Soccer

Mexican club wants a spot in Flamengo's group at the 2025 Club World Cup

After León-MEX was excluded from the competition, several Concacaf teams are eyeing the opportunity to enter Mengão's group

Tigres, from Mexico, wants León's place in Flamengo's group at the 2025 Club World Cup - Photo: Reproduction/Twitter
Tigres, from Mexico, wants León's place in Flamengo's group at the 2025 Club World Cup - Photo: Reproduction/Twitter

26 Mar 2025 | 14:15 |

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León 's exclusion from the 2025 Super Club World Cup , scheduled for mid-year, generated speculation and the desire of other clubs to try to join Flamengo 's group in the competition. The reason for the disqualification was a complaint from Alajuelense, from Costa Rica, which pointed out that the Pachuca Group — owner of León and Pachuca — violated the rules of the tournament, since the competition prohibits the participation of two clubs under the same control. As a result, León was removed from the competition.


Attempt by other clubs to enter the competition


Alajuelense 's move was naturally aimed at increasing its own chances of qualifying for the tournament. The competition is based on the last continental champions and also on the rankings of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football ( CONCACAF ).


Although Alajuelense is only 45th in the Concacaf rankings, the tournament already has representatives from the United States and Mexico , which prevents more teams from those countries from entering through ranking. However, Tigres from Mexico is trying to make a move to secure its spot.

Tigres want to enter as 2020 champions


Although Tigres is Mexican, the club tries to compete in the tournament based on its victory in the 2020 Concachampions , the continental championship of Concacaf, considering the same logic used for clubs such as Flamengo , Palmeiras , Fluminense and Botafogo , who can compete in the Super World Cup as champions of America in the last four years.

The problem is that Tigres won the Concachampions in 2020, that is, one year before the four-year period required by FIFA to qualify clubs.

This situation directly impacts Flamengo , as the club that replaces León in the competition will face Mengão in the group stage.

Dream of the president of Tigres and Gignac

In an interview with Diário Record, Tigres president Mauricio Culebro expressed the Mexican club's desire to fill León's vacancy. He stated:

"I understand FIFA's decision and León's situation. If it's our turn, we'll deal with it well [...] Who wouldn't want to go to a Club World Cup ? There's still history to be written."

French striker Gignac , often speculated to join Flamengo , also commented on the possibility of playing in the tournament. He recalled Tigres' good campaign in the 2021 Club World Cup, when the team eliminated Palmeiras and only lost to Bayern Munich in the final.

"I would have loved to have qualified that way, but we'll see what happens. We went to a Club World Cup, and I think we represented Mexico very well . We would have loved to have gone to this new edition," said Gignac.



Soccer

Stumble! Flamengo draws with Ceará, but remains leader of the Brasileirão

Mengão opened the scoring in the first half, but could not withstand the pressure from Vozão and left Castelão with just one point, despite remaining at the top.

Flamengo draws 1-1 against Ceará, but remains in first place in the Brasileirão - Photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flamengo
Flamengo draws 1-1 against Ceará, but remains in first place in the Brasileirão - Photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flamengo

03 Ago 2025 | 20:30 |

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Flamengo drew 1-1 with Ceará on Sunday night (3). With the result at Castelão, Mengão remains in first place in the Brasileirão. The match marked another game where the Mais Querido's low effectiveness in building plays cost the final result dearly.


FIRST HALF


In the first half, Flamengo dominated. Mengão completely dominated possession and had more shots, despite goalkeeper Bruno Ferreira's lack of work, making only one save on a shot from Gonzalo Plata. Late in the first half, Plata found Arrascaeta in the box, who scored the red-and-black goal .


SECOND HALF

Despite maintaining high possession, Flamengo couldn't find the same effectiveness as in the first half, and Ceará began to find more space to play after Arrascaeta's departure. On a corner kick taken by Lucas Mugni, Rossi came out of goal but hesitated, and Pedro Raul headed the ball into the back of the net, tying the score.


With the result, Flamengo remains in first place with 37 points , but with the same number of points as Cruzeiro, with an advantage in goal difference (24 to 19). Mengão, however, still has one game less than the Minas Gerais team.

NEXT DUEL

Flamengo now prepares for the second leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16 against Atlético-MG . Flamengo lost the first leg 1-0 at Maracanã and needs to win by at least two goals to secure qualification. If Flamengo wins by one goal, the match will go to penalties.



Soccer

Former Flamengo president says Corinthians needs to be 'ashamed of itself'

Former Flamengo president believes in a restructuring of the club due to its large fundraising capacity, but a move is necessary.

