There are some teams available as alternates after León’s ejection, and it will lead to a spot between American football teams: LAFC and América. Will FIFA reward the higher-ranked side, or give it to the team that narrowly missed out on qualification?
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) has ruled on one of the most controversial issues of 2025. Just months before the start of the Club World Cup, FIFA had denied Club León’s participation in the tournament for failing to comply with one of the rules imposed by the highest governing body of soccer at a global level.
FIFA argued that the participation of two clubs with the same owner would not be allowed, and both León and Pachuca are part of Grupo Pachuca. Thus, one of the two had to be disqualified from the competition. That ended up being the team that has James Rodríguez on its roster.
TAS sides with FIFA
After the Mexican team appealed to CAS to argue its reasons for participating in the 2025 Club World Cup, this Tuesday – just over five weeks before the start of the tournament – the Court ruled, confirming that León will not be part of the contest.
In its statement, CAS assigned the responsibility to FIFA to designate its replacement. There has been no official confirmation on this yet, but the main idea of the organization led by Gianni Infantino supposes a final between LAFC and América. The Yankee team lost that Concachampions final that left León in the CWC, and the Eagles are currently the best team in the Concacaf ranking.
LAFC and América frontrunners to replace León
Other alternatives, such as Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, who led the claim before FIFA, do not seem to be a possibility for the highest body in world soccer.
The only thing that is certain is that Club León will not play in the Club World Cup, and that Chelsea, Flamengo, and Esperanzas de Tunís should be attentive to what FIFA decides with the replacement for the Mexican team. For now, América and LAFC are the favorites to occupy that place, with LAFC most likely to be chosen.
