Boca Juniors Turn Up the Heat in Miami with Benfica Draw 

Alvaro Fernandez of Benfica (R) in action against Kevin Zenon of Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage match between CA Boca Juniors and SL Benfica at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Alvaro Fernandez of Benfica (R) in action against Kevin Zenon of Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage match between CA Boca Juniors and SL Benfica at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Boca Juniors Turn Up the Heat in Miami with Benfica Draw 

Alvaro Fernandez of Benfica (R) in action against Kevin Zenon of Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage match between CA Boca Juniors and SL Benfica at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Alvaro Fernandez of Benfica (R) in action against Kevin Zenon of Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage match between CA Boca Juniors and SL Benfica at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

After Lionel Messi lit up the Club World Cup opener, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium was awash in Argentine passion again as Boca Juniors fans turned it into a little Buenos Aires for their team's 2-2 draw with Benfica on Monday.

A day after draping the shores of Miami Beach in blue and gold on the eve of their team’s debut, the Boca fans chanted their way into the arena and through the game, which put them in second place in Group C behind Bayern Munich after the German champions demolished Auckland City 10-0 on Sunday.

Both teams finished with 10 men after Benfica's Andrea Bellotti and Boca's Nicolas Figal picked up straight red cards in a heated contest that saw the Portuguese team cancel out a two-goal deficit.

Boca next face Bayern on Friday in Miami while Benfica will face Auckland City in Orlando, FL.

After a scrappy opening 20 minutes, the stands trembled when Boca went ahead in the 21st as Lautaro Blanco's low cross was met by Miguel Merentiel, triggering wild celebrations.

Six minutes later, the Argentine side doubled the tally with a Rodrigo Battaglia header, stunning Benfica, who had been dominating from the onset.

Nicolas Otamendi was then brought down in the box and Benfica earned a penalty following a VAR review and Angel Di Maria coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to cut the goal deficit down to one at the stroke of halftime.

Benfica were down to 10 in the 70th after Bellotti was shown a straight red card for a high kick in the back of the head of Ayrton Costa.

The Portuguese side, however, levelled six minutes from time when Otamendi found the back of the net with a powerful header.

The result kept the six-time Copa Libertadores champions' hopes alive to advance into the knockout phase, which would be a boost for the tournament as South American fans are expected to bring the biggest amount of passion into the stadiums.



At Wimbledon, Portuguese Tennis Players Pay Tribute to Diogo Jota with Black Ribbon

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
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At Wimbledon, Portuguese Tennis Players Pay Tribute to Diogo Jota with Black Ribbon

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

Diogo Jota was remembered at Wimbledon on Friday as two Portuguese players wore a black ribbon on their all-white attire during their matches, a day after the Liverpool winger and his brother were killed in a car crash.

The All England Club has a strict dress code for players while on court but permission to wear the ribbon was granted after the two soccer players died in the crash in Spain.

Nuno Borges, who at No. 37 is Portugal's highest-ranked tennis player, attached a ribbon to his hat for his third-round match against Karen Khachanov on No. 3 Court.

Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon on his left sleeve during a doubles match.