Palmeiras and Al Ahly were deadlocked at 0-0 as they headed into the changing rooms for half-time at New York New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. It was their second group-stage encounter at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, and Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira needed to make a change to clinch the victory they needed to progress to the next round. The answer lay waiting on the bench in the shape of Jose Manuel ‘Flaco’ Lopez.
Within 15 minutes of Lopez entering the action, Palmeiras had surged into a 2-0 lead. He was involved in forcing the game’s opener, a Wessam Abou Ali own goal, before sealing the victory by getting on the scoresheet himself ten minutes later.
In scoring that goal, Lopez became Palmeiras’ top scorer this year, having frequently come off the bench and made his mark as they look to rebuild. Things have gone so well that, in addition to registering 17 goals at club level, the striker was called up to Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina squad for the final round of FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers.
“I couldn’t have imagined this in my wildest dreams, but that’s life. Life is full of surprises, and I have to be ready to take on any challenges that come my way,” said Lopez after his inclusion in the squad.
“I’m really happy. It’s an incredible time for the national team, and I wasn’t expecting the opportunity, but it came. I’m ready to fight tooth and nail for my country, and I think it’s the greatest dream you can have in football, so I’m really happy it’s come true.”
His call-up marks the high point in a season that didn’t always look quite so promising for Lopez. Earlier this year, Palmeiras announced the signings of Vitor Roque and Paulinho, both of whom had already turned out for Brazil, with a view to them leading the line. Paraguay’s Ramon Sosa and Uruguay’s Facundo Torres also joined the ranks along the way.
Having been with the club since 2022, Lopez had always been a vital component in Ferreira’s attacking arsenal, not least thanks to his aerial attributes, yet he never managed to cement a regular starting berth. But it was precisely when the competition was the stiffest that the Argentine established himself in the side.
Vitor Roque took some time to get up to speed, while Paulinho has been forced to take a step back to fully recover from a recurring injury and will not return until 2026. Lopez, meanwhile, continued to find the net whenever he was called upon, demonstrating why he deserves a place in the starting XI after becoming the club’s top scorer in 2024, with 22 goals, and continuing to strengthen his case for a place in the team with performances like the one against Al Ahly at this summer’s global club showpiece.
The end of the Club World Cup nevertheless brought about an interesting development – something totally new to Lopez in his time with Palmeiras. When he was playing for Lanus, in Argentina, the 24-year-old would normally play behind the veteran No9, Jose Sand. For the Verdão, however, he had almost always been deployed as an out-and-out centre-forward.
In recent encounters, however, Lopez and Vitor Roque have formed a formidable partnership that has helped Palmeiras to three consecutive victories. First, Lopez came off the bench in the Alviverde’s second-half comeback against Ceara, as a goal apiece for him and Roque clinched a narrow 2-1 victory.
In the side’s next outing, Ferreira selected the duo from the outset and reaped the rewards, as Palmeiras swept aside Universitario 4-0 away in Peru, with two goals for Lopez and a goal, an assist and a hard-won penalty for Vitor Roque.
After the match, Lopez expressed how happy he was to be playing as part of an attacking duo: “It’s a position I’m familiar with. I’ve played alongside a centre-forward before (at Lanus), where we played with two up top,” he explained.
With Vitor Roque further up the pitch, Lopez is tasked with carving out opportunities, but he has total freedom to attack the space and exploit the opportunities created by his fellow strike partner.
“Whoever is closer to the action is responsible for creating those chances. I’ve ended up doing a little more of that work, and it’s paid off. We’ve had a lot of chances to occupy the spaces.”
Lopez and Vitor Roque once again made the starting line-up against Botafogo in the Brazilian top flight. Though they failed to trouble the scoreboard themselves on that occasion, the Brazilian provided the assist for Felipe Anderson to score the game’s winning goal, as the strike partners combined to open up the space for Anderson to run into. In the next match, against Sport Club do Recife, the duo clicked again. Two assists from Roque and two goals from Lopez saw Palmeiras cruise to a 3-0 triumph.
Lopez has proved himself to be a striker who knows how to take his chances. Scaloni now looks set to give Lopez his shot with the national team one year out from the FIFA World Cup 26, and it would come as no surprise to see him make the most of that opportunity too.
