Total failure: Pachuca says goodbye to the Club World Cup with three defeats

Pachuca closed out its participation in the 2025 Club World Cup with a third consecutive defeat, this time 2-0 to Saudi Arabia 's Al-Hilal , in a match that once again highlighted the Mexican team's shortcomings in both football and structure.

The team coached by Jaime Lozano —who recently took over—once again displayed defensive disorganization. In the 22nd minute, Salem Aldawsari took advantage of a mistake by Eduardo Bauermann and shot over Sebastián Jurado . In added time, at 90'+5, Marcos Leonardo sealed the Saudi victory after another defensive error by the Brazilian center back.

With this defeat, Pachuca became one of five teams to finish the tournament without a point. Of the 32 participants, the other 27 earned at least one point in the group stage.

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The elimination was the final straw in a series of problems that the team had been experiencing for weeks before the tournament began. Grupo Pachuca suffered the first blow when León was excluded from the tournament. Shortly after, coach Guillermo Almada left the club despite having a contract until December 2026.

The complications continued with failed signings such as that of Roberto Alvarado, who prioritized his place in the Mexican national team on the recommendation of Javier Aguirre . José Castillo , who was already coaching at Pachuca , had to return to Chivas , and Oussama Idrissi 's injury further weakened the squad.

In their debut, the Tuzos fell to Red Bull Salzburg. They subsequently lost to Real Madrid, despite the Spanish team playing with one less man for most of the match. Against Al-Hilal, Pachuca barely created any danger, save for two attempts by Salomón Rondón and a deflected shot by Alan Bautista in the final minutes.

Al-Hilal, taking no risks, capitalized on their opponent's defensive errors and will head into the Round of 16, where they will face Manchester City , in good spirits. Pachuca , meanwhile, returns to Mexico with a multitude of unfinished business and no points in their first World Cup appearance in five years.

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