CF Pachuca are the winners of the Concacaf Champions Cup 2024 after a convincing 3-0 home win over Columbus Crew, in a game played at the Estadio Hidalgo on 1 June.

This success means Pachuca join Club Leon, Monterrey and Seattle Sounders as Concacaf’s four representatives at the new FIFA Club World Cup™, which will be held between 15 June and 13 July 2025. Los Tuzos also booked their involvement in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024™.

In addition to the euphoria that comes with celebrating a major title, the night’s leading protagonists could not stop smiling when asked about having sealed a place at the FIFA Club World Cup™.

“We’ve done a very thorough job, the players have given it everything, showing great qualities,” said Pachuca coach Guillermo Almada. “It’s a very young squad but they’ve got so many positives it’d take me a long time to list them and speak about them now. This gives us the opportunity to take part in the Mundial de Clubes [FIFA Club World Cup] which is one of the biggest goals that a footballer or coach could have.

“We’re going to be representing Mexico and we hope to do so with dignity, despite the fact that there’s still a pretty long time to go before we take part,” added Almada. “But this is a very important challenge for all of us.”

Singing from the same hymn sheet as his coach was Pachuca captain Gustavo Cabral: “Our goal was to be crowned champions and this has opened the door to the Mundial de Clubes [FIFA Club World Cup]. To tell the truth, it was a dream [come true].

“Today we’ve achieved our goal of winning the ‘Concachampions’, lifting the trophy and starting dreaming of the Mundial de Clubes [FIFA Club World Cup] about being there and being able to compete,” Cabral continued. “That’s because we’re not just aiming to go there and see what happens. It’s to go there and really compete and do what we’re capable of out on the pitch both when we play here in Mexico and when we play internationally.”

It was Columbus Crew who started the stronger and had Pachuca pinned back, creating a couple of opportunities in the opening minutes which required saves from Los Tuzos’ keeper Carlos Moreno to deny them.

Pachuca, however, soon began to ease their way into the game and come the 11th minute struck the first blow. Following a quick passing exchange, Salomón Rondón latched onto a through pass from Erick Sánchez to go one-on-one with the keeper and dink the ball neatly into the net.

Come the 32nd minute Sánchez shone once more, carrying the ball through midfield before feeding Emilio Rodríguez to score with a first-time finish that gave Crew shotstopper Patrick Schulte no chance.

The visitors did not let their heads drop and the rest of the first half became a genuine back-and-forth encounter, though Columbus Crew could not find a way to reduce the deficit.

In the second half it was Rondón who netted again to increase his side’s lead. The Venezuelan striker received the ball with his back to goal before turning smartly to fire home his second of the night, rounding off a memorable performance for Los Tuzos and their supporters. The powerful forward also ended up taking the competition’s best player and leading goalscorer awards.