From Club America to Al Nassr: Who should replace Club Leon at the FIFA Club World Cup?

The upcoming greatest club football tournament the world will have ever seen is suddenly one entrant short.

With just three months to go before the newly-expanded, 32-team FIFA Club World Cup, there is a vacancy to fill after Mexican side Club Leon — who were due to play Chelsea, Flamengo and ES Tunis in the group stage — were thrown out of the competition.

Leon, majority owned by Grupo Pachuca and with Colombian superstar James Rodriguez on their books, failed to meet FIFA’s criteria on multi-club ownership.

So who replaces them?

Well, that’s not entirely clear, and given both the complicated selection criteria for the tournament — has anyone yet worked out why Red Bull Salzburg, whose UEFA club coefficient ranking is 42, below that of AZ and West Ham United, are in? — and FIFA’s penchant for making the rules up as it goes along to suit its financial needs, who knows what it will come up with? (Lionel Messi FC, otherwise known as Inter Miami, were miraculously gifted a place under the guise of being MLS Supporters’ Shield winners — aka, having the league’s best regular-season record in the 2024 campaign, though they then went out of the title playoffs in the round of 16.)

The Athletic has taken a look at some viable candidates and some unlikely options.

But remember, this is FIFA. So anything goes.

Viable candidates

LAFC

Club Leon were in the tournament because they won the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup.

In layman’s terms, this is a Champions League for clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. So, in a similar vein to the most recent UEFA Champions League winners being included — Chelsea from 2021, Real Madrid from 2022 and 2024 and Manchester City from 2023 — the Concacaf Champions Cup winners from 2021 onwards earned qualification; Monterrey (2021), Seattle Sounders (2022), Pachuca (2024) and Leon.

Perhaps, then, the team Leon defeated in the 2023 final should take their place? That would be LAFC, who lost 3-1 on aggregate over two legs. It would also mean Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, two very marketable old-timers from their days in the Premier League and from winning the 2018 World Cup with France, taking part.

Club America

However, while there were four Concacaf Champions Cup winners in the past four years, you’ll notice that only three clubs won the UEFA Champions League, as Madrid did so twice.

FIFA didn’t choose to give a place via that route to either of the losing finalists on those occasions (Liverpool in 2022, Borussia Dortmund in 2024), which doesn’t bode well for LAFC.

Instead, other European clubs earned spots via the ‘UEFA ranking pathway’ — rankings based on their performances over a four-year period in the Champions League, which included the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter and, yes, Dortmund.

This is also how Salzburg qualified, although with the Austrians having only progressed past the group stage on one occasion from 2021-24 (they reached the last 16 in 2022, where they were demolished 8-2 on aggregate by Bayern), honestly, we just haven’t got anything for you. No idea.

There was no equivalent ‘Concacaf ranking pathway’ when FIFA selected its 32 teams, because there were only four Concacaf slots and they all went to Champions Cup winners.

So, if FIFA did switch to a ranking scenario to pick Leon’s replacement you could look at the official Concacaf Club Ranking Index.

Top of that list? Fellow Mexicans Club America, who won the domestic Liga MX title last season and are the best team in their country so far this season. Feels right, doesn’t it? Also feels far too much like common sense, so maybe rule it out.

Club America celebrate after victory over Tigres in the Campeon de Campeones final last summer (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

The 2025 Concacaf champions

Another idea that feels far too sensible to become a reality is to include the winners of the ongoing 2025 edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The competition is currently at the quarter-final stage and seven of the eight sides still involved aren’t currently in the Club World Cup field: LAFC, Vancouver Whitecaps and LA Galaxy from MLS, plus four Mexican teams in Club America, Cruz Azul, Tigres and Pumas UNAM.

The other team are Inter Miami. If they win it, just send the runners-up. Either way, the final is on June 1 and the Club World Cup starts two weeks later. Done.

Alajuelense

The Costa Rican side were the ones who pushed for FIFA to take action on the multi-club rules, saying in November they were willing to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a process they initiated last month.

Alajuelense said at the time: “The lawsuit demonstrates the existence of a multi-ownership between the Leon and Pachuca clubs, as well as the fact that no team has a greater right than ours to participate in the next Club World Cup.”

