The winner of a tie, to a single match, between the American team Los Angeles FC and the Mexican Table America will occupy the Plaza del Club León at the next 2025 Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States from June 15 to July 13, as announced by FIFA.
FIFA’s decision comes shortly after the Sports Arbitration Court (TAS), in Lausana, has rejected the appeals presented by the León, Pachuca clubs and the Alajuelense Sports League Association and indicate that it would be the highest world football body who designates the one to replace the first of them in that event.
In its statement, the FIFA has indicated having “received the decision adopted by the Deportivo Arbitration Court” and that, by virtue of the applicable regulations, it determines that the team that will replace the León Club in the competition will leave “a qualifying one between Los Angeles Football Club (runner -up of the Copa de la Concacaf champions in 2023 Club América (the best located club in the Confederations classification for the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the 2024 edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup) ».
“The winning team will be classified automatically for the FIFA 2025 Club World Cup and will occupy the position of the León Club in Group D,” it is pointed out, in addition to indicating that later the date, schedule and the stadium in which the match is played will be determined later. As it transpired in the media, at the close of our edition, the game would be in the city of Los Angeles (in neutral stadium) or in the city of Houston, on May 31.
Group D, according to the raffle made in its day, is occupied by the Brazilian club Flamengo, Tunisian spare and English Chelsea.
Club multipropt
In a decision adopted in March, FIFA, through its Appeal Commission, had determined that Mexicans Pachuca and León, both belonging to the Pachuca group and initially classified among the 32 teams that will play the 2025 Club World Cup had breached the FIFA Club World Regulations in relation to multiproprity.
Given this, FIFA had decided to exclude the lion from the competition. This club and the Pachuca appealed this decision before the Commission for the Appeal of the Maximum Soccer Agency requesting that it be annulled and declared that both clubs meet the eligibility requirements for participation in the aforementioned World Cup.
Subsequently, both requests were consolidated in a single case of appeal before the TAS, whose audience was held at the headquarters of this agency on May 5.
For his part, the Costa Rican Alajuelense had filed in February a lawsuit before the TAS, in search of occupying the square of one of the Mexican teams in question.
In the resource, also presented to FIFA, the Alajuelense argued that he was entitled to one of the Consacaf quotas by being the best classified team in the Confederation ranks, excluding Mexican teams and the American MLs.
The TAS has rejected the appeals presented by Pachuca and the Leon Club, since these “do not comply with the criteria related to the multipropriety of clubs, established in article 10.1 of the Regulation of the FIFA 2025 Club World Cup.”
Thus, the TAS, after examining the tests presented, including the lion trust created by the club’s owners, concluded that this trust was insufficient to comply with the regulation. Consequently, the Leon Club will continue to exclude from the competition and Pachuca will continue to be classified.
On the other hand, the appeal presented by the Alajuelense requesting the exclusion of one of the two Mexican clubs and being included as its substitute has also been rejected by the TAS.
The groups
This is the composition of the groups that will play the 2025 Club World Cup in United States fields, inluid in New Jersey:
– Group A:
Palmeiras (Bra), Porto (by), Al-Ahly (Egyo) and Inter Miami (USA).
– Group B:
Paris Saint-Germain (FR), Atlético de Madrid (ESP), Botafogo (Bra) and Seattle Sounders (USA).
– Group C:
Bayern Munich (Ger), Auckland City (NZL), Boca Juniors (ARG) and Benfica (by).
– Group D:
Flamengo (Bra), Chelsea (ENG), Espérance (Tun) and equipment to be defined (America or LAFC).
– Group E:
River Plate (ARG), Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN), Monterrey (MEX) and Inter Milan (ITA).
– Group F:
Fluminense (Bra), Borussia Dortmund (ger), Ulsan (Kor) and Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA).
– Group G:
Manchester City (ENG), Wydad Casablanca (Mar), Al Ain (UAE) and Juventus (Ita).
– Group H:
Real Madrid (ESP), Al Hilal (KSA), Pachuca (MEX) and Red Bull Salzburg (Ger).
