Club officially axed from 2025 Club World Cup as FIFA announce shock plan for their replacement team

A top side has officially been kicked out of the 2025 Club World Cup and the stunning way that their replacement will be picked has been decided.

Next month, 32 of the biggest and best clubs in football will travel to the United States of America to compete in a transformed version of the Club World Cup.

The likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich will all face off in the competition, with the first match set to get underway on June 14 following the end of standard football season.

But just weeks before the competition gets underway, one side has been axed from the competition, with a replacement set to join in the near future.

In Match, it was confirmed that Mexican side Club Leon had lost their place in the Club World Cup after allegedly breaching multi-club ownership rules, as parent company Grupo Pachuca also owns fellow participants Pachuca.

Shortly after, Club Leon launched an appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which has now confirmed that they will not be overturning the decision and Leon will therefore be unable to compete this summer.

Leon had argued the club had been sufficiently placed in a blind trust, removing any conflict from both Leon and Pachuca competing at the Club World Cup, but CAS rejected this argument, deciding that Leon could not remain in the competition, with Pachuca remaining.

CAS also confirmed that Costa Rican side Alajuelense also failed in their appeal to take the now vacant spot having been the club that initially flagged the conflict between Leon and Pachuca.

The official statement from CAS read: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the appeals filed by Club Leon, Club de Futbol Pachuca (Pachuca) and Asociacion Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) against FIFA decisions in relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

The Club World Cup is set to get underway in June. (Image: Getty)

"The FIFA Appeal Committee decided in March 2025 that Pachuca and Club León breached the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Club 2025 (Art. 10.1) concerning multiple club ownership. Due to this breach, the FIFA Secretary General decided to remove Club León from the competition."

Instead, FIFA will now host a play-off match between Club America and Los Angeles FC to determine who gets the final spot vacated by Leon in Group D.

The date and location of the play-off is yet to be announced, but the winning side will face face Chelsea, Flamengo and ES Tunis in the group stage and earn guaranteed entry fee of $9.55million (£7.14m).