LOS ANGELES (AP) — Olivier Giroud has won the World Cup and UEFA Champions League during his decorated career, yet even Los Angeles FC's famed French striker is impressed by the extraordinary nature of the stakes when his team hosts Club América on Saturday night.
The winner of this one-game play-in match gets the final spot in the FIFA Club World Cup and the remarkable chance for a North American team to face world soccer powers in the biggest-ever edition of this summer competition.
“To get the opportunity to play that kind of competition is a big chance for the boys,” Giroud said. “We need to grab the opportunity.”
What's more, the winning team at BMO Stadium will be guaranteed at least $9.55 million for its Club World Cup berth, along with a shot at nearly $100 million from the tournament's biggest-ever prize pool of nearly $1 billion.
Even the setting is tantalizing: Thanks to equal ticket distribution, LAFC's sold-out arena will be packed with raucous supporters of both the home team and the biggest professional club in Mexico. Los Angeles' passion for all forms of Mexican soccer is famously rabid, and América has legions of Southern California fans.
No wonder the players and coaches involved are expecting a career-defining experience in this big-money match.
“It’s massive,” LAFC center back Aaron Long said. “I think the stakes are probably as high as it can get. Two titans of North America battling it out. I’m sure BMO will be on a different level. I’m sure fans from both sides are going to be going all-in, giving 100%. If you’re a fan, these are the games you want to go and see. It’s going to be incredible.”
The Club World Cup includes 32 teams for the first time, and it is being held across the U.S. one year before the FIFA World Cup returns to North America. Two Major League Soccer clubs and two Liga MX clubs have already qualified for the event, and LAFC or América will join them based on the results of this one match.
Giroud has done just about everything in world soccer — except this. Chelsea won the Champions League with Giroud in 2021 to earn a Club World Cup spot, but Giroud left for AC Milan before it happened.
“This is the kind of match you need to play at 110%,” Giroud said. "I've never played in it. It could be nice to meet Chelsea again, but obviously it will be a massive game (first).”
Indeed, the winner of the play-in match will face Chelsea, Brazil's Flamengo and Tunisia's ES Tunis in group play.
LAFC and América got this opportunity after FIFA disqualified León because of its rules against participation by multiple clubs owned by the same entity. León and fellow Liga MX qualifier Pachuca are owned by the same group, and León lost its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after attempting to change its ownership structure.
The decision was only finalized 3 1/2 weeks ago, necessitating this quick one-game playoff for the final spot.
The matchup will also serve as an informal referendum on the usually friendly competition between MLS and Liga MX for unofficial recognition as North America's top professional league. LAFC and América already met in a preseason friendly in Los Angeles this year, but the play-in is a different animal.
“I believe this game will be prepared like a final,” said LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, another World Cup champion.
“It’s going to be interesting to face one of the best Mexican clubs, and it’s going to be tough, challenging, but it’s also what you play football for," Lloris added. "When I signed for LAFC, I didn’t expect to have this type of opportunity. I know that in life and in football, when you have this kind of opportunity, you have to do everything to take it.”
LAFC has enjoyed steady success since its MLS debut in 2018, winning the MLS Cup playoff championship in 2022 and earning two Supporters' Shields for the best regular-season record. LAFC is unbeaten in eight matches since a CONCACAF Champions League qualifier loss to Club World Cup invitee Inter Miami last April.
América is generally considered both the most popular and the most decorated club in Mexico, and Las Águilas have been on top of Liga MX for much of the previous three seasons. Their Brazilian coach, André Jardine, attracted international praise while his team won three straight titles before losing the Clausura final to Toluca last Sunday night, falling just short of becoming only the second team in Mexico's history to win four consecutive championships.
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Toluca's Alexis Vega, left, tackles America's Sebastian Caceres during the Mexican soccer league first leg final match in Mexico City, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
America's coach Andre Jardine and his players stand on the pitch with their second place medals after losing 0-2 against Toluca during the Mexican soccer league second leg final match at Nemesio Diez stadium in Toluca, Mexico, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Los Angeles FC's Olivier Giroud reacts after scoring against CF Montreal during second-half MLS soccer match action in Montreal, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
