Major League Soccer outfit Seattle Sounders will be one of five teams from the Concacaf region to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, which will be held in the USA.

Read on to find out more about the first team from the US to qualify for the tournament, with details on how they punched their ticket to the global showpiece, their history and the club’s iconic players.

How they qualified
Seattle Sounders earned their place in the Club World Cup with a victory over Mexican side Pumas in the 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup final, claiming one of Concacaf’s four allocated berths.

The Sounders fought back from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Mexico, before goals from Raul Ruidiaz and Nicolas Lodeiro secured a 3-0 victory in the second leg and a 5-2 win on aggregate. It marked Seattle’s first Concacaf club crown and the first by a team from the USA in 22 years.

Club history
While the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer were founded in 2007 and played their first season in 2009, the history of the team spans five decades. The club’s original founding dates back to 1974, when they formed part of the North American Soccer League until 1983.

Another iteration of the Sounders came to pass in 1994 in the American Professional Soccer League, which was later renamed the A-League. The club later participated in the United Soccer League between 2005 and 2008 before their entrance into Major League Soccer in 2009.
Since joining Major League Soccer, the Sounders have enjoyed unbridled success with U.S. Open Cup triumphs in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014, an MLS Supporters’ Shield trophy in 2014 for having the best overall record during the regular season, MLS Cup titles in 2016 and 2019 and the coveted Concacaf Champions Cup crown in 2022.

Iconic players
Osvaldo Alonso
The Sounders made the MLS Cup playoffs in their first ten seasons, and that record was indebted to the presence of Alonso. The hard-nosed defensive midfielder from Cuba was an anchor in the centre of the park for Seattle, beginning with the team’s first season in MLS in 2009 through to 2018.
Alonso finished his Sounders career with 339 appearances across all competitions and was a prominent figure in winning six trophies, including Seattle’s first MLS Cup title in 2016.

Nicolas Lodeiro
From the middle of the 2016 season until the end of 2023, Lodeiro served as Seattle’s wizard in the attacking third, combining pinpoint, surgical, passing with a penchant for finding the back of the net. Lodeiro’s arrival in late July 2016 was the catalyst for the team’s run to the 2016 MLS Cup title, as he scored four goals in the postseason.
The Uruguayan also contributed an assist in Seattle’s victory over Toronto FC in the 2019 MLS Cup final. However, his finest moment was in the 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup final when he supplied three goals in Seattle’s 5-2 aggregate victory over Mexican side Pumas. Lodeiro departed the club having made 191 appearances and amassing 80 assists.

Stefan Frei
The Switzerland-born goalkeeper landed in Seattle ahead of the 2014 season and, at 38, remains a crucial figure to this day for the Sounders, having accrued more than 350 matches in goal. Seattle’s first MLS Cup title in 2016 would not have been possible without the heroics of Frei, who made one of the best saves in MLS Cup final history by denying a Jozy Altidore header for Toronto FC.
Five-and-a-half years later, Frei would come through again when the stakes were highest, recording a clean sheet to help Seattle claim a 3-0 win against Pumas in the second leg of the 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup final. The reliable keeper also ended up pocketing the tournament’s Best Player Award for his efforts.