A fascinating situation is unfolding that could allow the Philadelphia Union to participate in the 2025 Club World Cup, despite their 2024 season.
This opportunity arises due to a potential issue with multi-club ownership rules affecting Mexico’s Grupo Pachuca, which owns both Pachuca and León of Liga MX. Both clubs qualified by winning the 2023 and 2024 editions of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
FIFA’s rules for the new Club World Cup format prohibit multiple clubs with the same ownership from participating, as well as allowing only two clubs from a single country. Based on this, Club América of Mexico is also ineligible due to Monterrey qualifying. Therefore, if either Pachuca or León is disqualified, the next in line would be Costa Rican club Alajuelense, as the highest-ranked non-U.S. team.
However, if FIFA makes an exception for Inter Miami as the host club, allowing it not to count against the two-per-nation limit, the Philadelphia Union would then be next in the rankings.
It’s a lot of “if this, then that,” but there’s a real chance Philadelphia could unexpectedly gain a significant payday—potentially around $50 million, as Jim Curtin mentioned back in April—for being in the 2025 Club World Cup.
**Of note, the rules PDF was just released this past October.**
Unreal.
It's the hope that kills ya.
Excellent reporting, Jose.