Trubin Keeps First Clean Sheet as Benfica Cruise Past Auckland City
The record remains intact! Bayern Munich’s 10-goal demolition of Auckland City earlier in the tournament will not be matched — at least not by Benfica. But there was still no shortage of goals in Orlando as the Portuguese side cruised to a dominant 6–0 win, with Ángel Di María converting a last-minute penalty to complete the rout.
From the outset, the result rarely looked in doubt. Benfica created plenty of chances in the first half but had to wait until stoppage time to break the deadlock — and once again, it came from the penalty spot. Di María stepped up and calmly slotted home to make it 1–0 just before the break.
Heavy rain delayed the restart by nearly 90 minutes, but when play resumed, Benfica hit their stride. On 53 minutes, Vangelis Pavlidis powered through the last defender and smashed in the second. Soon after, Renato Sanches and Álvaro Barreiro both punished Auckland's slack defending with close-range finishes.
Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin wasn’t completely idle, facing two attempts on goal, but neither truly tested him — earning the Benfica No. 1 his first clean sheet of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Benfica now sit on four points and will face Bayern Munich in what promises to be a thrilling group decider. Auckland City, meanwhile, will look to salvage some pride when they meet Boca Juniors in their final outing.
2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Benfica - Auckland City 6:0 (1:0)
Goals: Di Maria, 45 (penalty) (1:0); Pavlidis E., 53 (2:0); Sanches R., 63 (3:0); Barreiro L., 76 (4:0); Barreiro L., 78 (5:0); Di Maria, 98 (6:0)
Benfica: Trubin; Otamendi; Silva A. (Bajrami Adrian, 86); Fernandez Ál. (Dahl, 46); Barreiro L.; Di Maria; Kökçü (Sanches R., 61); Pavlidis E.; Aursnes (Gouveia Tiago, 71); Aktürkoglu (Schjelderup, 61); Prestianni (Rego Joao, 71)
Bench: Leandro Santos; Oliveira; Wynder; Bruma; Prioste
Yellow Cards: Fernandez Ál. 45; Kökçü 48; Bajrami Adrian 87
Auckland City: Garrow; Bell; Boxall; den Heijer (Gray, 79); Mitchell; Ilich (Manuel, 60); Zhou (Garriga, 46); Zeb (Manickum, 60); Lagos; Yoo (Ellis, 60); Bevan (De Vries, 73)
Bench: Ciganda; Tracey; Vale; Connolly; Lobo; Murati; Rogers; Foo; Kilkolly
