2023 Leagues Cup

The 2023 Leagues Cup will be the third edition of the Leagues Cup, an inter-league soccer tournament between Major League Soccer and Liga MX. It will be held from July 21 to August 19, 2023, with all 77 matches held in either the United States or Canada. The tournament is organized by MLS and the Mexican Football Federation and sanctioned by CONCACAF, the continental governing body for the sport in North America.[1]

2023 Leagues Cup
Tournament details
Host countriesUnited States
Canada
DatesJuly 21 – August 19
Teams47 (from 3 associations)

For the first time in the history of the competition, all MLS and Liga MX teams (47 total) will compete in the tournament, with both leagues taking a pause in their respective seasons to compete in the tournament.[2] In addition, the Leagues Cup finalists and third-place team earn berths to the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League, with the winner automatically advancing to that tournament's Round of 16.

Format

The 2023 Leagues Cup will be the first edition where all MLS and Liga MX teams participate. The MLS Cup 2022 winner and the 2022 Clausura or 2022 Apertura champion with the highest aggregate points accumulated across 2022 will qualify automatically for the Round of 32. The remaining 45 teams will be placed into 15 groups of three.[3][4][5][6]

For the group stage, teams will play one match against each team in their group. Regulation wins are worth three points and regulation losses are zero points. Matches tied after 90 minutes and advance to a penalty shootout where the winner earns two points and the loser earns one. All matches will be held in either the United States or Canada, with the MLS teams playing at home and intra-Liga MX matches played at MLS venues depending on their region.[1][3][4][5][6]

The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 32, joining the MLS Cup winners and highest-ranked Liga MX champion. This phase of the tournament will be a five-round single-leg knockout format with a third place match. The two finalists and third place team will earn berths for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League, with the winner automatically advancing to the CCL Round of 16.[1]

Teams and draw

The competition will feature all 47 clubs from the two leagues: 29 from MLS and 18 from Liga MX.[7] Teams will be ranked by league using the 2022 Supporters' Shield standings for MLS and the 2022 aggregate table for Liga MX. The champions of each league will receive a bye to the knockout stage as the 1st-ranked seed. The top-15 remaining teams from each league will be placed into groups based on ranking and in reverse order (for example, the 2nd ranked MLS club is drawn against the 16th ranked Liga MX club). The remaining teams (13 MLS and 2 Liga MX) will be drawn into groups and divided into geographical regions.[3]

  Teams receiving bye to knockout stage.
  Teams which will be assigned to a group based on league ranking.
  Teams which can still qualify directly for the knockout stage.
  Teams which will be drawn into a group.
  1. ^
    St. Louis City SC joined Major League Soccer in 2023 and therefore had no 2022 season ranking.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[8]

Schedule for 2023 Leagues Cup
Phase Round Date
Group stage Matchday 1 July 21–23, 2023
Matchday 2 July 25–27, 2023
Matchday 3 July 29–31, 2023
Knockout stage Round of 32 August 2–4, 2023
Round of 16 August 6–8, 2023
Quarter-finals August 11–12, 2023
Semi-finals August 15, 2023
Third place play-off August 19, 2023
Final

Group stage
Main article: 2023 Leagues Cup group stage

The group stage will be played from July 21 to 31.[9] Competing teams are divided into fifteen groups of three teams. Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, where the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage. However, the tiebreakers have not been announced.

West
West 1 West 2 West 3

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Portland Timbers 0 0
2 Mexico UANL 0 0
3 United States San Jose Earthquakes 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 22, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Real Salt Lake 0 0
2 Mexico Monterrey 0 0
3 United States Seattle Sounders FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 22, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States LA Galaxy 0 0
2 Mexico León 0 0
3 Canada Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 21, 2023. Source: MLS

Central
Central 1 Central 2

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Columbus Crew 0 0
2 Mexico América 0 0
3 United States St. Louis City SC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 23, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Minnesota United FC 0 0
2 Mexico Puebla 0 0
3 United States Chicago Fire FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 23, 2023. Source: MLS
Central 3 Central 4

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States FC Cincinnati 0 0
2 Mexico Chivas 0 0
3 United States Sporting Kansas City 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 23, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Nashville SC 0 0
2 Mexico Toluca 0 0
3 United States Colorado Rapids 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 23, 2023. Source: MLS

South
South 1 South 2

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Austin FC 0 0
2 Mexico Mazatlán 0 0
3 Mexico Juárez 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 21, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Orlando City SC 0 0
2 Mexico Santos Laguna 0 0
3 United States Houston Dynamo FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 21, 2023. Source: MLS
South 3 South 4

