Boca in big trouble over 2029 Club World Cup qualification | OneFootball

The race toward the 2029 Club World Cup added a frustrating chapter for Boca. The team’s surprising and early elimination in the group stage of the current 2026 Copa Libertadores not only represents a sporting blow in the present, but also mortgages much of its chances of reaching the FIFA tournament through the CONMEBOL ranking.

The qualification system is ruthless: it grants four spots to the South American champions (between 2025 and 2028) and two extra berths through the aggregate table, the route by which the Xeneize qualified for the first edition held in the United States. However, to climb that ranking, consistency is non-negotiable, and the "Xeneize" has just let a golden opportunity slip away.

Boca are running out of chances for the Club World Cup.

The numbers behind a difficult scenario

Boca dropped to 38th place with just 10 points. How is that number explained? The team from La Ribera earned 7 points on the field during its uneven group-stage run, to which are added the 3 bonus points CONMEBOL grants simply for participating in that stage.

This poor haul leaves them miles away from the leading positions. At the top of the non-qualified contenders is Palmeiras (63 points and in the round of 16), followed by Liga de Quito (53). The outlook becomes even darker when looking at the internal competition with the Argentine clubs.

Estudiantes have established themselves as the best Argentine team in the ranking: with 43 points and qualified for the round of 16 in this 2026 edition, El Pincha looks like a serious candidate to claim one of the spots through the table. Meanwhile, Racing (35 points) and River (23 points) are also above Boca in the aggregate standings, even though La Academia and El Millonario did not add any points.

No margin for error in 2027 and 2028

The early exit from the 2026 Copa Libertadores radically changes the strategy of the club from La Ribera looking ahead to the future. The plan of qualifying by adding points "round by round" has suffered severe damage. To make it to the 2029 Club World Cup, Boca now almost no longer depends on the calculator, but on absolute glory. The options are clear, but extremely demanding:

The road to the tournament, which will have its second edition, is very complicated for Boca. Now, the obligation to rebuild and dominate the continent over the next two years is no longer just a historic demand from its fans, but the only escape route to avoid being left out of the biggest club event.

Next semester, Boca will play in the Copa Sudamericana.

Updated table

Keep reading:

Marcelo Delgado informed Claudio Úbeda that he is no longer Boca’s head coach

The reigning two-time Liga Nacional champion is out: Boca eliminated by Quimsa

Boca cruised to victory and claimed third place in the Futsal Libertadores

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.