victory against Cruzeiro and very good news with an eye on the 2025 Club World Cup

Boca had another reason to smile on Thursday night when they beat 1-0 Cruisein the Bombonera, for the first leg of the round of 16 of the South American Cup. The thing is Montevideo Nationalthe only team that by ranking can leave it out of the race to reach the Club World Cup 2025tied without goals with Saint Paul as a local and is obliged to get a place in the quarterfinals as a visitor to continue with the crusade of appropriating the place that for now is in the power of the Xeneize.

The zero to zero in the Gran Parque Central against the team led by Luis Zubeldía for the idea of ​​​​the round of 16 left Nacional with 57 points. They are 14 less than those of Diego Martínez’s pupils. If Martín Lasarte’s men do not win this tie, they will automatically be out of the race against the blue and gold team.

However, it is not the only variable that Juan Román Riquelme and all Boca fans are paying attention to. The issue is that by not playing the current Copa Libertadores they depend on other people’s results. In addition to what happens with Nacional from Uruguay, the La Ribera club must wait for no Argentine team to win the tournament unless it is Riverwhich already has its place guaranteed.

The ideal for Boca, in that scenario, is that San Lorenzo stumble before Atlético Mineiro -in the first leg, at the Nuevo Gasómetro, they tied 1-1- and that Workshops succumb to the Millionaire of Marcelo Gallardowho took a hard-fought 1-0 from Mario Kempes of Córdoba capital.

For now, the five teams classified for the tournament by Conmebol are Palm trees, Flemish y Fluminense -all for having been champions of the Libertadores- who for having made the Olympic return break the limit of two clubs per country. There could even be four if another Brazilian takes the current edition. In addition, by ranking, his place was also guaranteed River. The two remaining places for now are owned by Boca and of Olympia of Paraguaybut none can claim victory until the competition is over.

In the case of Olimpia, which does not play the current Libertadores either, eyes are also focused Nationalwho just caught up with him in points. For now, those from Asunción are still in because with the quarterfinals reached in 2023 they give priority because they had the best result during the qualification period (2021-2024).

Of course, if the Pocket tie in Saint Paulregardless of whether it passes or not, will displace the Dean. They also run from behind through that lot Bolívar (43) y The Strongest (43), both from Bolivia, although with classification going uphill after the first legs of the round of 16.

Some kind of summary? Everything would be resolved, although it may seem paradoxical, if River is champion, since the two classified by ranking would be Boca and the one that follows, Olimpia or Nacional. Another favorable scenario for all of them is that the champion is Palmeiras, Flamengo or Fluminense, making there three classified by ranking: River and the two that follow.

Of the 32 teams that will be present at the Club World Cup, there are already 29 confirmed participants. Only the two Conmebol tickets remain to be defined and one more that will be defined by the host country, in this case the MLS.

• Manchester City (England)

• Paris Saint-Germain (France)

• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

• Atlético de Madrid (Spain)

• Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)

• Rayados from Monterrey (Mexico)

• Seattle Sounders (United States)

• Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

• Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)

• Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)

• Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)

• Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)

• Auckland City (New Zealand)