Club World Cup team guide – Pachuca: The 2024 Concacaf champions bring Rondon's power and a new-manager bounce

New York Times

6 hours ago

If the Pachuca name sounds familiar going into the Club World Cup, that might be because the team's owner, Grupo Pachuca, was part of the Court of Arbitration proceedings that saw fellow Mexican side Club Leon (also part of that stable) expelled from this tournament for breaching rules relating to multi-club ownership.
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Pachuca has been drawn in Group H alongside Real Madrid, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Austria's Red Bull Salzburg. There's a belief back in Mexico that this team can challenge for a second-place finish, which would be enough to advance to the knockout phase, even though head coach Jaime Lozano has only been in charge for a couple of weeks.
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On paper, Pachuca is among the stronger sides in Mexico. There's always a healthy mix of academy players and internationals in the squad. However, the past few seasons have been underwhelming, despite winning the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final (formerly the Concacaf Champions League).
After finishing eighth during the Liga MX Clausura tournament (the second half of the domestic league season) in April, Pachuca was then eliminated in the quarter-finals of the title play-offs by Club America.
The Club World Cup is an opportunity for Pachuca to reclaim some pride and put the team's brand and traditions to the test.
With so much fuss about how teams qualified for this expanded Club World Cup, it's refreshing to see Pachuca in the tournament. The Liga MX club got in for winning the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
The team's ticket to the Club World Cup party was anything but controversial, dominating that continental competition and easily beating MLS visitors Columbus Crew 3-0 in the final last June.
In three years under Uruguayan manager Guillermo Almada, Pachuca was a high-intensity team that pressed opponents throughout the pitch. It was virtually a guarantee that Pachuca would be the tempo setters in any match, whether it was favoured or not. As a 4-3-3 team, Pachuca played fast and direct, and used big centre-forward Salomon Rondon as their main dangerman in attack.
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Almada resigned after losing against Club America in the play-offs, though, so Pachuca's style this summer could be interesting.
A coaching transition so close to a major tournament isn't typically a good omen but perhaps Pachuca will be energised by the cliched new-manager bounce.
Reports in Mexico suggested that Almada resigned suddenly after disagreements with the club's board over his pending contract extension. Other reports, however, mentioned that several veteran players had fallen out with him over his hardened tactics and less-than-cordial management style. In that sense, it felt like a move in the right direction when the club announced the hiring of Lozano, a former Mexico national team head coach.
Lozano, 45, has the exact opposite personality of his fiery predecessor. His short-lived tenure with the national team ended after barely a year when Mexico failed to advance past the group stage of the Copa America last June. Still, Lozano was viewed as a coach who connected well with young and experienced players.
After a brief and unsuccessful stint with Necaxa in 2022, Lozano is back in charge of a Liga MX team at an important juncture in his career.
Rondon is 35 but was the competition's top scorer during Pachuca's 2024 Champions Cup title run, scoring nine goals in seven games. Since joining the club in January 2024 after a difficult season with Argentina's River Plate, the former Newcastle United striker has found a home, scoring 36 goals in 67 appearances. At 6ft 2in (189cm), the 117-time Venezuela international is a physical No 9 who can score in transitional moments or from patiently constructed attacks.
As a target-man striker, he is Pachuca's attacking centerpiece. Rondon's 16 goals in the 2024-25 season underscore his importance to the squad and bode well for his team's chances in this competition. He remains difficult to handle for most centre-backs and is surprisingly nimble despite that big frame.
Elias Montiel. If there's a player profile that Mexico develops soundly and consistently, it's central-midfield ball progressors, and that's where this 19-year-old excels.
To say he burst onto the scene during the Intercontinental Cup final (the annual event formerly known as the Club World Cup before FIFA came up with this expanded, four-yearly version) in December may be exaggerating a bit, but he was solid against the might of Real Madrid. Yes, the Spanish giants cruised past Pachuca 3-0, but Montiel was among his side's standout performers in the game and was later voted the competition's third-best player, behind Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde.
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That distinction was only overshadowed by a chance encounter with Madrid's club president, Florentino Perez.
Montiel would later tell Mexican broadcaster TUDN that Perez praised his performances and said that he would be keeping an eye on him. According to Montiel, Perez said, 'I've spoken with several friends of mine and they've told me that you play very well. Today I saw that and I'm very happy about it. Keep going for it.'
He and Pachuca will face Madrid again on June 22 in both sides' second group-stage match.
Pachuca is roughly 60 miles (90km) north east of Mexico City in the neighbouring state of Hidalgo, but the two sides that its football club's supporters loathe the most are located in the capital — Club America and Cruz Azul. When Pachuca plays either one, the matches are considered derbies.
Cruz Azul, this season's Champions Cup winner, is perhaps the more hated of the two and El Clasico Hidalguense against Pachuca (Cruz Azul originally played in Jasso, another town in Hidalgo, before moving to Mexico City) is a much-anticipated Liga MX fixture. But Club America is the traditional No 1 power in Mexican soccer, so taking down the record 16-time domestic champions provides another level of satisfaction.
If you appreciate clubs who consistently play their best academy players, Pachuca could be your neutrals' choice at the Club World Cup.
In 2023, Pachuca was Mexico's youngest team. The club has a real commitment to its academy, which is highly regarded in Mexico and throughout North America. Pachuca has produced several players who have gone on to represent the national team and play for clubs in Europe, including Hirving Lozano (PSV and Napoli), Hector Herrera (Porto and Atletico Madrid) and Erick Gutierrez (also PSV).
In Mexico, Pachuca is considered an entertaining team that tends to appeal to neutrals. Its history and no-frills culture are easy to get behind.
(All kicks-offs ET/BST)
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic)