Los Angeles FC and Liga MX side América will face off on May 31 at LAFC’s BMO Stadium for the right to replace Club León at the 32-team Club World Cup to be held in the United States next month, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Mexican side León finally lost its legal match against FIFA on Tuesday, officially being ruled out of the Club World Cup over FIFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges rejected León’s attempt to overturn being removed by FIFA from the tournament for being in the same ownership group as another Club World Cup entry, Pachuca.
Club León originally earned a spot in the international tournament after winning the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup.
“All appeals were consolidated into a single CAS case which was heard at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 5 May 2025…” CAS said in a statement. “The CAS Panel has issued an Operative Decision dismissing the three appeals and ruled that Pachuca and Club León failed to meet the criteria in the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Club 2025 (Art. 10.1) concerning multiple club ownership.”
The legal dispute played out in Switzerland five months after FIFA let León go into the tournament draw in Miami despite the pending multi-club ownership issue.
“The sentence was harsh, the rivals very influential, the pressure intense, and the stakes very high,” said Club León in a statement. “But those who have suffered most along the way have been our people: fans and footballers deserve more respect from an organization dedicated to promoting sports. But from the beginning, no sporting principle existed in this case.”
Grupo Pachuca’s Club de Fútbol Pachuca was still cleared to play after securing a spot for winning the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
The winner of the playoff between LAFC and América will be guaranteed almost $10 million from the Club World Cup prize money fund of $1 billion. The date and location of the playoff was first reported by GiveMeSport.
The tournament will begin on June 14.
“FIFA welcomes the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reject the appeals of CF Pachuca, Club León and Asociación Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025,” FIFA said in a statement.
“In line with the applicable tournament regulations, FIFA has decided that the 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 América (top-ranked team in the FIFA Club World 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 FIFA Club World Cup 2025).
“The winners will automatically qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and will take the position of Club León in Group D.”
The winner of the game will face Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville, and Flamengo of Brazil in Orlando.
Information from ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle and The Associated Press was used in this report.
