Auckland, a semi-professional team, had let in 10 (ten) goals against Bayern Munich and six against Benfica. Meanwhile, Boca's hopes of qualification from the group hung in the balance; it required a Bayern victory in the other game and a goal rush, a possibility against the underdog, whose players work full-time jobs or study outside of soccer. As it happened, neither transpired. Not only that, Auckland produced one of the shocks of the competition—a highlight from a group stage that has seen Botofogo defeat Paris Saint-Germain and Flamengo upend Chelsea. Trailing in the second half, a corner arrived, and trainee teacher Gray nodded in a precious goal, which ultimately earned a point against a giant of South American soccer, one that has lifted the Copa Libertadores trophy six times and previously boasted the talents of legendary Diego Maradona. Despite Boca knowing elimination loomed large, it was impressive. Standing Proud Auckland City's players' market values are in the thousands of dollars, far adrift of the million-dollar mark—this in a tournament where the finest soccer talents are worth around nine figures in the transfer market. Their professions range from sales representatives to community coaches, and Auckland's winnings of roughly €4 million ($4.5 million) from the Club World Cup—peanuts to elite clubs—is a fortune for an entity and federation not used to dealing in such sums. Auckland's ratio of goals conceded to goals scored was 17:1 in the United States. The side qualified for the event as a top performer in its region. Had professional outfits from Australia been competing in the OFC Champions League—for clubs from Oceania—rather than with Asia's finest in the AFC Champions League, one of them might have made the Club World Cup in Auckland's place. 'Oceania's club football is deeply rooted in local communities, similar to Europe, although most clubs remain amateur,' the Auckland City general manager, Gordon Watson, told me before the U.S. adventure. 'We recognise the challenges, particularly around resources, but our key strength lies in our people.' FIFA's transformed competition is now heating up. The knockout stages see an all-Brazilian contest between Botofogo and Palmeiras, European matchups Benfica versus Chelsea and Real Madrid against Juventus, Flamengo's samba flair against Bayern Munich's precision, and Inter Miami's Lionel Messi facing ex-employer Paris Saint-Germain. Inter Milan vs. Fluminense, Manchester City vs. Al-Hilal, and Borussia Dortmund vs. Monterrey complete an intriguing set. Meanwhile, Auckland City, not to be confused with Auckland FC, is switching focus to games in the country's more modest regional leagues. It's a name that, for all its local identity, has taken on all comers around the globe and achieved a third-place finish at the Club World Cup in 2014. Now, after exiting the latest installment with the memory of a famous goal and result, which its outfield players could barely believe, it can consider the experience a success. FIFA's controversial Club World Cup is a work in progress. At least Auckland City's ride ended well.
Scoop
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Auckland City FC Seek Silver Lining In Nashville
24 June 2025 NASHVILLE, Tennessee - For Auckland City FC, Tuesday's clash with Boca Juniors is more than a final fixture, it's a final stand. After two humbling defeats in Group C, the Navy Blues are out of the FIFA Club World Cup™, but not out of fight. Against the backdrop of a raucous, blue-and-gold-drenched Geodis Park, they'll look to sign off with pride against one of South America's most storied clubs. Spanish midfielder Gerard Garrig24 June 2025a embodies the spirit and determination of the team from Auckland. 'We're gutted after the two losses,' he admitted in the build-up, 'but we know we can do better. We showed that for 60 minutes against Benfica. Now we want to compete for the full 90.' Garriga's words are more than pre-match platitudes. Against Benfica, Auckland held their shape, kept the ball, and even carved out chances. 'We were more confident with the ball,' he said. 'We're a team that's used to playing with the ball in New Zealand and Oceania. Against Bayern, we couldn't get it. But against Benfica, we grew into the game.' Boca Juniors arrive in Nashville with a mountain to climb. They must win, and win big, to have any hope of progressing. With Benfica likely to face a stern test from Bayern Munich, Boca's path to the knockouts hinges on goal difference. Expect Miguel Ángel Russo's side to come out swinging. Garriga knows what's coming. 'They're going to go with everything,' he said. 'They need goals. The challenge is to keep a clean sheet as long as we can, frustrate them with the ball, defend well, help each other. If we do that, we have a lot of possibilities to have a good performance.' Advertisement - scroll to continue reading The atmosphere will be electric. Boca's fans have lit up the tournament with their passion, and Tuesday promises more of the same. Garriga, far from being daunted, is relishing it. 'It's going to be amazing. Thousands of Argentinians, so loud. We have to enjoy it. It might be once in a lifetime.' He believes the occasion could even lift his side. 'It's going to be an extra motivation. We're not used to playing in front of that many people. But it's going to be positive. We're buzzing to be in that game.' For Boca, it's a must-win. For Auckland City FC, it's a must-remember. Garriga summed it up best: 'Compete 90 minutes. That's the goal. If we do that, anything can happen. A draw, maybe even a win. That would be a great way to finish this tournament.' MATCH DETAILS FIFA Club World Cup USA 2025™ Auckland City FC vs Boca Juniors Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee KO: Tuesday, 24 June 2025, 4:00PM (Local Time) -Wednesday, 25 June 2025,7:00 AM (NZT) AC SQUAD: 1. Conor TRACEY (GK) 2. Mario ILICH (C) 3. Adam MITCHELL 4. Christian GRAY 5. Nikko BOXALL, 6. Jackson MANUEL 7. Myer BEVAN 8. Gerard GARRIGA 9. Angus KILKOLLY 10. Dylan MANICKUM 11. Ryan DE VRIES 12. Regont MURATI 13. Nathan LOBO 14. Jordan VALE, 15. Jeremy FOO, 16. Joe LEE 17. Jerson LAGOS 18. Sebastian CIGANDA (GK) 19. Dylan CONNOLLY, 20. Matt ELLIS, 21. Adam KANUI BELL 22. Tong ZHOU 23. Alfie ROGERS, 24. Nathan GARROW (GK) 25. Michael DEN HEIJER, 26. David YOO, 27. Haris ZEB.
