 | |
| Founded | 2019; 6 years ago (2019) |
|---|---|
| Region | NAFU (Canada, Mexico, United States) |
| Teams | 36 |
| Qualifier for | CONCACAF Champions Cup |
| Related competitions | CONCACAF Caribbean Cup CONCACAF Central American Cup |
| Current champions |  Seattle Sounders FC(1st title) |
| Most championships | Columbus Crew Cruz AzulInter Miami CFLeónSeattle Sounders FC(1 title each) |
| Broadcaster(s) | MLS Season Pass FS1 (English) Univision (Spanish) |
| Motto | "New world. New game." |
| Website | leaguescup.com |
 2025 Leagues Cup | |
TheLeagues Cup is an annualsoccer competition between clubs fromMajor League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States and Canada, andLiga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in July 2019 with four teams from both leagues participating. The first edition was asingle-elimination tournament hosted in the United States with a final played inWhitney, Nevada, nearLas Vegas, on September 18, 2019.[1]
In 2023, the tournament was expanded to include all clubs from MLS and Liga MX, and now functions as a regional cup forCONCACAF between the top division leagues in Mexico and United States and includes MLS teams that are based in Canada. The top three Leagues Cup teams, regardless of nation, qualify for theCONCACAF Champions Cup, with the champions receiving a bye to the round of 16. In 2025, the tournament contracted to only include the 18 best MLS clubs from the previous season and all clubs from Liga MX.
Major League Soccer and Liga MX clubs had previously played in theNorth American SuperLiga, which ran from 2007 to 2010. Both leagues also send clubs to the CONCACAF Champions League, which has been dominated by Mexican clubs, and theCampeones Cup, a single match played between the winners of theMLS Cup and theCampeón de Campeones.[1] The two leagues began planning a bi-national, eight-team competition to complement the Champions League and provide Mexican clubs with matches to replace theCopa Libertadores in their calendar as soon as 2018.[2][3] MLS and Liga MX announced a new partnership in March 2018 to create the Campeones Cup and explore options for other bi-national competitions between their clubs.[4]
The Leagues Cup tournament was announced on May 29, 2019, featuring eight teams in its inaugural edition to be played during the summer.[5] The announcement of the tournament was panned by soccer critics in the United States, who called it a meaningless friendly and "cash-grab" for American clubs.[6][7][8] TheMLS Players Association also expressed concerns over the tournament's creation on the basis of schedule congestion during the summertime.[9]Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada was later announced as the host venue for the final and a broadcasting contract for the tournament was awarded toESPN andTUDN (formerlyUnivision Deportes Network).[10][11] This event was also televised onTSN andTVA Sports in Canada andTelevisa in Mexico.[12]
In July 2019, MLS and Liga MX announced that the second edition of the Leagues Cup in 2020 would feature 16 teams—eight from each league. The MLS participants would be drawn from the top four teams in each conference that do not qualify for theCONCACAF Champions League; the Liga MX participants would include the 2019 Apertura champion, 2020 Clausura champion, the2019–20 Copa MX champion, and the next five best-placed teams in the 2019-20 season aggregate table the league.[13][14] The tournament was canceled on May 19, 2020, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.[15] The eight-team format debuted in the2021 Leagues Cup, which was played in August and September.[16] In the final atAllegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, Mexican clubLeón defeatedSeattle Sounders FC, the first American finalist in the competition's history.[17][18]
On April 14, 2022, MLS and Liga MX announced the2022 Leagues Cup Showcase, which was held starting August 3, 2022, atSoFi Stadium inInglewood, California. The event included a doubleheader of matches:LA Galaxy againstC.D. Guadalajara andLos Angeles FC againstClub América.[19] On June 30, 2022, it was announced that the Leagues Cup Showcase was expanded to include three more matches—FC Cincinnati against C.D. Guadalajara atTQL Stadium inCincinnati,Ohio;Nashville SC against Club América atGeodis Park inNashville, Tennessee, on September 21; andReal Salt Lake againstAtlas F.C. atRio Tinto Stadium inSandy, Utah, on September 22.[20] The events served as a one-time replacement of the previously planned 2022 Leagues Cup which was not held due to fixture congestion from the2022 FIFA World Cup and other factors.[21]
The Leagues Cup was expanded in 2023 to include all MLS and Liga MX clubs, during a month-long pause in their respective seasons. It also became a qualification tournament for the2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup with three berths for teams fromNorth America.[22] The Leagues Cup champion qualified directly to the round of 16, while the runner-up and third-place finisher earned round one berths.[23]Inter Miami CF won the first edition of the expanded tournament in2023, led by top goalscorerLionel Messi.[24]
On January 28, 2025, Major League Soccer announced that they would only send 18 representatives to the Leagues Cup for 2025 as part of their new competition guidelines, which only allowed teams to play in at most two cup competitions. Most of the teams in the2024 MLS Cup playoffs qualified for Leagues Cup; theVancouver Whitecaps, as winners of the2024 Canadian Championship, had their place forfeited and given to expansion clubSan Diego FC.[25]
The addition of the Leagues Cup and subsequent schedule congestion led Major League Soccer to announce their intention not to field senior teams in theU.S. Open Cup, the domestic cup competition for the United States. The announcement was met with "widespread anger and condemnation" and the proposal was rejected by theUnited States Soccer Federation. A hybrid plan with eight MLS participants andMLS Next Pro reserve teams as replacements for the remaining teams was used for the2024 U.S. Open Cup.[26] Several Major League Soccersupporters' groups have announced boycotts of the Leagues Cup.[27][28][29]
The first two editions of Leagues Cup featured four clubs from each league in an eight-teamsingle-elimination knockout tournament, with the first two rounds hosted by the MLS club. The finals were played at neutral venues in theLas Vegas metropolitan area.[30] The participating MLS teams in thefirst edition were invitees, but thesecond edition used league results for qualification; the four Liga MX participants were chosen based on their league results in both of these editions.[5]
For the 2022 season, an official tournament was not held due to fixture congestion from the2022 FIFA World Cup, among other factors.