Eduardo Bandeira de Mello says Corinthians needs to be ashamed of itself if it wants to 'be Flamengo' - Photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flamengo
Eduardo Bandeira de Mello says Corinthians needs to be ashamed of itself if it wants to 'be Flamengo' - Photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flamengo

03 Ago 2025 | 19:30 |

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In the midst of one of its worst institutional and financial crises , Corinthians heard a direct message from one of the names behind Flamengo's recent success. Former Flamengo president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello stated that the São Paulo club needs, above all, "shame on its face" to begin a recovery process .


The statement was made during an interview with the Benja Me Mucho channel, one day after the president of the Corinthians Deliberative Council, Romeu Tuma Júnior, declared that the club “wants to be like Flamengo”, which generated a lot of criticism from Corinthians fans .


Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, ex-Flamengo, on Corinthians: "It's a matter of shame on your face"


As president during the beginning of the restructuring that transformed Flamengo into a sporting and financial powerhouse, Bandeira was blunt when commenting on the Corinthians situation: "It's much more a question of attitude, posture, and shame. What you need to do at Corinthians, what we did at Flamengo, can be learned in Financial Administration . There's nothing fancy about it," he said.

“POSTURE, RESPONSIBILITY AND CREDIBILITY”


According to Bandeira, the key to a turnaround lies in adopting basic management principles—something he believes Parque São Jorge currently lacks. For the former director, the pillars of reconstruction are simple: posture, responsibility, and credibility: " If you have these pillars, people believe . And trust is the starting point for any recovery," he added.

FANS AS OUR GREATEST ASSET

Bandeira also highlighted that the black and white team and Mengão share an asset that could be decisive in the rebuilding process: the strength of their fans. " For those with 30 million fans, nothing is impossible . The greatest asset of Flamengo, Corinthians, Vasco, Palmeiras... is their fans," he stated.

A CHASM BETWEEN REALITIES

Bandeira de Mello's statements gain even more weight given the contrast between the two clubs. Corinthians currently has a debt exceeding R$2 billion and is experiencing an internal political crisis . Flamengo, on the other hand, projects revenues close to that amount in 2025, the result of a management that, according to the former president, began with tough—but fundamental—decisions.



Soccer

Without space in the team, former Flamengo player will be traded to Internacional

Mengão's creation was unable to achieve the expected sequence in Colorado and may be leaving after just over 7 months at the club.

Internacional will loan Ramon, a Flamengo product, to Vitória until the end of the 2025 season - Photo: Reproduction
Internacional will loan Ramon, a Flamengo product, to Vitória until the end of the 2025 season - Photo: Reproduction

03 Ago 2025 | 18:35 |

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As Flamengo and Internacional prepare for their Copa Libertadores Round of 16 clash, a market movement is connecting the two clubs. Colorado has agreed to loan left-back Ramon to Vitória , with a contract valid until the end of the Brazilian Championship .


A Flamengo youth product, the player will be loaned with a purchase option set at €1.5 million (approximately R$9.6 million) for 50% of the economic rights. This information comes from journalist Venê Casagrande. The official announcement is subject to bureaucratic adjustments.


RAMON LOOKS FOR MORE MINUTES ON THE FIELD


Signed by Inter in January of this year from Olympiacos-GRE, Ramon has a contract until the end of 2027. However, he was unable to establish himself at Beira-Rio: he only played 12 games, the last one being on June 12, in the defeat to Atlético-MG .

Since then, he's lost his place under coach Roger Machado, who even improvised with defender Victor Gabriel at left back . The move to Vitória represents a chance to regain rhythm and confidence. The Bahia club, in turn, needed reinforcement at that position after the injury of full-back Jamerson.


FLAMENGO AND INTER FACE EACH OTHER IN THE LIBERTADORES

Flamengo and Internacional will face each other for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores . The first leg takes place on August 13th at the Maracanã, while the return leg is scheduled for August 20th at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre.

RAMON'S TRAJECTORY AT FLAMENGO

Ramon was part of a successful generation in Flamengo's youth academy . He won the Copinha in 2018, alongside Hugo Souza, Hugo Moura, Pepê, Lucas Silva, and Yuri César. He also won the U-17 Copa do Brasil, the Brasileirão, and the U-20 Super Cup.

For the professional team, he played 39 matches and participated in the 2020 Brazilian title campaign , in addition to winning the three-time Rio de Janeiro championship (2019, 2020 and 2021). Before going to Europe, he was loaned to Red Bull Bragantino.


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