Auckland City goalkeeper Conor Tracey spends his weekdays in a fluorescent-lit warehouse just outside the city, where he oversees the distribution of veterinary pharmaceuticals across New Zealand. It’s a job that requires precision, patience, and trust. He handles controlled drugs, nutritional supplements, and emergency medications for animals, managing logistics while fielding questions from vets who depend on his expertise.
Last weekend, he found himself facing something entirely different: Kingsley Coman and Jamal Musiala in full stride.
The 28-year-old Tracey started for Auckland City in their opening Club World Cup match against Bayern Munich, the most lopsided fixture in a newly expanded 32-team format. Bayern scored ten. Auckland scored none. But between the flood of goals, Tracey made seven saves, stood tall under pressure, and walked away with a story that stretches far beyond the scoreline.
Facing the giants
Auckland City is the only amateur team in the tournament. Its players balance their football ambitions with full-time jobs: teachers, engineers, and warehouse workers. The club has long dominated the Oceania region, winning 13 continental titles, but on the world stage, they’re up against institutions with nine-figure payrolls and private chefs.
Tracey took unpaid leave to be here. “I’m going to struggle a bit with rent and bills,” he told Marca, days before the match, “but playing against Bayern, Benfica and Boca is 100 percent worth it.”
That spirit played out visibly at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. In front of 61,000 fans, Tracey wore the captain’s armband and faced down a Bayern side that attacked relentlessly. He denied Coman in the fifth minute, kept out a close-range header from Thomas Müller, and parried a curling effort from Michael Olise. Bayern still scored ten. But there was no collapse in Tracey’s body language, only resolve.
“We are—not in an egomaniacal way—sort of representing the 99.9 percent of footballers out there,” Tracey told ESPN. “0.1 percent of footballers are professionals, but we’re the rest, and it’s not an easy gig.”
Fans noticed. On Reddit and Twitter, sympathy and admiration poured in. Many praised his composure, calling the performance heroic. Others joked about his return to the warehouse: would he be stacking boxes again by Monday?
For Tracey, it was never about the optics. It was about proving that someone from the margins could belong on a global stage, even for one night.
Auckland City’s journey isn’t over. They still have group matches against Boca Juniors and Benfica. But the image of Tracey—forklift supervisor by day, goalkeeper by trade—holding his line against Bayern’s $1 billion attack, has already become the emotional centerpiece of the tournament’s opening week.
“We’ve worked so hard to get to where we are,” he said, “and we’re already proud of what we’ve done. Just getting to this tournament is a success in itself.”
