The good news for Auckland City was that they stopped Harry Kane scoring on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati. The bad news was that his Bayern Munich teammates were a little more prolific, scoring 10 between them in the opening match of their Club World Cup campaign.
If Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, was hoping his expanded Club World Cup – now containing 32 teams, playing across four weeks in 11 US cities – would showcase the depth of talent in global football, this was not a good example. The statistics were excruciating: the German champions had 31 shots – 17 of them on target – to Auckland’s one, and enjoyed 72% of possession.
It took 52 years for a team to score 10 goals in a World Cup game – Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 – but it’s taken just two games for a team to score 10 under the Club World Cup’s new format (the largest previous win at the tournament was 6-1, when Al-Hilal beat Al-Jazira in 2021 when just seven teams took part).
There is some mitigation. While many argue that talent has been diluted by expanding the number of teams at this tournament, Auckland City have been a feature of the Club World Cup for some time: they have actually played at more editions than any other team. On the other hand, they’re not even the best team in Auckland, let alone New Zealand. Auckland City are part-timers, and the city’s professional team, Auckland FC, play in Australia’s A-League.
“To be proud of the players is what we’re after. It’s a dream coming from an amateur level to play in this environment,” Auckland coach Ivan Vicelich said after the match, noting that some of his players had to take time off work to play in the tournament. “You can’t hide on the field. [I’m] really proud, a lot of players put in a good amount and worked really hard.”
Jamal Musiala led the way for Bayern on Sunday with a second-half hat-trick. Thomas Müller, Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman scored two each, with Sacha Boey completing the rout.
Some of the fans at at TQL Stadium took the opportunity to express their feelings on the tournament’s organisers. They unfurled a banner referencing the 2015 arrest of officials at a Swiss hotel over allegations of corruption. The banner read: “10 Years Baur Au Lac – World Football Is More Poorly Governed than Before! Smash FIFA!”
Things won’t get much easier for Auckland: they play another European giant, Benfica, on Friday. Bayern play Argentina’s Boca Juniors on the same day, in what will be a tougher assignment than their opening fixture.
“The next game against Boca Juniors will be the highlight of the group stage,” Bayern manager Vincent Kompany said. “A traditional club from Europe against a traditional club from South America. Even if I weren’t Bayern coach, I’d have attended this game. It will be special.”
