Bayern Munich put 10 goals past part-time Auckland City FC to record the biggest ever Club World Cup victory, including from the previous format.
The German giants were 6-0 up by half time, before Jamal Musiala came off the bench to score a second-half hat-trick and the departing Thomas Muller took Bayern to double figures late on.
The Group B fixture was expected to be a huge mismatch, given the enormous gulf between the teams, with amateurs Auckland City the only non-professional side to be taking part in the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup.
While Auckland City have won the last four Oceania Champions League titles, and 11 of the last 13, the New Zealand club do not employ their players full time and many have had to take annual leave to travel to the United States.
And while Auckland City have qualified for several other Club World Cup tournaments, their journey has usually come to an end in the first-round of the old format, and before playing either champions of Europe and South America.
But the new group stage means Auckland City are guaranteed to play three matches and, after their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich, they will also face Benfica and Boca Juniors before travelling back to New Zealand.
New Zealand does not have a professional men’s football league, with the top two teams in the country – Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC – playing their matches in Australia’s A-League.
But because Australia play in the Asian Football Confederation, both Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC are ineligible to play in the Oceania Champions League, leaving Auckland City FC to dominate.
The Navy Blues defeated Hekari United, of Papua New Guinea, to win their latest OFC Champions League title and qualify for the newly expanded Club World Cup tournament.
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Staff from Auckland City also revealed that flying the squad out to the United States will cost the club more money than it makes in a year – but they will be rewarded by Club World Cup prize money.
By contrast, five-time European champions Bayern Munich fielded a strong starting line-up that included Harry Kane and Michael Olise.
The value Bayern’s squad in transfer fees was estimated at £770m, around 700 times that of Auckland City’s squad value of just over £1.2m.
With that in mind, Auckland must have been fearing the worst when they trailed 6-0 at half time, but could not keep the scoreline to single-figures after Musiala resumed the scoring.
The victory surpassed Al Hilal’s 6-1 win over Al Jazira in 2021.
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