Club World Cup: LAFC vs. Esperance de Tunis Preview
A loss prevents LAFC from advancing
LAFC was a last-minute addition to this Club World Cup and they may be on their way out just as quickly as they found their way in. They dropped their opener against Chelsea in front of 22,137 people at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. They may have lost but they never appeared overwhelmed and certainly didn’t shrink from the moment. It was always going to be a tall task to get three points against the 4th place team from the English Premier League. But not getting embarrassed in their opener doesn’t mean a whole lot. Now, their tournament life is on the line in Nashville against Esperance de Tunis.
This really should have been a game that featured Club Leon from Liga MX in Mexico but were ruled out by FIFA due to the multi-club ownership policy (Leon is owned by Groupo Pachuca, who also owns CF Pachuca, another participant in this tournament). Because of this ruling, FIFA had another spot to fill and opted for a playoff between LAFC (CONCACAF Champions League runners-up to Leon in 2023) and Club America (the highest ranked CONCACAF team). They left late against America as Igor Jesus equalized in the 89th minute before Denis Bouanga scored the winner in the 115th minute.
Esperance de Tunis got here much the same way Club America got into the playoff against LAFC. They were the 4th ranked team in Africa over a four year run. But they have had quite the domestic season this year. They won the Tunisian Ligue 1, the Tunisian Cup, and Tunisian Super Cup. They even made an appearance in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals. SO far at this tournament, they dropped their opening game 2-0 to Flamengo in front of 25,797 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The man for LAFC to watch out for is Youcef Belaili who bagged 19 goals across all competitions.
When, Where
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Stadium: Geodis Park
City: Nashville, TN
Time: 6pm ET
TV: DAZN
How They Qualified
LAFC: Playoff vs. Club America
Esperance de Tunis: 4-year CAF ranking
Group D Standings
Flamengo - 3pts (+2 GD)
Chelsea - 3pts (+2 GD)
LAFC - 0pts (-2 GD)
Esperance de Tunis - 0pts (-2 GD)
Photo Credit: Goal.com