BUNDESLIGA champions Bayern Munich hit double figures against Auckland City in Cincinnati to record the biggest win in the history of the Club World Cup.
Vincent Kompany’s side outclassed the New Zealand part-timers, with Jamal Musiala scoring a hat-trick and Thomas Muller grabbing two goals as his long farewell to the club continued.
Bayern took the lead through Kingsley Coman’s sixth-minute header as the floodgates opened early.
Sacha Boey lashed home Coman’s knockdown on the half-volley to double Bayern’s advantage 12 minutes later, and former Crystal Palace man Michael Olise turned in Muller’s cross at the far post to make it 3-0.
It was 4-0 just a minute later, with Coman sending a left-footed drive into the bottom corner for his second of the game.
Muller, playing his final tournament for Bayern before leaving the club later this summer, guided Olise’s cross past Auckland goalkeeper Conor Tracey to score the German club’s fifth, before Olise sent a curling strike into the far corner to make it 6-0 at half-time.
The flurry of Bayern goals slowed early in the second half but Musiala eventually added a seventh for Kompany’s team, finding the bottom corner with another curling effort six minutes after coming off the bench.
Musiala, who missed the final six games of the Bundesliga season with a hamstring injury, scored his second from the penalty spot after being tripped inside the area before pounding on a loose ball deep inside the Auckland half to complete a hat-trick.
Bayern scored their 10th with two minutes remaining, Muller converting Serge Gnabry’s cross.
The victory comfortably surpassed the previous biggest win at the Club World Cup – Al Hilal’s 6-1 win over Al Jazira in 2022.
The decision to expand the Club World Cup from seven to 32 teams this summer has already led to legal complaints from players’ union Fifpro and the World Leagues Association.
But the chasm in class between Bayern and Auckland on Sunday is likely to raise further questions about the new format.
Winners of the Oceania Champions League in each of the past four years, Auckland have made it to the tournament on that merit, but upsetting the 34-time German champions was always going to be a tall order – to put it very mildly – for a team comprising teachers, students and estate agents.
Auckland’s hopes of an almighty upset were all but extinguished by Coman’s early opener, and had it not been for several smart saves from goalkeeper Tracey they would have lost by an even heavier margin.
