2023 Leagues Cup

2023 Leagues Cup

Tournament details
Host countries	United States Canada
Dates	July 21 – August 19
Teams	47 (from 3 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	77

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.

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. In addition, the Leagues Cup finalists and third place team will 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 winner of MLS Cup 2022 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.

For the group stage, teams will play one match against each team in their group. Wins in regulation are worth three points and losses in regulation are zero points. Matches tied after 90 minutes will advance to a penalty shootout where the winner earns two points and the loser is awarded one point. 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.

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.

Teams and draw

The competition will feature all 47 clubs from the two leagues: 29 from MLS and 18 from Liga MX. Teams will be ranked by league using the 2022 Supporter's Shield standings for MLS and the 2022 aggregate table for Liga MX. The champions of each league will be assigned rank 1 and will receive a bye to the knockout stage. The top-15 remaining teams from each league will be placed into groups based on ranking (for example, the 2nd ranked MLS clubs 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.

MLS (2022 Supporter's Shield table)

Rank	Team	Pot
1	Los Angeles FC	Seeded*
2	Philadelphia Union	Seeded*
3	CF Montréal	Seeded
4	Austin FC	Seeded
5	New York City FC	Seeded
6	New York Red Bulls	Seeded
7	FC Dallas	Seeded
8	LA Galaxy	Seeded
9	Nashville SC	Seeded
10	FC Cincinnati	Seeded
11	Minnesota United FC	Seeded
12	Inter Miami CF	Seeded
13	Orlando City SC	Seeded
14	Real Salt Lake	Seeded
15	Portland Timbers	Seeded
16	Columbus Crew	Seeded
17	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Unseeded
18	Colorado Rapids	Unseeded
19	Charlotte FC	Unseeded
20	New England Revolution	Unseeded
21	Seattle Sounders FC	Unseeded
22	Sporting Kansas City	Unseeded
23	Atlanta United FC	Unseeded
24	Chicago Fire FC	Unseeded
25	Houston Dynamo FC	Unseeded
26	San Jose Earthquakes	Unseeded
27	Toronto FC	Unseeded
28	D.C. United	Unseeded
–	St. Louis City SC	Unseeded

Liga MX (2022 aggregate table)

Rank	Team	Pot
1	Pachuca	Bye
2	América	Seeded
3	UANL	Seeded
4	Monterrey	Seeded
5	Santos Laguna	Seeded
6	Cruz Azul	Seeded
7	Puebla	Seeded
8	Guadalajara	Seeded
9	Toluca	Seeded
10	León	Seeded
11	Necaxa	Seeded
12	Atlético San Luis	Seeded
13	Atlas	Seeded
14	Mazatlán	Seeded
15	UNAM	Seeded
16	Tijuana	Seeded
17	Juárez	Unseeded
18	Querétaro	Unseeded

  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.

Schedule

The Leagues Cup format was announced on October 6, 2022. It is scheduled to begin on July 21, 2023, and conclude with the final on August 19, 2023.

Schedule for 2023 Leagues Cup

Phase	Round	Date
Group stage	Matchday 1	July 2023
	Matchday 2	July 2023
Knockout stage	Round of 32	July – August 2023
	Round of 16	July – August 2023
	Quarter-finals	August 2023
	Semi-finals	August 2023
	Third place play-off	19 August 2023
	Final

Knockout stage

Main article: 2023 Leagues Cup knockout stage