Tigres now among teams raising hands to be candidate to replace León in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

The exclusion of Club León from the upcoming Club World Cup due to violating the multi-ownership regulation has led several teams to put themselves forward for the vacant spot. The most recent name to emerge is Tigres, who won the Champions Cup in 2020.

Their argument? They hope that FIFA could go back one year among the CONCACAF Champions Cup winners and count the 2020 title.

Tigres' Sporting President, Mauricio Culebro, remained reserved, emphasizing that his focus is on the club and that the decision is not for him to make.

"I understand FIFA's decision and León's situation. If it’s our turn, we’ll handle it well," he said to Diario Récord. He also left the door open for Tigres to be considered, saying "Who wouldn’t want to go to a Club World Cup? There is still history to be written."

América, Tigres, and Alajuelense are three teams interested in taking the spot left by Club León in the Club World Cup to be held in June. América argues that they are the highest-ranked team in CONCACAF, while Tigres wants the 2020 Champions Cup title to be considered valid.

The Costa Rican team has filed a claim with the TAS, stating that they are the best team in Central America. It is still pending for León to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"They (León) earned it, and we'll see what happens. I would have loved to qualify that way, but we'll see what happens. We went to a Club World Cup, and I think we represented Mexico very well, but we would have loved to go to this new edition," André-Pierre Gignac, the French forward, said in an interview with Diario Récord.

Goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán shared the following: "If everyone is putting in their chip, I'll put in my chip for Tigres too. It wouldn't be bad if they were chosen for this Club World Cup."

That said, he also showed his support for León, saying "It's a team that earned it on the field, and that has a lot of value."

The team coached by Guido Pizarro will visit América this Saturday in Matchday 13 of the Clausura 2025. Tigres currently holds third place with 25 points, and with a victory over Las Águilas, combined with León not winning against Pumas, they could take the lead in the tournament.