Black & Gold bring in the Dutch forward, playing in Liga MX since February 2024, on loan with the right to buy to fortify their FIFA Club World Cup roster.

Denis Bouanga scored the game-winner in the waning moments of extra time, and LAFC came from behind to stun Liga MX giant Club América, 2-1, to clinch a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Denis Bouanga scored late in extra time and Los Angeles FC dramatically secured the final spot in the FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Club América in a play-in match on Saturday night. Igor Jesus tied it for LAFC in the 89th minute, slipping ...

LAFC defeated Club América 2–1 in extra time to become the final team qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in one of the greatest nights in club history.

LAFC will also join fellow MLS sides Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders in the Club World Cup, while América is left to lick even more wounds, playing in Saturday night’s event fresh off falling short in the Liga MX final vs. Toluca. Pachuca and Monterrey will remain as Mexico’s lone Club World Cup entrants.

The entire scene spooked American soccer. It led to finger-pointing and fears that the next major international tournaments on U.S. soil — the 2026 World Cup and 2025 Club World Cup, which kicks off Saturday in Miami — could be similarly unsafe. It stunned New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who, the morning after the madness, called a meeting.

“As one of the best clubs in the world, you are deserved participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025,” Infantino announced. Fifa later explained in a statement that Inter Miami won the place “on the basis of the club’s outstanding and consistent 34-match campaign.”

For Major League Soccer teams, international matches tend to be low-stakes duels such as San Diego FC’s friendly last week against Club América, the Mexican powerhouse. The 32-team Club World Cup that begins Saturday night in Miami Gardens, Fla., will count as a large step up from those dalliances.