Once again, there’s bound to be a Mexican winner of Concacaf’s club championship.

Toluca came back from a 2-1 first-leg deficit to oust LAFC on aggregate (5-2) in the semifinals of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, with Wednesday’s 4-0 win setting up a final vs. Tigres UANL and ensuring at least two of the region’s four berths in the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup will go to Liga MX sides. Cruz Azul, the 2025 Concacaf champion, booked the first, with the tournament serving as the confederation’s only avenue to the expanded world championship.

The all-Mexican final ends a four-year run of MLS featuring a Concacaf finalist, but in that time, only one club, the Seattle Sounders in 2022, broke through as champion. LAFC, the Columbus Crew and Vancouver Whitecaps all fell at the final hurdle in their quest to win the regional crown in subsequent seasons. As it stands, Liga MX’s dominance will go on, with 16 of the previous 17 Concacaf champions since the region moved to its more modern era (2008-09) hailing from Mexico.

Son Heung-min, Denis Bouanga and LAFC were positioned to reach the final after a first-leg triumph last week, but the away goal conceded at BMO Stadium opened the door for Toluca to exert itself at the altitude of Estadio Nemesio Díez. That’s precisely what happened, with second-half goals from Helinho, Everardo López and Paulinho tilting the scales — the latter scoring two in stoppage time when LAFC was reduced to 10 men.

Even so, it was LAFC that should have scored first and snag an away goal of its own, when Timmy Tillman volley over the bar in the eighth minute on a clear look from six yards out facing a vacated net. Hugo Lloris then pushed a Marcel Ruiz blast off the post in the 20th, as the hosts gained more of a foothold in the match.

Tillman blasts it over the bar 😳 pic.twitter.com/FUO3DibyO9

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 7, 2026

¡Marcel Ruiz cerca de abrir el marcador! pic.twitter.com/8UpwBRmX40

— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) May 7, 2026

Toluca hit the post again in the 34th minute through Nicolás Castro, as the pressure on Lloris’s goal continued to mount. In all, the former Tottenham and France great was forced into seven first-half saves.

¡Nicolás Castro hace temblar el poste! 💥 pic.twitter.com/MI2YlzqaUZ

— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) May 7, 2026

The dam broke two minutes into the second half, though. Lloris had just made his eighth save before Ryan Hollingshead, who had come on as a halftime substitute, kicked Paulinho when attempting to clear the rebound from the LAFC box. Helinho promptly beat Lloris, who went the wrong way on the spot kick that brought Toluca level on aggregate but ahead on the away-goal tiebreaker.

¡Helinho abre el marcador en Toluca! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0yWRj3w78w

— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) May 7, 2026

It went from bad to worse for LAFC less than 10 minutes later when, after an awful giveaway in the back, López laced a left-footed, 25-yard stunner by Lloris to double Toluca’s lead on the night and give the Mexican side the aggregate lead as well.

¡GOLAZO de Toluca! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/yKI59SPcvC

— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) May 7, 2026

The away goal that would have brought LAFC level never materialized — although a ludicrous sequence nearly ended with one about 12 minutes from full time. Lloris had just made his 10th save and had Toluca hit the post off the rebound, when LAFC broke on the counter. Forward Jeremy Ebobisse was played through in behind but had his golden chance saved by a resolute Luis Garcia. Bouanga pounced on the rebound with Garcia a bit off his line, but his chip clipped the crossbar to stay out, all while the play was under suspicion of offside.

A red card to Ryan Porteous in the 86th minute all but polished off LAFC’s fate, leaving the club with 10 men as it chased the result, and Paulinho stoppage-time double on Toluca’s 29th and 30th shots of the night sealed the deal.

Wednesday’s match in Toluca took place amid the backdrop of Mexico’s World Cup roster drama. The federation is conducting an early pre-World Cup camp, with domestic-based players reporting on Wednesday ahead the final squad reveal on June 1. Things have gotten quite contentious, with the national team demanding the release of players whose clubs are still active in Champions Cup and the Liga MX playoffs. Things came to a head on Wednesday, when the federation and manager Javier Aguirre issued an ultimatum stating that any players who did not report to camp would be omitted from the World Cup entirely. For Toluca, that meant forward Alexis Vega and defender Jesús Gallardo had to make a choice, and they veered toward the national team, ruling them out for Wednesday night’s match.

They’ll remain out for the May 30 final in Toluca, where their club will look to beat Tigres, which topped a shorthanded Nashville SC 1-0 in each leg of their semifinal. Toluca will be seeking its third Concacaf title (1968, 2003), while Tigres is going for its second (2020). Cruz Azul and Club América are the region’s most dominant clubs, with seven titles apiece.