Benfica Defeats Auckland City 6-0 at Club World Cup in Orlando

Benfica dominated Auckland City with a 6-0 victory in their FIFA Club World Cup Group C match, highlighted by Ángel Di María and Leandro Barreiro each scoring two goals. The match saw a lengthy delay of over two hours at halftime due to a thunderstorm, which preceded Benfica's surge in the second half with goals from Vangelis Pavlidis, Renato Sanches, and Barreiro. Auckland City, an amateur team and the only semi-professional club in the tournament, had previously suffered a 10-0 loss to Bayern Munich, effectively ending their hopes of advancing in the competition. Despite a solid defensive effort and strong goalkeeping in the first half, Auckland City was overwhelmed after the weather delay. Di María, a 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina, scored both his goals from penalties during added time at the end of each half. Benfica now holds four points in Group C, with Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors as other competitors in the group.