The 2023 Leagues Cup for the first time features all 47 top-flight clubs from the United States, Canada, and Mexico doing battle in a month-long competition that will crown the best club between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Mexico’s Liga MX.
Both MLS and Liga MX are taking a break from regularly scheduled domestic action to focus on this competition, ensuring all eyes will be on Leagues Cup to see who reigns supreme across the top two North American leagues.
There is added interest in the competition this year for two reasons: It is the first edition of the Leagues Cup competition that will see all teams from the two leagues participate, and it’s also the first time that the winner is awarded a berth into next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Additionally, Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami has drawn global attention toward the tournament as the Argentine superstar attempts to win his first piece of silverware with his new club.
MORE: How to watch every Leagues Cup match on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
How to watch Leagues Cup live stream, TV channel
Every Leagues Cup match will be available to stream around the world on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
In addition, in the USA, select Leagues Cup matches will be televised by TUDN and Univision, which both stream on Fubo, available to new users on a free trial.
Inter Miami’s matches in the Leagues Cup will be getting special treatment from Apple TV with an enhanced production including 18 cameras, a Steadicam, Skycam, and other cameras with super slow-motion capabilities.
2023 Leagues Cup standings
The competition begins with a group stage featuring 15 groups made up of three teams each. The top two teams advance from each group to the Round of 32.
Matches that end in a draw after 90 minutes head to a penalty shootout, with the winner of the shootout earning an extra point in the standings.
Group stage
How did they come up with these groups? The top 16 teams in each league from last season’s standings were seeded from top to bottom.
The top seed from each league (LAFC and Pachuca) was given a direct berth to the knockout rounds, while the remaining 15 seeds were paired up against the other league with higher-seeded teams facing the lowest-seeded teams on the opposite side.
For example, the MLS No. 2-seed (Philadelphia Union) were matched with the Liga MX No. 16-seed (Tijuana) to create one pairing. The third team for each group — mostly from MLS since there are 29 MLS clubs and 18 Liga MLS clubs — was selected based on geographical location, thus creating the concept of regional groups — East, South, Central, and West.
East 1 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Philadelphia Union | 3 | 1-0-0 | +2 |
2. | Queretaro | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | Tijuana | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
East 2 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | CF Montreal | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
2. | Pumas UNAM | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | D.C. United | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
East 3 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Atlas | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
2. | Toronto FC | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | NYCFC | 0 | 0-0-1 | -1 |
East 4 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | NY Red Bulls | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
2. | New England Rev. | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | Atletico San Luis | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
South 1 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Mazatlan-Q | 5 | 1-1-0 | +2 |
2. | FC Juarez | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | Austin FC | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
South 2 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Houston Dynamo | 3 | 0-2-0 | 0 |
2. | Orlando City | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | Santos Laguna | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
South 3 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Inter Miami-Q | 6 | 2-0-0 | +5 |
2. | Cruz Azul | 0 | 0-0-1 | -1 |
3. | Atlanta United | 0 | 0-0-1 | -4 |
South 4 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | FC Dallas-Q | 4 | 1-1-0 | +3 |
2. | Charlotte FC | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | Necaxa | 0 | 0-0-1 | -3 |
Central 1 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Columbus Crew | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
2. | Club America | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | St. Louis City | 0 | 0-0-1 | -1 |
Central 2 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Minnesota United | 3 | 1-0-0 | +4 |
2. | Chicago Fire | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | Puebla | 0 | 0-0-1 | -4 |
Central 3 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | FC Cincinnati | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
2. | Sporting KC | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | Guadalajara | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
Central 4 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Nashville SC | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
2. | Toluca | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | Colorado Rapids | 0 | 0-0-1 | -1 |
West 1 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Portland Timbers | 3 | 1-0-0 | +2 |
2. | Tigres UANL | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | San Jose Earthquakes | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
West 2 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Real Salt Lake | 3 | 1-0-0 | +3 |
2. | Monterrey | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
3. | Seattle Sounders | 0 | 0-0-1 | -3 |
West 3 standings, schedule
Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
1. | Club Leon | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
2. | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
3. | LA Galaxy | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
2023 Leagues Cup bracket for knockout stage
Once the group stage is completed, the 30 teams that advance will join the two defending league champions (LAFC and Pachuca) to begin a bracket-style tournament, determining the ultimate winner.
The knockout stage is essentially crafted similar to the NCAA basketball tournament.
All matches will be played in MLS stadiums. For knockout stage matches involving two MLS clubs, the host will be determined by group stage tiebreaker criteria (points, goal differential, goals scored, etc.)
Round of 32
No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
1 | Aug. 2 | TBD | LAFC vs. 2nd, South 1 | MLS Season Pass |
2 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, West 3 vs. 2nd, West 2 | MLS Season Pass |
3 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, West 1 vs. 2nd, West 3 | MLS Season Pass |
4 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, West 2 vs. 2nd, West 1 | MLS Season Pass |
5 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 1 vs. 2nd, Central 2 | MLS Season Pass |
6 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 4 vs. 2nd, Central 3 | MLS Season Pass |
7 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 2 vs. 2nd, Central 1 | MLS Season Pass |
8 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 3 vs. 2nd, Central 4 | MLS Season Pass |
9 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 1 vs. 2nd, East 2 | MLS Season Pass |
10 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 4 vs. 2nd, East 3 | MLS Season Pass |
11 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 2 vs. 2nd, East 1 | MLS Season Pass |
12 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 3 vs. 2nd, East 4 | MLS Season Pass |
13 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Mazatlan vs. 2nd, South 4 | MLS Season Pass |
14 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Inter Miami vs. 1st, South 2 | MLS Season Pass |
15 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, South 4 vs. 2nd, South 3 | MLS Season Pass |
16 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Pachuca vs. 2nd, South 2 | MLS Season Pass |
Round of 16
No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
1 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #1 vs. Winner, R32 #2 | MLS Season Pass |
2 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #3 vs. Winner, R32 #4 | MLS Season Pass |
3 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #5 vs. Winner, R32 #6 | MLS Season Pass |
4 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #7 vs. Winner, R32 #8 | MLS Season Pass |
5 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #9 vs. Winner, R32 #10 | MLS Season Pass |
6 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #11 vs. Winner, R32 #12 | MLS Season Pass |
7 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #13 vs. Winner, R32 #14 | MLS Season Pass |
8 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #15 vs. Winner, R32 #16 | MLS Season Pass |
Quarterfinals
No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
1 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #1 vs. Winner, R16 #2 | MLS Season Pass |
2 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #3 vs. Winner, R16 #4 | MLS Season Pass |
3 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #5 vs. Winner, R16 #6 | MLS Season Pass |
4 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #7 vs. Winner, R16 #8 | MLS Season Pass |
Semifinals
No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
1 | Tues, Aug. 15 | TBD | Winner QF #1 vs. Winner QF #2 | MLS Season Pass |
2 | Tues, Aug. 15 | TBD | Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 | MLS Season Pass |
Third Place match
Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
Sat, Aug. 19 | TBD | Loser SF #1 vs. Loser SF #2 | MLS Season Pass |
Finals
Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
Sat, Aug. 19 | TBD | Winner SF #1 vs. Winner SF #2 | MLS Season Pass |