2023 Leagues Cup: Draw, fixtures, results & guide to each round

  • Original Leagues Cup format returns for first time since 2021
  • Lionel Messi and Inter Miami among the headlines
  • Club Leon looking to defend their 2021 title

Lionel Messi scores in his Leagues Cup debut.
Lionel Messi scores in his Leagues Cup debut. / Mike Ehrmann/GettyImages
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The third edition of the Leagues Cup is set to kick off between Major League Soccer and Liga MX clubs, with Inter Miami's Lionel Messi stealing the headlines.

The 2023 edition will see 47 sides from the two North American leagues - 29 from MLS and 18 from Liga MX - face off in a unique style tournament designed to help generate more exposure for both leagues. The arrival of Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba will only help the sport continue to grow in the United States and Mexico alike.

The Mexico-based clubs have the upper hand against MLS sides (which is nothing different when compared to how the two leagues fare in the Concacaf Champions League - now rebranded to the Concacaf Champions Cup), winning the first two editions of the competition. Cruz Azul were the victors in 2019, and Club Leon triumphed in 2021. Although Cruz Azul finished first just a few years ago, they're now in a precarious spot as they face Inter Miami and their trio of ex-Barcelona players, who are looking to make an immediate impact.


When does the 2023 Leagues Cup start?

The group stage begins on July 21, with five game taking place on the first match day. There are three teams to each group, and the top two teams with the most points will advance to the knockout stage. In the knockout stage, it is a win-or-go home one-game scenario.

There are also no draws in the Leagues Cup in the group stage. When one side has won after regulation, said team earns three points. If both teams are tied after the 90 minutes, then both teams receive one point. But after normal time, instead of going to two periods of extra time, the game goes straight to penalty kicks - with the winner earning one point.


Which teams are playing in the 2023 Leagues Cup?

  • West 1: Tigres UANL, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes
  • West 2: Monterrey, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders
  • West 3: LA Galaxy, Club Leon, Vancouver Whitecaps
  • Central 1: Club America, Columbus Crew, St. Louis City
  • Central 2: Puebla, Minnesota United, Chicago Fire
  • Central 3: Chivas Guadalajara, FC Cincinnati, Sporting Kansas City
  • Central 4: Nashville SC, Toluca, Colorado Rapids
  • South 1: Austin FC, Mazatlan, FC Juarez
  • South 2: Santos Laguna, Orlando City, Houston Dynamo
  • South 3: Cruz Azul, Inter Miami, Atlanta United
  • South 4: FC Dallas, Necaxa, Charlotte FC
  • East 1:Philadelphia, Tijuana, Queretaro
  • East 2: CF Montreal, Pumas UNAM, DC United
  • East 3: NYCFC, Atlas, Toronto FC
  • East 4: New York Red Bulls, San Luis, New England Revolution

*LAFC and Pachuca will not participate in the group stage, as they received a bye after winning their respective leagues (LAFC won MLS Cup in 2022, Pachuca had the most combined points spanning across the 2022 Clausura and Apertura seasons).


2023 Leagues Cup round dates

Round

Date

Matchday 1

July 21-July 23

Matchday 2

July 25-July 27

Matchday 3

July 29-July 31

Round of 32

August 2-August 4

Round of 16

August 7

Quarter-final

August 12

Semi-final

August 15

Final

August 19


2023 Leagues Cup Matchday one results

  • 07/21/2023 - Inter Miami 2-1 Cruz Azul
  • 07/21/2023 - Orlando City 1-1 Houston Dynamo (5-4 pen.)
  • 07/21/2023 - Austin FC 1-3 Mazatlan
  • 07/21/2023 - FC Dallas 2-2 Charlotte FC (1-4 pen.)
  • 07/21/2023 - Club Leon 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps (16-15 pen.) 
  • 07/22/2023 - CF Montreal 2-2 Pumas UNAM (4-2 pen.)
  • 07/22/2023 - New York Red Bulls 0-0 New England Revolution (4-2) pen.)
  • 07/22/2023 - Philadelphia Union 3-1 Club Tijuana
  • 07/22/2023 - Real Salt Lake 3-0 Seattle Sounders
  • 07/22/2023 - Portland Timbers 2-0 San Jose Earthquakes
  • 07/23/2023 - New York City FC 0-1 Atlas
  • 07/23/2023 - FC Cincinnati 3-3 Sporting Kansas City (4-2 pen.)
  • 07/23/2023 - Columbus Crew 2-1 St. Louis City
  • 07/23/2023 - Nashville SC 2-1 Colorado Rapids
  • 07/23/2023 - Puebla 0-4 Minnesota United

2023 Leagues Cup Matchday two results

  • 07/25/2023 - Inter Miami 4-0 Atlanta United
  • 07/25/2023 - Santos Laguna 2-2 Houston Dynamo (4-5 pen.)
  • 07/25/2023 - Mazatlan 1-1 FC Juarez (4-2 pen.) 
  • 07/25/2023 - FC Dallas 3-0 Necaxa
  • 07/25/2023 - LA Galaxy 0-1 Club Leon
  • 07/26/2023 - CF Montreal 0-1 DC United
  • 07/26/2023 - Philadelphia Union 5-1 Queretaro
  • 07/26/2023 - San Luis 1-5 New England Revolution
  • 07/26/2023 - New York City FC 5-0 Toronto FC
  • 07/26/2023 - Monterrey 3-0 Real Salt Lake
  • 07/26/2023 - Tigres UANL 2-1 Portland Timbers
  • 07/27/2023 - Chivas Guadalajara 1-3 FC Cincinnati
  • 07/27/2023 - Minnesota United 2-3 Chicago Fire
  • 07/27/2023 - Nashville SC 3-4 Toluca
  • 07/27/2023 - Club America 4-0 St. Louis City

