Who Will Replace Club León at the 2025 Club World Cup?

Three months before the start of the revamped Club World Cup, FIFA surprised everyone by announcing the exclusion of Club León. The Mexican team had secured its ticket by winning the 2023 Concachampions, but the tournament's rules are clear: a single entity cannot have influence over more than one team in the competition. Sharing ownership with Pachuca, also qualified, León was left out. This was confirmed by FIFA following a protest filed by Costa Rica's Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, which had questioned the dual representation of Grupo Pachuca since 2024.

• Read also: James Rodríguez will not play in the Club World Cup. León is disqualified from the tournament

Now that León has been officially excluded, the big question is who will take their place. According to Bolavip, the leading candidate is Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, not only because they were the club that filed the original complaint over multi-ownership, but also because — based on the FIFA ranking for CONCACAF published in December 2024, which serves as the official reference — they were the highest-ranked non-qualified team.

However, Herediano is also in contention. According to ESPN, the Costa Rican side is currently the highest-ranked in the region if MLS and Liga MX clubs are excluded. Though this advantage would be relative if it is confirmed that the valid ranking is last December's.

Meanwhile, LAFC has another strong argument: they were finalists in the 2023 Concachampions, having lost precisely to León. With the champion disqualified, they could claim the spot as runners-up of that edition.

Finally, the powerful Club América emerges. As leaders of the CONCACAF ranking and the FIFA club ranking among Mexican teams, the Azulcremas could claim a spot, although there are already two Mexican representatives in the tournament, complicating their bid. A similar situation arises with Philadelphia Union, which was the highest-ranked MLS team in the CONCACAF FIFA ranking before the host spot was awarded to Inter Miami. However, with Miami and Seattle already qualified, the maximum quota of two teams per country would already be covered. Any of these options would require a regulatory change that seems unlikely.

Meanwhile, León has already announced that they will appeal the decision to the CAS. But FIFA, in the coming hours, must announce who will replace the team that had been placed in Group D alongside Chelsea, Flamengo, and Espérance. The decision will undoubtedly shake the CONCACAF board.