Benfica will be in the Southeast during Club World Cup group stage

Benifca have found out their group opponents for this upcoming summers Club World Cup when they were drawn with Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors and Auckland City in Group C of the competition this past Thursday.

The sites, cities and schedule is out and Benfica will be in the Southeast part of the USA when they hit the field. This is a bit of a blow to descendants of Portugal and Benfica fans that are heavily populated in the northeast part of the country. Can you say road trip....

Benfica will open the competition against Argentinian side Boca Juniors on June 16 at 6pm at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. They then face Auckland City of New Zealand on June 20 at 12pm, at Inter & Co. Stadium in Orlando. Their final group stage game will come against German side Bayern Munich on June 24 at 3pm in Charlotte at Bank of America stadium.

The top two sides in the group will advance to the round of 16 knockout stage and take on the top two clubs in Group D based on final standings. Group D participants include Chelsea, Flamengo, Leon and Esperance de Tunis. The tournament will be the first Club competition to have 32 clubs battling for the best club in the world.

Benfica being linked with Velez Sarsfield center back

A buzz surrounds young Argentine defender Valentin Gomez as Benfica shows strong interest in acquiring the player from Velez Sarsfield, with River Plate also eyeing the 21-year-old center back.

His performance at Velez has caught the eye of a few suitors as he emerges as one of the best young backs in the Argentinian league. Benfica has the reputation for its successful scouting network, often identifying talents before they become mainstream stars. This type of move fits into the game plan on acquiring young players with high potential.

Gomez appeared in the U20 World Cup for Argentina during this past summer and has appeared in 106 games across all competitions for Velez since cracking the main squad in 2022. Velez is said to be looking for over €10M for the players services, a price tag Benfica will work to reduce.

Benfica may not make the move for Gomez during the winter transfer window as it looks to hold onto all it's current center backs but with Otamendi set to become a free agent at the end of the season and the potential departure of one or both of Tomas Araujo and Antonio Silva in the summer. This is a player the club wants to keep in it's sight lines.

Benfica find out potential opponents for Club World Cup

Benfica have learned their potential opponents for next summers Club World Cup when FIFA released the pots for this Thursday's draw earlier today which will take place in Miami.

Benfica have been slotted into Pot 2 along with rivals FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg. These clubs will avoid being grouped together in the competition.

Benfica's potential opponents in the group phase will come out of Pots 1, 3 and 4.

Pot 1 - Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate and Fluminense.

Pot 3 - Al Hilal, Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Ulsan HD, Leon, Monterrey, Boca Juniors and Botafogo.

Pot 4 - Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Hope of Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns and Auckland City. 

This will be the first edition of a 32 club format for the Club World Cup and the potential of €50M to €80M going to the tournament winner should make this an exciting first edition. 

UPDATED 12/05/24

Benfica will be in Group C after draw was held and will be in the same group as Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors and Auckland City while rivals FC Porto will face Palmeiras, Inter Miami and Al Ahly.