2025 FIFA Club World Cup Group C
Group C was one of eight groups in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer tournament hosted in the United States and organized by FIFA. It comprised four teams: Bayern Munich of Germany; Auckland City of New Zealand; Boca Juniors of Argentina; and Benfica of Portugal. Teams qualified by winning the respective continental club championships of their confederation or through a ranking of their performance in competitions. Only two clubs per country were allowed to qualify unless three or four won their respective continental club championship. The 2025 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup was the first in the tournament's history to be played under its quadrennial format with 32 teams.[1] The group's matches began on June 15 and concluded on June 24.[2]
Teams
[edit]The four teams in Group C were decided by the FIFA Club World Cup draw held by FIFA on December 5, 2024, in the Miami area. The 32 participants were divided into four pots based on their confederation and ranking within FIFA's club ranking system.[3] Each of the eight groups would receive one team from each pot. Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn into the same group except for those from UEFA, which had twelve slots; teams from the same national association were not able to be drawn into the same group.[4]
| Draw position | Team | Association[4] | Pot[4] | Confederation[4] | Method of qualification[3] |
Date of qualification |
Appearance | Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Bayern Munich |  Germany |
1 | UEFA | UEFA four-year ranking (1st among eligible) | December 17, 2023 | 3rd | 2020 | Winners (2013, 2020) |
| C2 | Auckland City |  New Zealand |
4 | OFC | OFC Champions League winners four-year ranking | December 17, 2023 | 12th | 2023 | Third place (2014) |
| C3 | Boca Juniors |  Argentina |
3 | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL four-year ranking (2nd among eligible) | August 22, 2024 | 2nd | 2007 | Runners-up (2007) |
| C4 | Benfica |  Portugal |
2 | UEFA | UEFA four-year ranking (7th among eligible) | December 17, 2023 | 1st | — | — |
Standings
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benfica
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Bayern Munich
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 6 | |
| 3 | Boca Juniors
|
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Auckland City
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 17 | −16 | 1 |
In the round of 16:[5]
- The winners of Group C, Benfica, advanced to play the runners-up of Group D, Chelsea.
- The runners-up of Group C, Bayern Munich, advanced to play the winners of Group D, Flamengo.
Matches
[edit]Matches took place from June 15 to 24. All times listed are local.
Bayern Munich vs Auckland City
[edit]          Bayern Munich[7]
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 Auckland City[7]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[7]
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Boca Juniors vs Benfica
[edit]     Boca Juniors[12]
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     Benfica[12]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[12]
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Benfica vs Auckland City
[edit]At 1:06 pm EDT, during the half-time break, the match was interrupted due to adverse weather conditions. The match was resumed at 3:20 pm EDT.[13]
    Benfica[15]
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 Auckland City[15]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[15]
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Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors
[edit]| Bayern Munich | 2–1 | Boca Juniors |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Merentiel  66' |
Bayern Munich[17]
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     Boca Juniors[17]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[17]
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Auckland City vs Boca Juniors
[edit]At 3:21 pm CDT, in the 54th minute, the match was interrupted due to adverse weather conditions. The match was resumed at 4:10 pm.[18]
| Auckland City | 1–1 | Boca Juniors |
|---|---|---|
| Gray 52' |
Report | Garrow 26' (o.g.) |
   Auckland City[20]
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Boca Juniors[20]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[20]
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Benfica vs Bayern Munich
[edit]| Benfica | 1–0 | Bayern Munich |
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| Schjelderup 13' |
Report |
Benfica[22]
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     Bayern Munich[22]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[22]
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Discipline
[edit]Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:[5]
- first yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
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| Auckland City
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0 | ||||||||||||
| Bayern Munich
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1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Benfica
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2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | −12 | ||||||||
| Boca Juniors
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2 | 2 | 3 | −13 | |||||||||
Notes
[edit]- ^ As Auckland City manager Paul Posa would remained in New Zealand during the first two weeks of June due to personal reasons,[8] Ivan Vicelich served as the interim manager for Auckland City's first match.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Middleton, Emma (December 3, 2024). "How does the new Club World Cup work?". BBC Sport. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
- ^ "FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Match Schedule" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. December 7, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
- ^ a b Johnson, Dale (May 7, 2025). "FIFA Club World Cup: Format, draw, teams, schedule ... Messi". ESPN. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Draw Procedures for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. December 2024. pp. 2–5. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
- ^ a b "Regulations for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
- ^ "Match Report: FC Bayern München v. Auckland City FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 15, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: FC Bayern München v. Auckland City FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 15, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
- ^ "Coaching Update for FIFA Club World Cup USA 2025". AucklandCityFC.com. Auckland City FC. May 31, 2025. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ "Diplomatic welcome for New Zealand champions as FIFA Club World Cup nears". Friends of Football. June 9, 2025. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Michelob ULTRA Superior Player of the Match". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ "Match Report: CA Boca Juniors v. SL Benfica" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: CA Boca Juniors v. SL Benfica" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
- ^ Rampling, Ali (June 20, 2025). "Benfica-Auckland City Club World Cup game endures over two-hour weather delay". The Athletic. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
- ^ "Match Report: SL Benfica v. Auckland City FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: SL Benfica v. Auckland City FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
- ^ "Match Report: FC Bayern München v. CA Boca Juniors" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: FC Bayern München v. CA Boca Juniors" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
- ^ "Boca Juniors draw with Auckland City, exit Club World Cup". Reuters. June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
- ^ "Match Report: Auckland City FC v. CA Boca Juniors" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: Auckland City FC v. CA Boca Juniors" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ "Match Report: SL Benfica v. FC Bayern München" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-up: SL Benfica v. FC Bayern München" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.