Los Angeles FC and Liga MX Side America will compete on May 31 at the BMO Stadium in the LAFC for the right to replace the León club at the 32 team World Cup of 32 teams will be held in the United States next month, a source confirmed in ESPN.
The Mexican team León finally lost its legal match against FIFA on Tuesday, being officially excluded from the club World Cup compared to the Multi-Club property rules of FIFA.
The Arbitration Court for Sport said that his judges had rejected León's attempt to overthrow FIFA of the tournament to be in the same property group as another club World Cup, Pachuca.
The León club initially obtained a place in the international tournament after winning the CONCACAF 2023 Champions Cup.
“All calls were consolidated in a single case case which was heard at the headquarters of the case in Lausanne, Switzerland, May 5, 2025 …”, said case in a statement. “The case committee rendered an operational decision rejecting the three calls and ruled that Pachuca and the León club had not met the criteria for the regulations of the FIFA World Club 2025 (art. 10.1) concerning the property of the multiple club.”
The legal dispute took place in Switzerland five months after FIFA allowed León to embark on the draw for the tournament in Miami despite the current multi-club property problem.
“The penalty was hard, the rivals very influential, the intense pressure and the very high issues,” the León club said in a press release. “But those who suffered the most along the way were our people: fans and footballers deserve more respect for an organization dedicated to the promotion of sport. But from the start, no sporting principle has existed in this case.”
The Fútbol Pachuca club of Grupo Pachuca has always been allowed to play after obtaining a place to win the CONCACAF 2024 Champions Cup.
The winner of the playoffs between Lafc and America will be guaranteed nearly $ 10 million from the World Cup Prize Club of $ 1 billion. The date and location of the playoffs were reported for the first time by Givemesport.
The tournament will start on June 14.
“FIFA hosts the decision taken by the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) to reject calls from the FF Pachuca, the León club and Asociación Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in relation to the World Cup of the FIFA 2025,” FIFA said in a press release.
“In Line with the Applicable Tournament Regulations, Fifa has decided that team to be admitted as a replacement for club león will be Determined through a play-off match Between Los Angeles FC (Runners-Up to Club León in the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup) and club American (top-round Cup Confederation Ranking at the Conclusion of the 2024 Edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Last Season Taken Into Account for clubs to qualify for the World Cup of FIFA 2025).
“The winners will automatically qualify for the World Cup of FIFA 2025 and will take the position of the León club in group D.”
The winner of the match will face Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16, then Esperance de Tunisie in Nashville and Flamengo from Brazil to Orlando.
Information from Jeff Carlisle d'Espn and The Associated Press was used in this report.