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Inter Miami CF 0 0
2 Mexico Cruz Azul 0 0
3 United States Atlanta United FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 21, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States FC Dallas 0 0
2 Mexico Necaxa 0 0
3 United States Charlotte FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 21, 2023. Source: MLS

East
East 1 East 2

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States Philadelphia Union 0 0
2 Mexico Tijuana 0 0
3 Mexico Querétaro 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 22, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Canada CF Montréal 0 0
2 Mexico UNAM 0 0
3 United States D.C. United 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 22, 2023. Source: MLS
East 3 East 4

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States New York City FC 0 0
2 Mexico Atlas 0 0
3 Canada Toronto FC 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 23, 2023. Source: MLS

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 United States New York Red Bulls 0 0
2 Mexico Atlético San Luis 0 0
3 United States New England Revolution 0 0
First match(es) will be played on July 22, 2023. Source: MLS

Knockout stage
Main article: 2023 Leagues Cup knockout stage

In the knockout stage, teams play against each other over a single-leg format.

Bracket
 
Round of 32Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
                  
 
August 2 – Los Angeles
 
 
United States Los Angeles FC
 
August 6–8
 
Runner-up South 1
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner West 3
 
August 11–12
 
 Runner-up West 2
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner West 1
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up West 3
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Runner-up West 1
 
August 15
 
 Winner West 2
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner Central 1
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up Central 2
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner Central 4
 
August 11–12
 
 Runner-up Central 3
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner Central 2
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up Central 1
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner Central 3
 
August 19
 
 Runner-up Central 4
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner East 1
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up East 2
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner East 4
 
August 11–12
 
 Runner-up East 3
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner East 2
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up East 1
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner East 3
 
August 15
 
 Runner-up East 4
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 Third place play-off
 
 Winner South 1
 
August 6–8 August 19
 
 Runner-up South 4
 
  
 
August 2–4
 
  
 
 Winner South 2
 
August 11–12
 
 Winner South 3
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Winner South 4
 
August 6–8
 
 Runner-up South 3
 
 
 
August 2–4
 
 
 
 Runner-up South 2
 
 
Mexico Pachuca
 

Round of 32

The matches are scheduled from August 2–4, 2023.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Los Angeles FC United States Aug 2 Runner-up South 1
Winner West 3 Aug Runner-up West 2
Winner West 1 Aug Runner-up West 3
Runner-up West 1 Aug Winner West 2
Winner Central 1 Aug Runner-up Central 2
Winner Central 4 Aug Runner-up Central 3
Winner Central 2 Aug Runner-up Central 1
Winner Central 3 Aug Runner-up Central 4
Winner East 1 Aug Runner-up East 2
Winner East 4 Aug Runner-up East 3
Winner East 2 Aug Runner-up East 1
Winner East 3 Aug Runner-up East 4
Winner South 1 Aug Runner-up South 4
Winner South 2 Aug Winner South 3
Winner South 4 Aug Runner-up South 3
Runner-up South 2 Aug Mexico Pachuca

Round of 16

The matches are scheduled from August 6–8, 2023.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug

Quarter-finals

The matches are scheduled from August 11–12, 2023.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug

Semi-finals

The matches are scheduled for August 15, 2023.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Aug 15
Aug 15

Third place play-off
v
TBD

Final
v
TBD

References
  1. Straus, Brian (October 6, 2022). "How MLS, Liga MX's Leagues Cup Competition Will Work". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  2. "Historic reimagined Leagues Cup starting in 2023". MLSsoccer.com. September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  3. "Leagues Cup 2023 dates and structure announced". MLSsoccer.com. October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  4. Cardenas, Felipe. "MLS, Liga MX reveal format for expanded Leagues Cup". The Athletic. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  5. "What is Leagues Cup? Format, key dates, and how to watch live". 90min.com. October 7, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  6. "What is the Leagues Cup? 2023 schedule, expanded format and qualification for MLS and Liga MX clubs | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  7. "Leagues Cup 2023 Details Unveiled as MLS and Liga MX Clubs Face-off in World Cup-style Tournament" (Press release). Major League Soccer. October 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  8. "2023 Leagues Cup: Matches, final, key dates". Leagues Cup. March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  9. "2023 Leagues Cup: Matches, final, key dates". Leagues Cup. March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
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