Los Angeles FC and Liga MX side América will face off on May 31st at LAFC’s BMO Stadium for the right to replace Club Leon at the 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the US next month.
Mexican side Leon ultimately lost his legal match against FIFA on Tuesday and was officially removed from the Club World Cup over FIFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
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The Sports Arbitration Court said the judge rejected Leon’s attempts, which were removed by FIFA from the tournament, as he belongs to the same ownership group as another club World Cup entry, Pachuca.
Club Leon originally won a spot in the international tournament after winning the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
“All appeals were consolidated into a single CAS case heard at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland on May 5, 2025…” CAS said in a statement. “The CAS Panel issued an operational decision to dismiss three appeals and determined that Pachuca and Club León did not meet the standards for the FIFA World Cup Club 2025 (Article 10.1) regulations regarding the ownership of multiple clubs.”
A legal dispute in Switzerland five months after FIFA led Leon to enter the tournament draw in Miami despite pending multiclub ownership issues.
“The sentence was tough, the rivals were very influential, pressure-resistant and very high interest,” Club Leon said in a statement. “But the people who suffer the most along the way were our people. Fans and soccer players deserve more respect from organizations dedicated to promoting sports. But from the start, in this case, there was no principle of sports.”
Grupo Pachuca’s club DeFútbol Pachuca was still allowed to play after securing the place where he won the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Leon will not play in the FIFA Club World Cup. Leopold Smith/Getty Images
The winner of the playoffs between LAFC and América is guaranteed almost $10 million from the $1 billion Club World Cup Prize Fund. The playoff date and location was first reported by Givemesport.
The tournament will start on June 14th.
“FIFA welcomes the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 to reject the suit of CF Pachuca, Club Leon and Associa Sionly Gun De Portiva Alajurenze.
“In line with applicable tournament regulations, FIFA has decided that teams recognized as Club Leon’s alternatives will be determined through playoff matches between Los Angeles FC (runner-up against Club Leon in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup) and Club Aimakka (top-ranked teams at the top-ranked World Cup Cup in the Cup ranked in the FIFA Club World Cup Cup season). Clubs to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 are being considered).
“The winners will automatically qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and will earn Club Leon status in Group D.”
The winner of the game will face Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16th, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville and Flamengo in Orlando.
This report used information from ESPN’s Jeff Carlyle and the Associated Press.
