New Zealand's Auckland City claimed third place at the Club World Cup on Saturday after defeating Cruz Azul 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to become the first Oceania team to win a medal at the tournament.

The two sides were locked 1-1 at the end of normal time with defender Ryan de Vries' goal in first-half injury time equalised by Joao Rojas' close-range effort just before the hour mark for the Mexican side.

In the shoot-out, Sanni Issa scored the eventual winner for the semi-professionals from Auckland.

The Kiwis had made the third-place play-off by beating Moroccan side Moghreb Tetouan 1-0 and then seeing off African champions Setif of Algeria by the same score.

They narrowly missed out on a place in the final when they conceded an extra-time goal in a 2-1 loss to San Lorenzo of Argentina.

South American champions San Lorenzo will face European champions Real Madrid in the final to be played later Saturday.