The $10M Match: LAFC vs. Club América | OneFootball

Tomorrow night at BMO Stadium will be one of those Big Deals. You know, the type of opportunities that come around once in a lifetime. It’s a winner take all match, with the extra time and penalty shootout if need be. The victory gets that vacant spot in Group D of the FIFA Club World Cup that starts June 14th. Oh, and the nearly $10M guaranteed participation money.

Kickoff is at 10:30pm ET on Saturday, May 31.You can stream the match on DAZN.com and the DAZN app; it will also broadcast on TBS (English), UniMás and TUDN (Spanish).

Isn’t It A Little Late to Be Choosing the Final Team?

Yes. In fact, it’s a LOT late. We covered how the Mexican club Léon was ousted from their spot earlier this year. But here’s a quick summary:

How Were These Two Teams Selected?

Good question. As three of the four CONCACAF spots were determined by the winners of the Champions League tournament, the next club in line would have to be selected from the confederations ranking pathway. You can go look at that right here on FIFA’s website but here’s a screenshot.

FIFA CONCACAF Confederations Ranking (Source)

The first thing you’ll notice is Club América sitting right there in second position, though numbered 3 (FWIW Club Léon is #2 but currently purged from the table). LAFC is… well, all the way down in 10th. From what I understand, because LAFC lost the 2023 Champions League final to Léon, they leap over the other higher ranked teams. Never mind that Columbus Crew were also in a final (2024) AND also reached a quarter-final (2021). Or that Philadelphia Union made two semi-finals (2021, 2023), a Round of 16 (2024) AND have a stadium already hosting games.

So Will It Be a Good Game?

Will so much on the line, it should be. But to be honest, both teams aren’t at their sharpest. For those who like history, the head-to-head is 2W LAFC, 1W América.

Club América’s last six fixtures in the Clausura saw them go two each in wins, draws and losses with a cumulative scoreline of 4 – 3. Las Águilas will sit back and absorb the LAFC attack, then try to pip via quick counters. The team relies heavily on attacking midfielders Álvaro Fidalgo and Alejandro Zendejas to lead their offense and create (and finish) chances. They have 17/9a between them. All four of their forwards have a goal tally less than these two. But as you can see, they don’t score much, and they concede even less.

LAFC have produced 2 wins (both shutouts) and 4 draws (all of which were 2 – 2) in their last six. Unlike América, I expect them to come out on the front foot and try to score early. Expect to see lots of service to Denis Bouanga on the left; he already has 10g/3a in 20 games. When it’s crunch time, expect Olivier Giroud to come on and try to score one of his trademark game-winning headers. Defensively, LAFC can be extremely porous but seasoned defender Ryan Hollingshead will shore up that left side. And don’t forget the wily veteran Hugo Lloris between the posts. He’s seen his share of big matches, and came up big.

Final Thoughts

In his Friday press conference, defender Ryan Hollingshead praised Club América for their consistent excellence over the years, and referred to them as “the LAFC of La Liga MX.” Not sure they’ll take that as a high compliment, but he was sincere and will certainly not be taking this game lightly. And neither will anyone else on the pitch.

Even for clubs of this size, $10M is worth fighting for.