From initial excitement to an early farewell, Boca Juniors experienced the full range of emotions at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Xeneize bowed out early on Tuesday at the tournament’s group stage with a sense of failure after a 1–1 draw with Auckland City, a semi-professional team from New Zealand and the weakest side in the competition.
Boca had played well against Portugal’s Benfica in their first match of Group C, drawing 2–2. The Buenos Aires side then put up a heroic, albeit insufficient, resistance against Bayern Munich, losing 2-1.
But their exit – confirmed by the Portuguese side’s 1–0 win over the Germans in Charlotte – was tainted by a poor showing against Auckland, a team they were expected to thrash. The New Zealanders had lost 10-0 against Bayern and 6-0 against Benfica – Boca’s fans were expecting a landslide.
Qualifying for the knockouts was always going to be a difficult task, given Boca’s underwhelming form and the presence of two European sides in their group. Elimination was far from shocking.
But Boca faded badly and while their fans stole the show, the club’s footballing image has taken a nosedive on the international stage.
Auckland City celebrated Tuesday’s draw in Nashville as if it were a title win.
The match was a struggle for Boca. Hit by a 50-minute suspension of play due to warnings about lightning in the region, they eventually returned to the pitch aware that their fate was sealed.
"The storm delay happened, we knew Benfica's result, and that changed everything," said manager Miguel Ángel Russo, who was appointed specifically for the tournament.
"We had very tough matches from the start. We need to return to reality,” added the coach.
‘A matter of confidence’
Boca’s standout performer at the Club World Cup was Uruguayan forward and captain Miguel Merentiel but the tournament has laid bare many of the chronic problems that have plagued the team in recent years – defensive lapses, an inconsistent playing style and underperforming players.
"I don’t know if it’s a question of attitude, more a question of confidence. Some players are expected to step up when they’re not even match-fit," said former Boca defender Cristian Traverso on TyC Sports after Tuesday's draw.
Needing to win by a wide margin and hoping for help from Bayern that never came, Russo fielded an ultra-attacking line-up that lacked creativity and resorted to endlessly pumping more than 80 crosses into the New Zealand box – all of them were cleared away by their limited but determined opponents, who stood firm against Boca’s toothless attacks.
Striker Edinson Cavani, who had missed the first two games through injury, started against Auckland – a team of part-timers made up of students, teachers and estate agents – but his lack of match sharpness was evident.
"I don’t think the team’s performance was that disappointing," said the Uruguayan. "We have to keep going. We saw some very good things, and that’s what we need to take forward. It was a tough group, and the work must continue."
What’s next
Six-time winners of the Copa Libertadores, Boca last lifted the trophy in 2007, with Juan Román Riquelme starring on the pitch and Russo on the bench.
Since then, they have fallen short in three finals (2012, 2018, and 2023) in their quest for a seventh title, and Riquelme – who is now the club’s president —– has seen his image tarnished by repeated footballing setbacks.
Following the 2–1 final defeat to Fluminense at the Maracanã 18 months ago, Boca endured a humiliating exit at La Bombonera at the hands of Peru’s Alianza Lima, losing on penalties in the second preliminary round of the 2024 Copa Libertadores — marking the start of a truly forgettable half-season.
What happened at the Club World Cup is simply an extension of Boca’s ongoing struggles in key matches, whether it was the Alianza debacle or their domestic league exit, which included a defeat to arch-rivals River Plate in the Superclásico and elimination in the Apertura quarter-finals at the hands of Independiente.
This latest exit is the first major setback for Russo, a 69-year-old manager now in his third spell at “La Mitad Más Uno.”
With no international competitions left on the calendar, Boca’s remaining objectives are the Clausura and the Copa Argentina, along with the crucial task of qualifying for the 2026 Libertadores.
To achieve any of these aims, Russo will need to rethink tactics and personnel within a squad boasting big names but little depth – a side desperately seeking alternatives to break free from the cycle of failure that continues to drag it down.
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