Pachuca wins the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 3-0 victory over Columbus Crew

PACHUCA, Mexico (AP) — Salomón Rondón scored two goals and Pachuca won its sixth CONCACAF Champions Cup title with a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.

Emilio Rodriguez scored another goal in the win at Pachuca's Estadio Hidalgo that secured the club a place in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States for the first time.

The win was Pachuca's 31st consecutive home victory in the Champions Cup. The Liga MX team has the second-most titles in the competition, formerly known as the CONCACAF Champions League.

Rondón won the tournament's Golden Shoe award with nine goals. The Venezuelan scored in the 12th minute when he chipped the ball over onrushing Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and into the net.

Pachuca appeared to have scored another goal two minutes later after a cross from Rondón to Oussama Idrissi – but after a video review the goal was disallowed due to a foul in the build-up.

The Crew wanted to become the fourth MLS team to win the title, joining DC United (1998), LA Galaxy (2000) and the Seattle Sounders (2022).

The Crew's Cucho Hernández, who had missed the last three MLS games with a back injury, started and had a good chance in the 31st minute, but his shot went just inches wide.

Just moments later, Rodriguez scored for Pachuca, slotting the ball into the top corner and out of Schulte's reach to make it 2-0.

In the 58th minute, Schulte parried Érick Sánchez’s right-footed shot from outside the penalty area.

Rondón scored between the legs of Crew defender Rudy Camacho and into the bottom left corner in the 67th minute to give the team a 3-0 lead.

The Crew, who won the MLS Cup title last year, also had an impressive run in the Champions Cup, advancing on penalties in the home-and-away quarterfinal against Tigres before embarrassing Monterrey 3-1 on home turf to win 5-2 on aggregate.

Pachuca defeated Liga MX opponent Club America 3-2 on aggregate in the semifinals.

In addition to Pachuca, Monterrey, Club Leon and the Seattle Sounders have also secured CONCACAF places for the Club World Cup.

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