The New Zealand amateurs currently rank 5,072nd in Opta’s Power Rankings for football clubs globally, sharing the spotlight with the illustrious Bayern Munich, who sit at number six. Any criticism regarding their participation should be directed towards FIFA and the OFC rather than aimed at this dedicated squad of unpaid fighters.
After an agonising wait of over 95 years, the world was finally treated to the first 10-0 thrashing in a World Cup, whether for national teams or clubs. Yet, it took just two matches for the newly formatted FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) to serve up this record-breaking annihilation.
Bayern Munich, who left jaws on the floor last year by humiliating Dinamo Zagreb with nine goals during the opening of the UEFA Champions League, proved equally ruthless against their Kiwi adversaries in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
Much of the scorn expressed online was directed at Auckland City’s social media posts, with many asserting that their performance was unworthy of the attention of their formidable opponents or the viewers at home.
Such unkind remarks are unwarranted for a club hailing from a nation devoid of a professional football league, which qualified for the tournament through FIFA’s and the Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) established pathways.
FIFA’s decision to expand the CWC from seven to 32 clubs can, somewhat cynically, be seen as a desperate cash grab from an organisation reporting a staggering loss of over $600 million (USD) in 2024. However, it also represents a fantastic opportunity to foster growth in club football in underexploited markets, such as the USA, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa.
With this expansion came the obligation to ensure Oceania’s long-neglected representation via a reserved automatic qualification slot. Fairly enough, this does not increase the current single OFC slot that Auckland City has occupied in 10 of the first 20 iterations of the tournament, which included a third-place finish in 2014.
Despite their consistent appearances at the CWC, the heightened focus brought on by the new format has once again necessitated efforts by FIFA and the football media to highlight the story of Auckland City’s modest roots.
A commercial salesman, a real estate agent, and an engineer walk into a (cross)bar…
No, this isn’t the setup for a cheesy joke, but rather a glimpse into the full-time occupations of three starting players from Auckland City’s lineup against Bayern Munich.
These athletes, along with the coaching staff, compete without remuneration, aside from a maximum weekly stipend of about $90 to cover basic expenses like gym memberships. Many juggle full-time jobs before heading to weeknight training sessions at the 3,500-capacity Kiwitea Street stadium, with its facilities maintained by a dedicated volunteer workforce—an all too familiar tale across amateur football clubs worldwide.
For players with young families or those commuting up to 90 minutes each way for training and home matches, the lifestyle is uniquely challenging yet satisfying.
Numerous core team members are on unpaid leave from their jobs to partake in the USA tournament, with some having exhausted all their paid leave just to engage in the OFC Champions League, which took place in the Solomon Islands’ capital of Honiara over a fortnight.
“It’s not easy,” striker Angus Kilkolly remarked to AFP.
“It’s four weeks of leave, but I don’t have four weeks of annual leave, so I’m taking unpaid leave to be here.“
The primary squad from the OFC Champions League finals made it to the CWC, though some additional players were unable to secure time off from their jobs.
How did an amateur club find its way to the World Cup?
New Zealand’s only two professional football clubs, Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix, compete in Australia’s A-League, as there is no professional league in New Zealand.
This participation in a club league run by an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member—Australia—has resulted in the OFC excluding both clubs from eligibility for their own Champions League, while the AFC also prohibits Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix from participation based on their parent federation’s non-membership in the AFC.
This unfortunate situation leaves New Zealand’s top two clubs without any pathway to the CWC, placing the onus on clubs like Auckland City to seize available opportunities.
Australia’s prospects of competing in a future CWC are equally slim, with their professional clubs lagging behind financially compared to wealthy Gulf nations, both on and off the pitch, yet they at least have representation through the AFC Champions League.
Auckland City’s players not only labour without a wage for their efforts at this tournament but also face uncertainty over whether they will receive a share of the projected $5 million in prize money for participating in the group stage. This uncertainty stems from ongoing mediation involving the club and New Zealand Football to ensure equitable distribution of funds across the nation, allowing Auckland’s peers to benefit from the financial bounty.
So, why can’t Oceania establish a professional competition?
While it’s easier said than done, efforts are currently being made behind the scenes.
In early 2025, the OFC solicited expressions of interest for a new ‘OFC Pro League’, featuring eight clubs across the Pacific in a double round-robin format (14 matches each), followed by a division into a top-four Championship group and bottom-four Challengers group, with three semi-finalists determined from the former and one from the latter.
A reported 24 submissions were made to the OFC from various clubs, including some semi-professional teams from neighbouring Australia, who were eager to abandon their local competitions in pursuit of the significant financial prospects promised by the OFC as they seek to professionalise football in the region.
The new Pro League aims to serve as the qualifying route to both the CWC and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup—a competition replicating the former CWC format—while the long-term goal is to foster the growth of professional football clubs throughout the Pacific via investment.
The OFC was dealt a major setback when Auckland City declined interest in the competition, as the region’s most successful club discovered a new avenue to considerable revenue every four years. Few could fault them for wanting to solidify their future CWC qualification without additional obstacles.
Professional clubs Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix have expressed interest in joining the competition as a route to future CWC participation, though they have made it clear to the OFC that they would need to field reserve teams due to the tournament coinciding with the peak A-League season in December and January. This predicament could undermine the competition’s integrity, which has reportedly frustrated the OFC.
Auckland City deserves our support, not scorn
The players of Auckland City proudly proclaim that they are in the USA to represent the “99.9% of footballers who aren’t professional“, and the rest of us ought to rally behind them as they embark on this unforgettable journey.
Criticism suggesting they don’t belong in the tournament is valid only when framed as a protest against the tournament’s structure, rather than directed at the club for seizing the opportunity that has been presented to them.
Until the OFC Pro League firmly establishes itself, there may be a reasonable argument for reconsidering the allocation from 0.5 slots back to one, placing Auckland City—or another Oceanian club—in an inter-confederation playoff, much like New Zealand’s national team did when the World Cup featured 32 teams.
However, it’s not FIFA’s role to act as gatekeepers for the globe’s elite clubs. Let us embrace the romanticism of the amateur hero living out a dream we all shared as children.
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Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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