Club Léon Ousted from the FIFA Club World Cup | OneFootball

Breaking news from on the FIFA Club World Cup front.

(Source: Ben Jacobs via X)

While the Mexican side qualified through the Byzantine and labyrinthian selection process by virtue of winning the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup, FIFA executives overlooked one minor detail… ownership. Club Léon happens to be owned by a consortium called Grupo Pachuca. Surprise, surprise, Grupo Pachuca happens to also own Pachuca C.F., who qualified for the Cup by winning the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. D’oh!

It’s completely understandable that FIFA’s flesh-covered algorithms missed this trifling point, while also turning a blind eye to their own tournament bylaws which prohibit multiple clubs owned by the same entity from participating during the same event. Mistakes happen.

So Who Will Replace Them?

But now, in addition to scrubbing all remnants of Club Léon from the websites, a new team has to be plugged into Group D. Hm… if only there was some sort of ranking to determine this….

Oh wait, there is! FIFA maintains a club ranking. It’s even publicly available via their website. Here’s the current top ten within CONCACAF. Teams with the green label on the left were the initial qualifiers.

FIFA CONCACAF club ranking (Source)

By all logic, the next two teams could have a playoff to replace Léon. And a playoff is exactly what will happen, with a FIFA twist. Club América is in, and there’s no controversy there. But instead of 4th ranked Philadelphia Union, the rumor mill is saying it will feature… 10th ranked LAFC? Frankly, this makes no sense. Philly is already hosting Club World Cup games. They’re a far stronger team in the current MLS season. So, why LAFC?

Or why not the Vancouver Whitecaps? Despite being a lowly 26th in the ranking, they’re white hot right now and have already eliminated Inter Miami in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Besides, pulling in a Canadian club would be great marketing for next year’s World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting along with the U.S. and Mexico.

There are some mysteries that we cannot explain, and it looks like the FIFA Club World Cup selections are now one of them.

As for Club Léon, in the words of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks “Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good.”

Hooligan Going All In

The FIFA Club World Cup will be held in the United States between June 14th and July 13th. Hooligan will be hosting a daily podcast covering all the action! Click here to find out more and subscribe!