NEW YORK AND MEXICO CITY (Thursday, March 9, 2023) – The Leagues Cup 2023 Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light today revealed the official 2023 match schedule. The San Jose Earthquakes will face the Portland Timbers on Saturday, July 22 at Providence Park before hosting Liga MX side Tigres U.A.N.L. on Sunday, July 30 at PayPal Park.
The inaugural edition of the official Concacaf competition will see all 47 clubs (18 from LIGA MX, 29 from MLS) compete in a World Cup-style tournament from July 21 - August 19, 2023.
The Group Stage kicks off on July 21 and runs through July 31, and will see rivalries born and renewed, as well as feature exciting rematches between LIGA MX and MLS clubs.
Advancing teams will compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals from August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.
The Leagues Cup 2023 Final and third-place game will be played on Saturday, August 19 and determine the three clubs that will qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions League.
Fans in over 100 countries and regions will be able to watch Leagues Cup* on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com.
In addition, TelevisaUnivision, FOX Sports, TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for select Leagues Cup matches in the United States and Canada.
Leagues Cup 2023 Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light
Group Stage: As previously announced, the Leagues Cup 2023 groups can be viewed here.
The MLS Cup 2022 champion, the Los Angeles Football Club, has qualified directly and will host its Round of 32 match. Club de Fútbol Pachuca earned the bye as the LIGA MX champion with the most combined points accumulated across the Clausura and Apertura seasons in the 2022 calendar year.
Knockout Rounds: Pachuca will enter the Knockout Stage in the South region, in the opposite bracket from the MLS Cup champion, LAFC, which enters in the West region. Following the Group Stage, the advancing teams will join LAFC and Pachuca to compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals on August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 32. The top advancing club from each group will face a second-place team from a group in their same region.
Due to the odd number of teams this year, the second-place team in Group 1 of the South region will enter the Leagues Cup 2023 bracket in the West region due to that group having the lowest-performing team in the 2022 season (No. 2 club in the South region).
For the potential Knockout round match-ups and the pathway to the Final, see the above bracket.
Knockout Round - Venues: In 2023, advancing MLS clubs will host knockout round matches against LIGA MX teams, and MLS venues will host all Leagues Cup knockout round matches. Round of 32 matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the group winner. Round of 32 matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a regional venue designated by the Organizing Committee.
Starting with the Round of 16, matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the club with the better 2022 regular season performance. Matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a venue designated by the Organizing Committee.
The pool of regional venues for matches between two LIGA MX clubs during the knockout round are as follows:
- West: BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, CA), Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, CA), America First Field (Salt Lake City, UT), PayPal Park (San Jose, CA)
- Central: SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, IL), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), DICK’S Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, CO), Shell Energy Stadium (Houston, TX)
- South: Q2 Stadium (Austin, TX), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), Exploria Stadium (Orlando, FL)
- East: Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ), Subaru Park (Chester, PA), Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
Knockout Round match locations and kickoff times will be announced at the conclusion of the Group Stage.
Leagues Cup 2023 Schedule Highlights
Real Salt Lake Seek Revenge Twelve Years Later: Twelve years since they last took the field, Real Salt Lake will host CF Monterrey on Wednesday, July 26 in a rematch of the 2011 Concacaf Champions League Final. RSL secured a 2-2 tie in the first leg of the series, but Rayados, thanks to a goal by Humberto Suazo, took the title with a 1-0 upset in Salt Lake. Victor Manuel Vucetich was the coach for Monterrey then and returned to the club in 2022.
MLS and LIGA MX Club Face Off in 2022 Rematches: July 23 will set the stage for a 2022 Campeones Cup rematch between New York City FC and Atlas FC. In New York’s 2-0 victory, current NYCFC starting goalkeeper Luis Barraza earned the Man of the Match award and will look to shut down Atlas once more. After playing in the 2022 Leagues Cup Showcase, FC Cincinnati and Club Deportivo Guadalajara square off again on July 27. Led by U.S. Men’s National Team forward Brandon Vázquez, Cincinnati recorded a 3-1 victory versus Chivas at TQL Stadium last year.
Coach and Player Connections Resurface in Leagues Cup Showdowns: The Central region features a host of connections between players and coaches on July 31. Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido will battle against his old squad Chivas, where he was named MVP of the 2017 LIGA MX Clausura tournament, which Chivas won. Additionally, Chicago Fire FC and Club Puebla both claim National Soccer Hall of Famer DaMarcus Beasley as one of their own, having played in over 90 games for each club. Finally, Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda meets Cruz Azul in the South region on July 25, as the Five Stripes head coach suited up for La Máquina from 2010-11.
Beginning in 2023, MLS and LIGA MX will pause their respective league seasons each summer and compete in Leagues Cup, an official Concacaf competition to be played across the U.S. and Canada. The champion and the second and third-place finishers will qualify for the Concacaf Champions League and have an opportunity to earn a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.
The complete details on the Leagues Cup format can be viewed here.
Ticket Information
Individual tickets will be available to fans via the hosting MLS club. MLS club season ticket holders should contact their club representative for more information. For more tournament information, visit LeaguesCup.com and follow @LeaguesCup on social.
About MLS Season Pass
MLS Season Pass – the unprecedented subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer that is home to all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, and hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT games – is available to fans in over 100 countries and regions and is on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com.
Fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season. A subscription to MLS Season Pass is included with each full-season ticket account. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password. To subscribe to MLS Season Pass, customers must update to iOS 16.2 or later, iPadOS 16.2 or later, tvOS 16.2 or later, and macOS 13.1 or later.
*This excludes Leagues Cup for viewers in Mexico
