Club World Cup Preview: SL Benfica

In partnership with

Hooligan Soccer

·4 June 2025

Club World Cup Preview: SL Benfica

The twelfth in our continuing series highlighting all thirty-two clubs in the FIFA Club World Cup, which starts on June 14th.

Club Background

From: Lisbon, Portugal
How They Qualified: UEFA ranking pathway based on Champions League performances.
Best CWC Finish: This is their first time appearing.

Recent Form: Finished 2nd in Primiera Liga, two points behind Sporting. Won the Taça de Liga in a penalty shootout 7 – 6 over Sporting after a 1 – 1 draw. Eliminated in CL Round of 16 by Barcelona 4 – 1 Lost the Taça de Portugal final to Sporting 3 – 1 in extra time.
Facts: Founded in 1904. Have won 87 major trophies, 84 of those domestically. Have never been relegated to a lower division. 37% of the squad are Portuguese.

The Team

Manager: Bruno Lage Took over the position in the summer of 2024. Also coached this side between 2018-2020, when they won the league title and a Super Cup.
Star Players: Ángel Di María Legendary Argentinian winger who’s notched 15g/9a over 40 games this season Orgun Köçkü Turkish midfielder with 12g/9a in 51 games Nicolás Otamendi Argentinian defender and team captain. Ex-Manchester City. Averages 2 tackles and interceptions a game. Vangelis Pavlidis Greek striker with 29g/11aa over 53 games.
Young Players: Andres Schjelderup 21 year-old Norwegian left winger. Highly regarded prospect and national team player. António Silva 21 year-old center defender.

When to Watch

6:00pm ET on Jun 16, 2025 vs. Boca Juniors @ Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
12:00pm ET on Jun 20, 2025 vs. Auckland City FC @ Inter&Co, Orlando, FL
3:00pm ET on Jun 24, 2025 vs. Bayern Munich @ Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC

The Hooligan Take

It’s hard to place Benfica in this group. They’re not quite part of Europe’s elite, but certainly can be dangerous on any given day. Bayern should be able to handle them, and Benfica should handlily defeat Auckland. It’s the Boca Juniors match which has the most open-ended outcomes. The two sides have very little head to head history, and are in similar positions regarding league performance and form. This is one of the best matches in the opening two days.