The Columbus Crew chase continental glory on Saturday evening, visiting Liga MX side Pachuca for the one-off 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final.
How to watch & stream
- English: FS1
- Spanish: TUDN
When
- Saturday, June 1 | 9:15 pm ET/6:15 pm PT
Where
- Estadio Hidalgo | Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico
Should Columbus win, they'd qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Regional bragging rights and prize money also await.
The Crew, MLS Cup 2023 champions, can become MLS' second modern-day CCC winner. Seattle Sounders FC won the prestigious competition in 2022.
- Round One: Bye
- Round of 16: 2-1 aggregate vs. Houston Dynamo FC
- Quarterfinals: 2-2 aggregate (4-3 PKs) vs. Tigres UANL (Mexico)
- Semifinals: 5-2 aggregate vs. CF Monterrey (Mexico)
Columbus have already made history in Mexico, beating Tigres in penalty kicks (quarterfinals) and overwhelming Monterrey with a 3-1 semifinal victory. Those results helped the Crew reach No. 1 in the Concacaf Club Rankings, showing they won't be intimated on Pachuca's home field.
Now, head coach Wilfried Nancy's team is one match away from making CCC history and following up last December's MLS Cup title with arguably an even bigger prize. They're also surging after three straight road victories in MLS play, led by Diego Rossi tallying 4g/2a during that run.
Most importantly, Nancy said midweek that Cucho Hernández has "trained normally" – leaving the Colombian star poised to return from a back injury. The Best XI-caliber forward last played on May 11.
- Round One: Bye
- Round of 16: 6-0 aggregate vs. Philadelphia Union
- Quarterfinals: 7-1 aggregate vs. Herediano (Costa Rica)
- Semifinals: 3-2 aggregate vs. Club América (Mexico)
Pachuca, six-time winners of Concacaf's biggest club competition, have the honor of hosting a regional final. But they've not played a competitive game since May 11, when they lost to Club América in the Liga MX Clausura quarterfinals on away goals.
Columbus shouldn't expect cold feet from Pachuca, especially with Golden Boot leader Salomón Rondón (seven goals) leading an attack that also features Oussama Idrissi and Érick Sánchez. Rondón, a Venezuelan international, has nearly 40 Premier League goals and over 100 caps.
One more caution: Pachuca steamrolled Philadelphia, 6-0, in Leg 2 of their Round-of-16 series. That game was nearly three months ago, revealing how potent manager Guillermo Almada's team can be at Estadio Hidalgo's altitude.
