Salomón Rondón scored a pair of goals and Pachuca won its sixth Concacaf Champions Cup title with a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.
Emilio Rodríguez added a goal in the victory at Pachuca's Estadio Hidalgo that earned the club a spot in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held for the first time in the United States.
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The victory was Pachuca's 31st consecutive home victory in Champions Cup matches. 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 Boot with nine goals. The Venezuelan scored in the 12th minute, passing the ball over Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and into the net.
Pachuca appeared to add another goal two minutes later with Rondón's cross to Oussama Idrissi, but the goal was disallowed after a video review for a foul in the buildup.
The Crew were vying to become the fourth MLS team to win the title, joining DC United (1998), LA Galaxy (2000) and Seattle Sounders (2022).
The Crew's Cucho Hernández, who has missed the last three MLS games with a back injury, started and had a good chance in the 31st minute, but his shot missed by just a few centimeters.
Moments later, Rodríguez scored for Pachuca, slotting the ball into the top corner and out of Schulte's reach to make it 2-0.
Schulte stopped a right-footed shot by Érick Sánchez from outside the area in the 58th minute.
Rondon scored between the legs of Crew defender Rudy Camacho and slotted in through the bottom left corner in the 67th minute for a 3-0 lead.
The Crew, who won the MLS Cup title last year, had an impressive run in the Champions Cup, advancing on penalties after a two-legged quarterfinal against Tigres and then embarrassing Monterrey 3-1 on their home field. to win 5-2 on aggregate.
Pachuca defeated Liga MX foe Club América 3-2 on aggregate in the semifinals.
In addition to Pachuca, Monterrey, Club León and Seattle Sounders have secured Concacaf spots for the Club World Cup.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.
