Group B began with Portugal's Juventude de Gaia and England's Mitre FC Vets A in action. The English team entered the Porto stage fresh from glory at the Prague Veterans Tournament. They narrowly missed out in their opening fixture as they lost 3-2 to Spain's AC Motxto International. It was a tough start as they lost 3-0 to FC Tpaktop I (CIS) and 4-1 to Poland's Alea Iacta Est. They got off the mark with a 1-1 draw against compatriots Southgate Tourists. They lost 9-0 to 4x eurofootballfives.com winners FC Mahou but bounced back with a 5-3 victory over Czech side, IFC Prague. The win was crucial as it saw them qualify for the Plate. In the QF they defeated Les 5 Salopards of France, 3-2. The Semi-Final was a 3-3 draw with FC Tpaktop II before progressing via a penalty shoot-out. They met FC Tpaktop I in the Cup Final. The omens were not good having lost to them 3-0 in the group phase but they put in an epic performance to emerge 2-1 victors and collect the winner's trophy.

Here in Portugal, it was a tough opening half for Mitre FC Vets A as their hosts got off to a flyer. Daniel Videira was the man with the honour of scoring his side's first goal in eurofootballfives.com competition. A second goal wasn't too far away as Juventude de Gaia established a 2-0 lead at the interval. Mitre FC Vets did get back into it with the aid of an own goal. It did not change the destination of the points though as Vitor Pinto secured a 3-1 win for his team.

FC Tpaktop were competing in eurofootballfives.com competition for the fifth time in total and for the third time at Veterans level. FC Tpaktop B would meet FC Mahou in their opening fixture of Group B. FC Mahou need no introduction in our tournaments and have been hugely successful over the years. They can boast 4 titles to their name – 2 in the Open Age, 2 in the Veterans. If they could claim success today they would match the record of CIS Committee of Belarus as the most successful team in our events with 5 tournament victories.

The two teams had met in Prague last June with the English team securing a 1-0 victory courtesy of a Iain Raisbeck goal. We had a similarly close contest here in Porto with the two teams level at the break at 0-0. We were to get a case of déjà vu with FC Mahou edging ahead in the second half. This time it was Oliver James with the goal. It was the same result though, 1-0 to FC Mahou.

The final team of Group B to get their tournament underway was AFC Shooters. It was only 7 months since they were in action at the 2024 edition of the tournament. They were dealt a tough fixture list at the start of the day as they met the eventual winners and runners-up in the first two games – Lucanos Locos (0-3) and JK Silvertown (1-4). They picked up their first win of the day (1-0) against France's Nothing Toulouse. They lost 3-1 to Community Sauna before a strong finish to the group. They picked up 7 points from 9 with 1-0 wins against 3 Lions FC and The Maulers before a 2-2 draw against G.D. Leoes de Guarda. AFC Shooters finished in 5 th position overall.

Today, AFC Shooters would kick-off against Mitre Vets FC A. The latter had already warmed up and acclimatized to the tournament against Juventude de Gaia but had slipped to a 3-1 defeat. Could they bounce back? They began well with the two teams looking well matched after the early exchanges. The referee's whistle blew for half-time and we were still level at 0-0.

In the second half we were to get a breakthrough. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and that man was Neil Adebowale wearing the shirt of AFC Shooters. A clean sheet at the other end and AFC Shooters were off to a winning start.

Game 4 of Group B brought together Juventude de Gaia and FC Tpaktop B in a tightly contested fixture with plenty at stake. The Portuguese side had opened their campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory and were looking to build momentum. FC Tpaktop B, meanwhile, had suffered a narrow defeat to tournament heavyweights FC Mahou and were keen to get their first points on the board.

The first half was a cagey affair, with both sides showing discipline at the back and few clear chances falling either way. It remained goalless at the break, setting up a tense second period. Sergei Samoliuk struck for FC Tpaktop B—his team's first goal of the tournament— but it wasn't enough. Juventude de Gaia showed their quality and composure spearheaded by their striker with the number 2 shirt. Once again, it was Daniel Videira who proved the difference-maker. Having scored twice in their opening match, he repeated the feat here with two well-taken goals to secure a 2-1 victory. The win put Juventude de Gaia in a strong position at the top of Group B, while FC Tpaktop B were left still searching for their first points.

Game 5 of Group B saw two opening-game winners face off as FC Mahou took on AFC Shooters, with both sides eyeing top spot alongside Juventude de Gaia. These two teams had met at the 2022 Lisbon Veterans Tournament where they finished 1 st and 2 nd in the group table with FC Mahou winning the head-to-head match, 1-0.

A tight contest was expected, but FC Mahou—four-time tournament champions—quickly showed their pedigree. FC Mahou flew out of the blocks, with Oliver James netting twice and Michael Brandon (who scored the winner in the 2022 fixture) adding another to establish a 3-1 lead by half-time. AFC Shooters stayed in the contest thanks to Neil Adebowale, who grabbed his second goal of the tournament and kept his team within touching distance.

The second half remained competitive, but FC Mahou's experience told. James completed his hat-trick whilst loan signing Fabio gave Shooters a glimmer of hope. In the end, FC Mahou ran out 4-2 winners and joined Juventude de Gaia at the summit, while AFC Shooters were left to regroup after their first defeat.