2023 Leagues Cup Matchday three results

  • 07/29/2023 - Cruz Azul 1-1 Atlanta United (5-4 pen.)
  • 07/29/2023 - Santos Laguna 2-3 Orlando City
  • 07/29/2023 - Necaxa 1-4 Charlotte FC
  • 07/29/2023 - Austin FC 1-3 FC Juarez
  • 07/29/2023 - Pumas UNAM 3-0 DC United
  • 07/29/2023 - LA Galaxy 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
  • 07/30/2023 - Atlas 1-0 Toronto FC
  • 07/30/2023 - New York Red Bulls 2-1 San Luis
  • 07/30/2023 - Club Tijuana 0-1 Queretaro
  • 07/30/2023 - Monterrey 4-2 Seattle Sounders
  • 07/30/2023 - Tigres UANL 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes
  • 07/31/2023 - Club America 1-4 Columbus Crew
  • 07/31/2023 - Puebla 1-1 Chicago Fire (10-9 pen.)
  • 07/31/2023 - Toluca 4-1Colorado Rapids
  • 07/31/2023 - Chivas Guadalajara 0-1 Sporting Kansas City

2023 Leagues Cup round of 32 results

  • 08/02/2023 - Inter Miami 3-1 Orlando City
  • 08/02/2023 - Mazatlan 1-2 FC Dallas
  • 08/02/2023 - Pachuca 0-0 Houston Dynamo (3-5 pen.)
  • 08/02/2023 - LAFC 7-1 FC Juarez
  • 08/03/2023 - New York Red Bulls 1-0 NYCFC
  • 08/03/2023 - Pumas UNAM 0-1 Queretaro
  • 08/03/2023 - Atlas 2-2 New England Revolution (7-8 pen.)
  • 08/03/2023 - Philadelphia Union 0-0 DC United (5-4 pen.)
  • 08/03/2023 - Charlotte FC 0-0 Cruz Azul (4-3 pen.)
  • 08/03/2023 - Club Leon 1-3 Real Salt Lake
  • 08/04/2023 - Chicago Fire 0-1 Club America
  • 08/04/2023 - FC Cincinnati 1-1 Nashville SC (4-5 pen.)
  • 08/04/2023 - Columbus Crew 3-3 Minnesota United (3-4 pen.)
  • 08/04/2023 - Toluca 4-1 Sporting Kansas City
  • 08/04/2023 - Monterrey 1-0 Portland Timbers
  • 08/04/2023 - Tigres UANL 1-1 Vancouver Whitecaps (5-3 pen.)

2023 Leagues Cup round of 16 results

  • 08/06/2023 - FC Dallas 4-4 Inter Miami (3-5 pen.)
  • 08/07/2023 - Queretaro 1-1 New England Revolution (4-3 pen.)
  • 08/07/2023 - Charlotte FC 2-1 Houston Dynamo
  • 08/08/2023 - Philadelphia Union 1-1 New York Red Bulls (4-3 pen.)
  • 08/08/2023 - Club America 2-2 Nashville SC (5-6 pen.)
  • 08/08/2023 - Toluca 2-2 Minnesota United (2-4 pen.)
  • 08/08/2023 - Tigres UANL 0-1 Monterrey
  • 08/08/2023 - LAFC 4-0 Real Salt Lake

2023 Leagues Cup quarter-final results

  • 08/11/2023 - Philadelphia Union vs Queretaro - 8:00 PM EST
  • 08/11/2023 - Inter Miami vs Charlotte FC - 8:30 PM EST 
  • 08/11/2023 - Nashville SC vs Minnesota United - 8:30 PM EST
  • 08/11/2023 - LAFC vs Monterrey - 10:30 PM EST

2023 Leagues Cup semi-final results

  • 08/15/2023 - Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami - 7:00 PM EST
  • 08/15/2023 - CF Monterrey vs Nashville SC - 9:30 PM EST

2023 Leagues Cup final result

  • 08/19/2023 - Nashville SC 1-1 Inter Miami (9-10 pen.)

Who won the 2022 Leagues Cup?

Because of the FIFA World Cup taking place in December of last year. there wasn't an official Leagues Cup tournament. It would've been too much on the players with all of the games being played already throughout the year.

Instead, five games were held in place of the competition, and the results are below:

  • LA Galaxy 2-0 Chivas Guadalajara 
  • Club America 0-0 LAFC (6-5 pen.)
  • FC Cincinnati 3-1 Guadala 
  • Nashville SC 3-3 Club America (4-2 pen.)
  • Atlas 2-1 Real Salt Lake

Who has won the Leagues Cup the most?

Only two teams have won the tournament before - Cruz Azul and Club Leon. Cruz Azul defeated Tigres UANL in the 2019 final,2-1, and Club Leon triumphed 3-2 over Seattle Sounders to win the 2021 edition.


How can I watch the 2023 Leagues Cup?

There will be plenty of coverage due to a certain Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami, and it can be watched on Apple TV via MLS Season Pass, Univision, FOX Sports, TSN, RDS, and Televisa.


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