What is the Leagues Cup?
The Leagues Cup is the annual club tournament between Major League Soccer and Liga MX, organised jointly by the two leagues and sanctioned by Concacaf as an official competition since 2023. Its slogan — three countries, two leagues, one champion — describes it exactly: it pauses both domestic seasons for a month each summer and sends its top three clubs into the Concacaf Champions Cup.[1] [5]
How does it work?
The 2026 tournament, from 4 August to 6 September, took all 18 Liga MX clubs and the 18 MLS clubs that had reached the previous season’s MLS Cup Playoffs — the top nine in each conference, seeded by Supporters’ Shield standings. Phase one, 4–13 August, was 54 matches in which every club played only the other league’s clubs, drawn from three ranking tiers within East and West regions and scored in separate MLS and Liga MX tables; the top four from each table went to the knockout rounds of 25 August to 6 September — quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place match and the final, none allowed to end in a draw.[1] [3]
Since when does it exist?
The first Leagues Cup, in 2019, was an eight-club invitational won by Cruz Azul; León won the 2021 edition and there was no tournament in 2022. From 2023 every MLS and Liga MX club took part — 47 in all — under Concacaf sanction, and Inter Miami, Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders won the first three editions of that era, the field having been cut from 47 to 36 clubs for 2025. Toluca’s 2026 win in Houston, with León third after beating América 1–0, made it the first Liga MX club to lift the trophy since the modern format began.[2] [4] [5]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Toluca | Final: 2–0 vs Monterrey — Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, 6 September 2026 (att. 21,144); León third |
| 2025 | Seattle Sounders | Final: 3–0 vs Inter Miami — Seattle |
| 2024 | Columbus Crew | Final: 3–1 vs LAFC — Columbus |
| 2023 | Inter Miami | Final: 1–1, 10–9 pens vs Nashville SC — Nashville; first Concacaf-sanctioned edition |
| 2021 | León | Final: 3–2 vs Seattle Sounders — Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada |
| 2019 | Cruz Azul | Final: 2–1 vs Tigres UANL — Sam Boyd Stadium, Whitney, Nevada; eight-club inaugural edition |
Every edition of the Leagues Cup.
Why does it matter?
The Leagues Cup is the only regular competition in which the clubs of the top divisions of the United States, Canada and Mexico meet, and its 2026 edition drew more than a million spectators over 62 matches. Its three Concacaf Champions Cup berths, the champion’s with a bye to the round of 16, make it a direct route to the confederation’s top competition and, through that, to the FIFA Club World Cup.[1] [2]
References
- Leagues Cup — About. Accessed September 2026.
- Leagues Cup — Toluca FC lifts the Leagues Cup 2026 trophy with 2–0 win over C.F. Monterrey. Accessed September 2026.
- Leagues Cup — Leagues Cup 2026 set to be played August 4–September 6; participating clubs announced. Accessed September 2026.
- Leagues Cup — Cambindo’s goal lifts León over América in Leagues Cup third-place game. Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — Leagues Cup (background). Accessed September 2026.