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Auckland City at FIFA Club World Cup: A group of amateur footballers on unpaid leaves
Auckland City FC, an amateur team from New Zealand, is making headlines at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in the USA. Despite a heavy 10-0 loss to Bayern Munich, the team's underdog story has captured global attention as some of their players have taken unpaid leaves from their jobs to play the tournament. read more
Auckland City FC is garnering a lot of attention at the despite not being a household name. The team has found itself in the spotlight because it consists of amateur footballers from New Zealand, who are competing against some of the best clubs in the world, including Germany's Bayern Munich.
The 2025 edition of the Club World Cup kicked off in the United States on 16 June. The tournament has been expanded from seven teams to 32 teams. Auckland City is one of the teams that has taken a giant leap from local grounds in New Zealand to stadiums in America, where they face some biggest stars of football.
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The underdog story of Auckland City FC
The side suffered a crushing 10-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in their opening game, which has since caught everyone's attention. Goalkeeper Conor Tracey, who works in a veterinary supply warehouse in New Zealand, had to take unpaid leave to travel with the team for the tournament.
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'I never quite have enough leave to cover it. I always need to use a mix of annual leave and leave without pay. I'll be suffering a bit with rent and bills, but playing against teams like Bayern and Benfica — 100% worth it,' Tracey said.
Auckland City will next face Benfica, followed by a match against Boca Juniors. After the tournament, the players will return to reality, to their local league matches at smaller venues in New Zealand. But, for now they can live the dream of playing against some of the best teams and players in the world.
Group A
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Al Ahly SC 1 0 1 0 0-0 0 1 2 Inter Miami CF 1 0 1 0 0-0 0 1 3 FC Porto 1 0 1 0 0-0 0 1 4 Palmeiras 1 0 1 0 0-0 0 1
Group B
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Paris Saint-Germain 1 1 0 0 4-0 +4 3 2 Botafogo RJ 1 1 0 0 2-1 +1 3 3 Seattle Sounders 1 0 0 1 1-2 -1 0 4 Atlético Madrid 1 0 0 1 0-4 -4 0
Group C
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Bayern Munich 1 1 0 0 10-0 +10 3 2 Benfica 1 0 1 0 2-2 0 1 3 Boca Juniors 1 0 1 0 2-2 0 1 4 Auckland City 1 0 0 1 0-10 -10 0
Group D
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Chelsea FC 1 1 0 0 2-0 +2 3 2 Flamengo 1 1 0 0 2-0 +2 3 3 ES Tunis 1 0 0 1 0-2 -2 0 4 LAFC 1 0 0 1 0-2 -2 0
Group E
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Inter Milan 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 2 Monterrey 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 3 River Plate 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 4 Urawa Red Diamonds 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0
Group F
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Borussia Dortmund 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 2 Fluminense FC 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 3 Mamelodi Sundowns 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 4 Ulsan HD FC 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0
Group G
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Manchester City 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 2 Juventus 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 3 Wydad AC 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 4 Al Ain FC 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0
Group H
# Team PL W D L GF-GA GD PTS 1 Real Madrid 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 2 Al Hilal 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 3 Pachuca 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 4 FC Salzburg 0 0 0 0 0-0 0 0
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