For the2023 and2024 editions, the Leagues Cup included all MLS and Liga MX teams—47 teams in total with 77 matches hosted in Canada and the United States. The top 15 teams from each league were seeded into 15 groups based on their league standings from the previous season, while the remaining teams were drawn based on geographic proximity. The group stage had three matches in around-robin format and the top two teams qualified for the knockout stage. Two teams receive byes to the knockout stage: the reigningMLS Cup champion and highest-ranked Liga MX champion from either the previousApertura and Clausura. The knockout stage was single-elimination on a fixed bracket.[31][32]
The2025 Leagues Cup format was altered to maximize the number of inter-league matches. This year included 18 out of the 30 MLS teams (those who qualified for theMLS Cup playoffs in most instances), as well as all 18 Liga MX teams, for a total of 36 participants. Each team plays three games against teams from the other league and the top four teams from each league advance to the knockout stage. The quarterfinal matches are guaranteed to be MLS vs Liga MX like in the group stage.[33] All games are again held in Canada and the United States, but unlike the past two years, the competition also takes place during the MLS and Liga MX seasons.[34]
Since 2023, the tournament uses a unique points-scoring system in which winning teams earn three points, while draws go straight to penalties, with the shootout-winning team earning two points, and the shootout runner-up earning one.
The Leagues Cup trophy was unveiled in September 2019 and consists of a 22-pound (10.0 kg) silver bowl atop a pedestal. It is 16.5 inches (42 cm) in height and 16.1 inches (41 cm) wide. A replica trophy will be gifted to the winners following 12 months with the original trophy.[35]
Since 2023, all Leagues Cup matches have been broadcast worldwide onMLS Season Pass, an online streaming platform operated byApple under itsApple TV brand. All matches have commentary in English and Spanish, while those involving Canadian teams also include French commentary.[36] A select group of matches are also set to be broadcast on television networks using their own crews, includingFox Sports andTUDN in the United States; andTSN andRDS in Canada.[37][38]
| Ed. | Year | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | City | Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2019 | Cruz Azul | 2–1 | UANL | Sam Boyd Stadium | Whitney, Nevada | 20,132 |
– | 2020 | (Canceled due toCOVID-19 pandemic)[15] | |||||
2 | 2021 | León | 3–2 | Seattle Sounders FC | Allegiant Stadium | Paradise, Nevada | 24,824 |
– | 2022 | (No champion crowned)[n 1] | |||||
3 | 2023 | Inter Miami CF | 1–1(10–9p) | Nashville SC | Geodis Park | Nashville, Tennessee | 30,109 |
4 | 2024 | Columbus Crew | 3–1 | Los Angeles FC | Lower.com Field | Columbus, Ohio | 20,190 |
5 | 2025 | Seattle Sounders FC | 3–0 | Inter Miami CF | Lumen Field | Seattle, Washington | 69,314 |
| Ed. | Year | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Venue | City | Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 2023 | Philadelphia Union | 3–0 | Monterrey | Subaru Park | Chester, Pennsylvania | 17,731 |
4 | 2024 | Colorado Rapids | 2–2(3–1p) | Philadelphia Union | Subaru Park | Chester, Pennsylvania | 8,417 |
5 | 2025 | LA Galaxy | 2–1 | Orlando City SC | Dignity Health Sports Park | Carson, California | 12,129 |
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inter Miami CF | 1 (2023) | 1 (2025) | ||
| Seattle Sounders FC | 1 (2025) | 1 (2021) | ||
| Cruz Azul | 1 (2019) | |||
| León | 1 (2021) | |||
| Columbus Crew | 1 (2024) | |||
| UANL | 1 (2019) | |||
| Nashville SC | 1 (2023) | |||
| Los Angeles FC | 1 (2024) | |||
| Philadelphia Union | 1 (2023) | 1 (2024) | ||
| Colorado Rapids | 1 (2024) | |||
| LA Galaxy | 1 (2025) | |||
| Monterrey | 1 (2023) | |||
| Orlando City SC | 1 (2025) |
| Nation | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Mexico | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
 Canada | 0 |
The third place play-off was added in 2023.
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