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Football fans invading Bondi beach? Hosting the Club World Cup would do wonders for the game in Australia
The sight of thousands of Boca Juniors fans pouring onto the pristine Miami beach ahead of their Fifa Club World Cup opener against Benfica last week quickly went viral, with the white sands colloquially becoming known as 'Boca beach'. While the grand old Argentine club exited the tournament prematurely after a shock 1-1 draw with Auckland City's collection of part-timers earlier this week, could Sydney's world famous Bondi beach be next in line for the Boca treatment? It's a dream that could become reality should Football Australia get their way and host the next edition of club football's new showpiece tournament. Former CEO James Johnson initially flagged FA's interest in hosting the tournament in 2023, when it was little more than a concept in Gianni Infantino's mind, and rightly identified it as a huge growth opportunity for the game and positioning Australia at the front of the queue of nations looking to host come 2029. Amid speculation at the time of a bid for the 2034 World Cup, which ultimately went to Saudi Arabia uncontested, when announcing their decision not to bid for that tournament Football Australia said it was 'ambitious to bring more major tournaments to our shores', including the Women's Asian Cup in 2026, and then the 2029 Club World Cup. Having since successfully secured the hosting rights for next year's Women's Asian Cup, which will take place in Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth next March, attention will soon shift to securing the Club World Cup. It would complete what FA are calling a 'golden decade' for football which kicked off with the Women's World Cup in 2023and will end with in Brisbane with the 2032 Olympic Games. At this stage the next Club World Cup is scheduled for 2029 but speculation is rife that Fifa will change the cycle of their newly minted tournament from every four years to every two, potentially bringing the next tournament forward to 2027. FA said this week that it remains interested and is keen to secure hosting rights to more tournaments. 'The Fifa Club World Cup tournament in the United States has been a thrilling competition, bringing some of the world's great clubs together, and demonstrating the global reach and power of football,' a spokesperson told Guardian Australia. 'The Fifa Women's World Cup 2023 demonstrated Australia's capability to host major global football tournaments of the highest quality. Football Australia is always looking at further opportunities to host major events, such as next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup, and will explore other potential opportunities as details of bidding processes become known.' As tens of thousands of fans from all around the world have flocked to North America for this year's tournament, particularly from South America, North Africa and Asia, eyes around the world have been opened to the potential of this competition – even with this one that is missing the pulling power of Liverpool, Arsenal or Barcelona. While some games have been less attractive than others – the match between South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and South Korea's Ulsan HD attracted just 3,412 fans and some games have struggled to fill even smaller capacity MLS stadiums – others have shown what is possible when bringing together tribal fan bases from around the world. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Boca fans have turned stadiums into mini versions of their famed Bombonera, fans of Morocco's Wydad Casablanca produced impressive flare and smoke displays, while there was a sea of pink in Miami as Lionel Messi inspired his Inter Miami side into the knockout rounds. Brazil's Flamengo showed the strength of their support in the Americas, and even supporters of Japan's Urawa Reds travelled in their thousands with colourful tifos and full-throated support. While there was, and remains, scepticism from Europe as to the bonafides of the tournament and several kinks to be ironed out, increasingly there is a feeling it has been a great showcase of the strength of the club game around the world outside of the European stranglehold. It is why Australia will face stiff competition to host the next edition of the tournament, with America keen to go again to embed the gains made in this tournament, while two of the co-hosts for the 2030 World Cup, Spain and Morocco, have separately put their hands up. So too Brazil. The logistics of Australia hosting a month-long tournament in June and July, and the complications of stadium availability in the middle of AFL and NRL seasons, would need to be carefully considered, but there is little doubt that hosting the tournament would do wonders for football in Australia – not least because the host nation is guaranteed one spot, meaning at least one A-League club would take part and walk away with a minimum of $15m in prize money. Whether it be Boca fans taking over Bondi, Flamengo fans occupying Federation Square or Europe's elite arriving en masse, the thought of the world's best taking over Australian cities and stadiums is a mouthwatering one.
