Benfica beat Bayern to win Group C

SL Benfica 1-0 FC Bayern München | Group C

Goal: Andreas Schjelderup (13)

SL Benfica grabbed the early lead on Andreas Schjelderup's first-half strike and got crucial second-half saves by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to beat FC Bayern München 1-0 and qualify for the knockout round at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.

With the victory, Benfica finish as Group C winners and will meet the Group D runners-up in Charlotte on 28 June. Bayern will meet Group D winners CR Flamengo in Miami on 29 June.

Benfica got their goal in the 13th minute. Gianluca Prestianni redirected Fredrik Aursnes' cross into the box to Andreas Schjelderup, who calmly placed his first-time finish inside the left post and past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for a 1-0 lead.

Bayern dominated possession in the first half, but the German side struggled to create chances. Their best moment of the opening period came in the 44th minute when Serge Gnabry played a cutback pass through the box to Leroy Sane, but the winger blasted his first-time strike well off target.

Vincent Kompany made three changes at the break to energize his attack, bringing on Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich, and the impact was immediate for Bayern. In the 51st minute, they forced Trubin into consecutive saves on Sane's breakaway and Thomas Muller's strike from inside the area.

Benfica coach Bruno Lage countered by inserting midfielder Orkun Kokcu and Kerem Akturkoglu, and the substitutions nearly paid off instantly when Akturkoglu's deft first touch around Dayot Upamecano allowed him to unleash a close-range strike to force a tough Neuer save.

Bayern appeared to achieve their breakthrough in the 61st minute when Kimmich fired a left-footed strike inside Trubin's left post, but Kane was offside to cancel the goal.

The Bundesliga champions kept applying pressure. In the 75th minute, Olise's cross had Benfica scrambling to clear the ball, and it fell to Aleksandar Pavlovic, whose left-footed strike was kept out by Trubin's legs. In the 87th minute, Trubin alertly came out of his goal to stop Sane again on a breakaway.

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Quotes

"It was a good game against an amazing team, so I am very happy, also not only me but the team. We gave everything today to win... We did our job to go to the next round."
Anatoliy Trubin, Benfica goalkeeper

"We didn't play with the same intensity in the first half as we did in the second. That was our mistake, we weren't fully focused. We also missed a lot of chances. My opponent did a great job. We lacked the momentum to score the goal. Kane's offside position for Kimmich's goal was obviously annoying. We have to be critical of our first half. But what we showed in the second half was FC Bayern, that's how we want to play."
Manuel Neuer, Bayern goalkeeper

"Our second half was very good. We played very aggressively when we had possession. We tired them out, but they had a strong goalkeeper. We missed a few clear chances, so it's also our fault. In the end, we have to live with it, that's football. It'll be a great game against Flamengo in Miami – with a lot of frenetic fans."
Thomas Muller, Bayern forward

"Our first half wasn't good at all. I was still confident for the second half, though. We created a lot of chances after the break and played very well. That's football – if you don't take your chances, you pay for it. We knew we'd be facing either Flamengo or Chelsea, so it was going to be a tough game either way."
Vincent Kompany, Bayern head coach

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Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match

Anatoliy Trubin (SL Benfica)

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