Auckland City is best described as a big fish in a small pond. Ever since Australia moved to the AFC in 2006, Auckland City from New Zealand became the dominant club in the Oceania region.
The OFC is almost entirely amateur, so naturally a club who already dominates its domestic league in the richest country of the region also dominates the continent. As a result Auckland City is almost a guaranteed participant of the FIFA Club World Cup, holding the record of the competition of 12 participations as of 2024. The number could actually be 14 if it wasn't for two withdrawals from the club as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As you can imagine though, being a giant in the OFC doesn't necessarily translate on a global stage. Out of all those participations Auckland City has been eliminated 9 times in the very first match, scoring few goals and many times just trying to go home with an honorable defeat.
In 2014 however Auckland City pulled off a miracle and finished 3rd in the Club World Cup. They began defeating the champions of the host country, Moghreb Tetouan from Morocco, in penalties after a scoreless tie. In the quarter-finals they defeated the champions of Africa, Setif from Algeria, by 1-0. In the semi-final they lost only in overtime against the South American representative, San Lorenzo from Argentina.
This loss gave them a shot at a bronze medal against Cruz Azul from Mexico, and after a 1-1 and a victory in penalties the Kiwis pulled off the miracle. A semi-professional team, from a country where soccer is far from being the most popular sport, traveled across the planet and stunned the world.