What those undeniable credentials are remains unclear. Alajuelense took part in the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup Club Leon won, but lost in the last 16 to LAFC and then went out at the same stage against another MLS side, New England Revolution, last season.

They have won the last two Concacaf Central American Cups, beating Real Esteli from Nicaragua in both finals, although in Concacaf’s official rankings they are a lowly 45th behind a host of MLS and Liga MX teams and even another Costa Rican one, with Herediano in 37th.

Alajuelense line up ahead of a game against Pumas UNAM in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup (Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)

Al Nassr

Come on. We’re all thinking it.

Al Nassr may not have won the Saudi Pro League for six years — and are currently 10 points behind this season’s leaders Al Ittihad — and have never won the Asian Champions League, but FIFA don’t need any excuse to crowbar Cristiano Ronaldo into this shindig.

You can just imagine the statement: “With few clubs able to step forward at such short notice, we are grateful to Crist… um, Al Nassr for volunteering to take part.”

FIFA has piles of match tickets they desperately need to sell and a worldwide television audience they desperately need to grow in order to justify the creation of this competition. They’ve put their reputation on the line (no smirking at the back there). Ronaldo or Club America? We know what they’d prefer.

Also, Club Leon may have been thrown out due to multi-club ownership, but that definitely doesn’t happen in Saudi Arabia, so no problem there.

Ronaldo would surely be keen (Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

Banter options

President Trump American All-Stars

Honestly, we say banter options, but parodies are increasingly difficult to conjure up when it comes to FIFA, or indeed the United States.

President Donald Trump has already shown an interest in the competition, or at least the shiny gold trophy which FIFA president Gianni Infantino left at the White House recently, so why not a team of U.S. heroes to show the rest of the world how to do it?

It would mean Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic, could play, given his club Milan aren’t involved, as well as the majority of the current USMNT squad, given that only a few, such as Gio Reyna (Dortmund), Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie (both Juventus) are currently due to feature.

“They will do things you can’t even imagine,” Trump would say when announcing the All-Star side. “They’re gonna kick that ball so hard and so fast, you won’t even see it move.”

President Trump and FIFA president Infantino at the White House (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Wrexham

Hollywood glamour is sorely lacking from this tournament as it stands. Wrexham may only be the 46th-best team in the English football pyramid, but who cares about minor details like that when Deadpool is involved?

Get Wrexham there and stick Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in a glass viewing booth hovering directly over the centre of the pitch, so we can watch their every emotion as the games unfold, instead of looking at the actual match. That’s how it works on TV anyway.

Manchester United

They’re only 13th in the Premier League and one of the worst Manchester United teams in living memory? Completely irrelevant.

As Sir Jim Ratcliffe says, United are the “world’s favourite football club” and “arguably the biggest”. Surely that’s strong enough criteria to send them to the Club World Cup? It doesn’t matter that they haven’t even reached a Champions League quarter-final since 2019, or won the English title in 12 years. These things just aren’t important.

What, they do matter? OK fine, well Sir Jim also says United will soon have “the most iconic football stadium in the world”, so how about pre-emptive inclusion for that?

No? You’re a tough taskmaster. Wait, got it: by 2028, Sir Jim says United will be the most profitable club in the world. He’s great, isn’t he? Surely that counts?

Hmmm. Did you see that Alejandro Garnacho won the most recent FIFA Puskas Award for his spectacular overhead kick against Everton? Yep, an actual award. That’ll do. Get them on the plane.

Garnacho scores a goal worthy of the Club World Cup (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Leeds United

Winners of the English Attendance Cup for the last 53 years in a row and counting.

If FIFA is worried about shifting tickets, put Leeds in the tournament and watch all those seats get snapped up in mere seconds. It doesn’t matter how big the stadium is; 20,000, 70,000, 500,000… if Leeds are playing there, those fans will fill it.

Tottenham Hotspur

Don’t even talk to us about trophies. Spurs have the most TikTok followers of any Premier League club, with 38.9 million.

Just think of those views, Gianni.

Burnley

With a recent run of 12 clean sheets in a row in the Championship, or just two goals conceded in their last 16 league matches, or only 11 in 38 games all season long, Burnley possess the greatest defence ever to have stepped foot on a football field.

It’s time to put that claim to the test. Against Auckland City.

(Top photo: Getty Images)