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Despite unfulfilled bombast, this Club World Cup has been saved by the soccer
Inside the corporate monstrosity hides something that's actually quite lovely and joyful and organic. It's burrowed down real deep, beneath layers and layers of maximalist nonsense. But it's in there somewhere, a good soccer tournament, cloaked by all the avarice and bombast, in spite of itself and those responsible for it. It's true: the Club World Cup and its new summer format haven't been all bad. The group stage, which concluded on Thursday, offered fun and competitive teams. It served up a few genuinely enthralling games, especially in the clashes between the European and South American sides. The fans of some teams – the indefatigable singing and chanting of Boca Juniors' and River Plate's barras; the churning sea of red hopping up and down for the Urawa; the clapping and singing Wydad fans; the drumming and dancing Brazilians crisscrossing the nation in the wake of their four thriving clubs – injected the proceedings with exactly the kind of summer tournament folklore and fever you should hope for. We've even seen some kit design excellence – thank you, Botafogo. We've gotten some Lionel Messi almost-heroics and then some certified Messi heroics. We were given a vintage Luis Suárez goal, bullying the ball into the net. We saw the European champions Paris Saint-German savage Atlético Madrid 4-0, only to turn around and lose to one of those pesky Brazilian sides, Botafogo. Like many World Cups, there was a European giant that disappointed in not making it past the groups. This time, it was Atléti. While the Brazilian delegation offered up good teams and good fans, the Argentinian mission only sent good fans, bringing color and noise as both River and Boca were knocked out in the group stage and looked decidedly overwhelmed even by mediocre opposition. Meanwhile, Flamengo comprehensively beat 10-man Chelsea 3-1. Borussia Dortmund was held scoreless by Fluminense and almost embarrassed by Mamelodi Sundowns, flirting with giving away a 4-1 lead. The only group not to yield compelling theater was G – which was dominated by Manchester City and Juventus (until City smashed Juve 5-2), at the cost of Al Ain and Wydad – since Group H saw Real Madrid stunned by a Al-Hilal in a 1-1 tie. After all the overcooked buildup and grandiose promises, the tournament's opening fell flat, clouded over by the rumors of Ice raids. That the urgency in the action arrived eventually should be credited to the non-European teams. They have been the primary suppliers of the fun. Still, all of these pleasing displays of soccer and the things that make it wonderful have materialized as a kind of act of defiance. A great many things are still wrong with the unwieldy Club World Cup. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion The venues are too big. While 14 games have drawn over 50,000 fans, there have been no sellouts. The impact of good crowds was diminished by Fifa's insistence on playing in America's biggest arenas. Another 14 games drew fewer than 20,000, suggesting using Major League Soccer facilities for a lot more games might have been a good idea. It was also a grind, with four games a day for most of the group stage, and requiring a finalist to slog through seven matches on the back of, or in the midst of, the punishing domestic club seasons. The timing is all wrong, confronting the players with the same catastrophically hot weather that will bewitch next summer's World Cup proper. There was Fifa's cowardice in removing anti-racism signage, and then bringing it back for a single day. For 63 games, we must suffer the ludicrous spectacle of bored players ambling through the thin puffs of smoke and shimmering lights as an announcer gives them the full heavyweight-championship-of-the-world boxing match treatment during pre-game introductions. Also, whatever the hell that was in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, Fifa president Gianni Infantino, and the bewildered Juventus players and executives – hopefully a nadir in Infantino's persistent cozying up to Trump. It's a lot – probably too much – of everything. And in failing to meet its own impossible ambitions, the Club World Cup has made no imprint whatsoever on the culture. And yet the idea of the thing clearly isn't the problem. There is a more modest, pared-down version of this competition that could be a success, with an emphasis on the competition rather than the revenue and the overplayed stakes. If it was brought along slowly and nurtured as a growth play, rather than announced as the biggest thing to ever happen right at the outset, there is an event there that could enrich the sport. Eventually. This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question? Email soccerwithjw@ Jonathan Wilson is on vacation, so we'll have a series of guest writers on the newsletter. We've also changed up the schedule. This week's is on Friday to coincide with the end of the Club World Cup group stage. The next one will come on Monday 7 July, once the semi-finals are set and the Gold Cup has been won. We'll be back in your inbox every Monday from then on.
