Nathan Ordaz and LaFC will fight with America for a FIFA club world in Los Angeles, United States; We expand
Los Angeles FC (LAFC) and Nathan Ordaz They will be hosts of the May 31 repechage party against America of Mexico for the last place at stake for the new Club World Cup FIFA.
The governing body of world football confirmed on Friday the date and headquarters of the Repe.
“This party is totally neutral and is led by FIFA,” said its competition director, Manolo Zubiría, in a press videoconference.
On the choice of BMO Stadium, an enclosure for 22,000 spectators near the center of Los Angeles, Zubiría said that the “number one priority” of the FIFA was that the clash was played in a city headquarters of the World Cup, which starts on June 14.
“It is important for the competition that this party is part of it,” he said. “Being so close to the inauguration, it is an opportunity for us and for fans to get an idea of what the competition is going to be.”
The winner of the Repechaje will replace the Mexican León, who was separated from the World Cup for being part of the same owner group as Pachuca, another participating squad, a situation prohibited by FIFA regulations.
The exclusion was validated on May 6 when the Arbitral Court of Sports (TAS) rejected the appeal of the Lion.
With that rush of time, FIFA found difficulties in finding an alternative stadium to that of the FC for sports activities or shows already scheduled in the other Los Angeles enclosures, Zubiría said.
“Los Angeles was always an objective because we are going to play six games there,” Zubiría said in reference to the matches of the first phase that will be played at the Rose Bowl stadium, with capacity for 88,500 spectators.
“We are going to be a majority”
On the team's side, America acknowledged that “the ideal” would have been to play repechage in a completely neutral headquarters, but trusted to have the support of a large part of the stadium due to the huge Mexican community in California.
“We, like any team, requested the stadium neutrality, but we also understand that FIFA made a great effort to find a large and neutral stadium,” said Héctor González Iñárritu, president of Operations of the Eagles.
“We are sure that we are going to be a majority there. We have many fans of America (in Los Angeles), plus other countrymen of Mexico,” he said.
The LAFC said it was outside this selection process and does not consider that it will have a substantial importance over the grass.
“Obviously we are grateful to know what will be in our stadium, but I don't think that decides the game. I think that the fans of America will go mass, just like ours,” said John Thorrington, general manager of this American league franchise (MLS).
In a very close precedent, both squads saw the faces in February in a friendly played in the BMO Stadium that won the local team 2-1 with wide Mexican presence in the stands.
León substitute
The French LAFC Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, who occupies the fifth position of the West Conference of the MLS, obtained the right to have been a finalist of the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2023, whose winner was León.
America, immersed in the semifinals of the Local Tournament Clausura 2025, agreed to be the best place in the Confederations classification for the Club World Cup at the end of the 2024 edition of the Concachampions.
The winner of the Repechaje will be framed in Group D of the Tournament together with the Chelsea of England, the Flamengo of Brazil and the spare of Tunisia.
The Club World Cup, first extended to 32 teams, will be played between June 14 and July 13 in 12 stadiums throughout the United States.
