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Auckland City: The FIFA Club World Cup minnows who have left their day jobs to play the best in the world
The FIFA Club World Cup kicked off this weekend, and with it, some of the world's most famous names and the elite teams from across the globe.
Yet, at the other end of the scale are Auckland City . The New Zealand part-timers who are set to rub shoulders with the likes of Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe but have needed permission from their day jobs to allow them to play in the tournament.
See, Auckland City - not to be confused with Auckland FC - may well be 13-time Oceania Champions League winners, but this is an amateur side sitting in third place in New Zealand's Northern League who are about to sit at football's biggest ever table.
It's a team ranked 4928th in the global Opta Power Rankings, sandwiched between National League North side Kidderminster Harriers and Tigers FC of the Malawian Super League, and with the next Club World Cup side an incredible 4324 places above them.
Among the current squad are a barber, storemen, toolmakers, sales representatives, estate agents, and even teachers, who all balance their day jobs with playing for the Navy Blues. They don't earn anything for their sporting capabilities and have had to negotiate with their employers to let them spend a month playing football in the US.
Yet, this isn't their first FIFA World Cup rodeo; in fact, Auckland City have been regulars at the tournament, and 2025 represents their twelfth consecutive showing. They even managed to finish third in the competition back in 2014, beating Mexican side Cruz Azul in a third-place play-off in Morocco. A giant killing the class of 2025 must take inspiration from.
However, FIFA's newly revamped version of the tournament has escalated the David vs. Goliath factor tenfold, and now this group of part-time football players is set to mix it up with footballing royalty, in Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors, and Benfica, during the group stage of the competition.
"It's probably our dream group," striker Angus Kilkolly told AFP.
"For us to be able to experience playing against those teams is a dream for us. To be actually on the same pitch is a little bit crazy."
Killkolly is one of the Auckland players who has had to take a leave of absence from his day job in sales for a power tools firm to be part of the festivities for his club.
His days usually start at 7:30, and after completing a full day of work, he trains three times a week with his team, which often doesn't see him get home until after 9pm. However, he admits it's an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
"It's not easy, it's four weeks' leave, but I don't have four weeks' annual leave, so there's unpaid leave going there," he added.
"But it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Playing at the World Cup gives us the ability to compete on a world stage and have that feeling of being a professional footballer, without being one."
Indeed, his opposite number when Auckland City kick off their campaign on Sunday will be none other than the England captain Harry Kane, who Killkolly jokes probably earns more in a week than he does in a year.
The clash against six-time European champions Bayern Munich at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati could see up to 26,000 fans in attendance, a far cry from the crowds the Navy Blues players are used to back home, where they are lucky to see over 1,000 fans attend their games.
In fact, matchday at Kiwitea Street has echoes of England's non-league scene, with General Manager Gordon Watson revealing that it usually relies on volunteers to ensure the fixtures go ahead.
“A home game in the Northern League usually begins at nine o’clock in the morning," Watson told Fox News.
“Two of our club volunteers will be down at Kiwitea Street putting up the goals, the nets, the corner flags and the flags around the venue.
“The grass is cut to a certain length, which gets done on Thursday if the guy remembers to do it."
Watson paints a picture of a real community club, even if only 40 or so will be travelling to the States to cheer on their team. They did, of course, give their team a memorable send-off, but life must go on for the volunteers, as well as the families left behind by the players.
So, what can the sole Oceania representative expect to get out of their voyage into the glitz and glamour of elite football? Unfortunately, it isn't the prize money, with the club having been locked in mediation with New Zealand football since last year over how the financial reward for competing will be distributed.
Instead, it will be the underdog story of a real minnow taking on the heavyweights of football in FIFA's biggest-ever global tournament. Something the players won't ever forget.
"We don't concede a lot of goals in New Zealand so obviously we're aiming not to concede too many goals at the Club World Cup as well." Kilkolly finishes by saying.
"If we can leave there and say, 'we played our style, we've done our best', I think that's a positive outlook.
"If we leave there with regrets, going 'we didn't do all we could', that would be a sour feeling."
Watch all 63 matches of the 2025 Club World Cup live on DAZN. More information and to sign up for a free account here