The Independent
20 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Benfica vs Chelsea prediction: Liam Delap to help Blues to edge last-16 tie
Benfica vs Chelsea betting tips Chelsea face Benfica in the last 16 of the Club World Cup on Saturday, with the Blues heading to North Carolina hoping to book a place in the quarter-finals. A simple 3-0 win over ES Tunis meant that Chelsea finished second in Group D on six points, behind Brazilian side Flamengo, and their reward is a last-16 tie against the Portuguese giants. A 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in their last game of the groups was enough for Benfica to secure first place in Group C, but the Portuguese side are't fancied ahead of facing the Blues, having finished second in the Primeira Liga last season and drawing with Boca Juniors. Enzo Maresca's side may have lost to Flamengo but it is assumed that they will have more than enough quality to beat the Lisbon-based club, with football betting sites pricing Chelsea as 1/2 to qualify for the quarter-finals, versus odds of 6/4 for Benfica to go through. Benfica vs Chelsea prediction: Blues to book quarter-final place Both of these sides have had surprising results so far at the competition, with Chelsea's loss to Flamengo and Benfica's draw with Boca Juniors perhaps showing that matches in this competition are harder to predict than usual. The Blues, who are priced at 12/1 in the latest Club World Cup odds to win the competition, suffered just their third defeat in their previous 10 against Flamengo, and have now won eight of their last 10 overall, having scored 20 goals in that time. However, the match against the Brazilian side showed that Chelsea can be weak defensively against the better teams in this tournament, and Benfica's record of 27 goals scored in their last 10 matches suggests that they'll cause the Blues' defence some issues. While Benfica beat Bayern last time out, the draw to Boca Juniors was probably the game that best represents the Portuguese side's true level, and that is one that Chelsea should be able to rise above. To that end, we think that while a wager on Chelsea to win makes sense, the market on the win and both teams to score could offer better value, with betting sites offering that at around 11/4. Summer signing Liam Delap scored his first goal as he helped his new club to a 3-0 win over ES Tunis, with the England U21 striker leading the line for a much-changed Chelsea side but making the most of the opportunity presented to him. The 22-year-old is widely expected to become the starting number nine for the Blues – and has started every match at the Club World Cup too – though his role will be even more pronounced for this match after Nicolas Jackson saw his suspension extended to two matches for the red card against Flamengo. But he seems to be finding his feet at the club, slowly adapting to new teammates in a Chelsea side that has been changed several times by Enzo Maresca in the opening three matches of the tournament in the USA. And with big names such as Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Reece James likely to return to the side for the match against Benfica, Delap will once again have top-tier service as the Blues look to book a place in the quarter-finals. Delap has one goal and one assist across his three games so far, and as he's almost guaranteed to lead the line on Saturday, we think a price of 7/5 on the youngster to score or assist in this match could present good value. Benfica vs Chelsea prediction 2: Liam Delap to score or assist - 7/5 Bet365 Responsible gambling Bettors should always practice responsible gambling. When using gambling sites be aware that sports betting can be addictive. Please take steps to remain in control of your time and budget. The same applies whether you're using new betting sites, slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, betting apps, or any other gambling medium. Even the most knowledgeable punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses. It's particularly important not to get carried away by any free bets or casino offers you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution. You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs. You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having:
