León was booted from the Club World Cup, but its fans still showed up

ATLANTA – Israel Ornelas smiled as he walked with his 10-year-old son through the Mercedes-Benz Stadium concourse on Monday. The two were wearing green Club León shirts, and even though the scoreboard had LAFC as the home side and Chelsea as the visitor, Ornela and his son walked briskly to get to their seats.

The excitement of watching a Club World Cup match in person was momentarily extinguished, however, when Ornelas, 35, spoke about the expulsion of his beloved León from the tournament.

“It was a feeling of anger and helplessness,” he said. “What can you do? I mean, who can stand up to those organizations?”

In March, FIFA kicked León, the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup winner, from the 32-team Club World Cup. León is owned by Grupo Pachuca, which also owns CF Pachuca of Liga MX. FIFA declared that León had violated the competition’s multi-ownership regulations. Pachuca was spared while León was erased from the annals of the 2025 tournament. That didn’t prevent a few hundred León fans from traveling to Atlanta to support their club – or at least the club’s cause.

Before the sparsely attended match, a group of León fans gathered outside the stadium and sang some of the club’s popular chants. “Dale, Dale León!” One León fan yelled “Pinche FIFA!” (F— FIFA) while several others yelled “Robo!” (Robbery) in unison. León’s star winter signing James Rodríguez called FIFA’s decision “a grave injustice.”

“We won on the pitch. The club and the players are hurt by this,” Rodríguez told reporters in March. “Thinking about this, if we’re out, it’s not fair. The team that would replace us would be stained, football would be stained. So many fans have planned to travel to the tournament, how do you tell them that they can’t go?”

Have just arrived at Mercedes Benz Stadium for Chelsea v LAFC. The loudest fans outside are from Club León.

“Pinche FIFA!” they yelled. (“F— FIFA”) pic.twitter.com/qxBFTlHIK9

— Felipe Cárdenas (@FelipeCar) June 16, 2025

León appealed FIFA’s decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the decision was upheld in May. FIFA then announced that LAFC, which had lost to León in that 2023 final, would face Mexico’s Club América in Los Angeles in a one-game playoff. The winner would replace León in Group D. LAFC prevailed 2-1 on May 31.

On Sunday, Ornelas and his son had traveled from Guanajuato, León, to Atlanta for what would’ve been their club’s tournament opener. He said a feeling of helplessness consumed him when León’s fate was sealed.

“We made this plan six months ago,” Ornelas said. “It was supposed to be a father-son trip. We went through with it even though our team didn’t come. To us, it feels more like mafia and business than football. But the plan was set, and we decided to come take the trip, get to know the place, and now also support Chelsea.”

“Our spot was earned on the field,” Ornelas added passionately. “It was earned on the field and not respected in the boardroom. So, are we men or clowns?”

Alexis Falcón, 31, and his friend, Alejandro Vargas, 35, traveled from León and landed in Atlanta a few hours before kickoff. The two chanted “León! León!” as they rode a stadium escalator up to the second-floor concourse.

“We came to support León,” Falcón said. “We bought the tickets during the presale on day one, and honestly, we feel it’s very unfair that we’re not playing.”

“FIFA didn’t respond to give us a refund because we didn’t have a U.S. credit card,” Vargas interjected. “Then we said, well, let’s go anyway.”

Like Ornelas, Vargas resented that León had been removed from the Club World Cup on a technicality.

“It was lost at somebody’s desk,” he said. “The fans aren’t to blame for the multi-ownership issue and all that. We earned our spot on the field.”

Club Leon’s fans, donning their green kits, showed up to what should have been their team’s opener at the FIFA Club World Cup. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

León’s late scratch had caused panic two hours away in Macon, Ga. FIFA had designated Mercer University as the León’s training site. Mercer went through a meticulous FIFA process to ensure that the field was up to the governing body’s standards.

“A World Cup representative is here three times a week, measuring the grass, taking temperatures — that’s how intense it is,” Mercer athletic director Jim Cole told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month. 

When word reached city and university officials that León would not be part of the competition, the university’s $1 million investment in a pristine on-campus football pitch suddenly felt wasted. But FIFA simply removed León from their Club World Cup training facility Excel sheet and entered LAFC. The Mercer University field is impressive, but the logistics are less than ideal for the team from Southern California. Rather than commuting a few minutes from a nearby downtown Atlanta hotel, LAFC spent four hours on a bus on match day.

“Being a part of this competition is for us more important than dealing with maybe what’s not perfect in the preparation,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, whose team ultimately fell 2-0 to Chelsea in León’s place on the temporary grass at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “So for us, it’s not really a big deal. We accept all the challenges that have come our way. We’ve had two weeks to prepare for three teams. And being obviously away from home, still in the United States, but a place that we probably wouldn’t visit too often. But again, we accept all the challenges, because we really want to be here and show well and try to make a statement.”

It’s safe to say that León wouldn’t have complained either. A ticket to the Club World Cup is priceless for clubs that don’t typically face European opposition in a meaningful way. León was also seeking some redemption after being eliminated by Urawa Red Diamonds in the second round of the 2023, seven-team edition of the Club World Cup.

“I feel sad because León should be here playing and we should be supporting León today,” said 16-year-old Estela González, a Mexican-American who traveled to Atlanta from Chicago with 15 other family members. “We were robbed. It’s a robbery for our country.”

“We were deceived,” said Estela’s godmother Rosa Guerra. “We came so we wouldn’t lose what we had already invested. Because we were robbed, literally.”

At a nearby concession stand, Ramiro Castillo, 34 and a resident of Atlanta, stood by himself before ordering a beer. He was wearing a white León away kit. He was supposed to have been accompanied by a large group of family members who have long supported their favorite club back in Mexico. Instead, Castillo arrived alone to watch two teams with whom he had no connection.

“I had the hope of seeing my team play this match,” Castillo said. “I had it planned since they won the Champions Cup. We had planned to come with the family, and now we’re left with this feeling of sadness and frustration.”

(Top photo: Felipe Cardenas/The Athletic)