The Leagues Cup is a month-long tournament where MLS and Liga MX clubs face off in a World Cup–style competition with a twist: there are no true draws, and the format has been revamped for 2025 to maximize MLS vs Liga MX matchups.

What the Leagues Cup Is

  • It’s an official, CONCACAF-sanctioned tournament featuring Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX clubs in North America.
  • The competition runs in the summer (late July to late August) while the regular MLS and Liga MX seasons pause or partially adjust.
  • Top finishers qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, with the champion typically getting a direct spot into later rounds.

How the 2025 Format Works (Quick Breakdown)

For 2025, Leagues Cup has two main phases: Phase One (league-style phase) and the knockout rounds.

1. Teams and Regions

  • 36 teams total: 18 MLS and 18 Liga MX clubs.
  • They’re split into two big regions:
    • Eastern region: 18 clubs
    • Western region: 18 clubs
  • Within each region, clubs are placed into three tiers based on a Leagues Cup ranking:
    • Tier 1: Top 3 teams from each league
    • Tier 2: Next 3 teams
    • Tier 3: Next 3 teams

That ranking is built from how teams did in the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield race and the 2024 Liga MX Apertura + Clausura combined table.

2. Phase One (League-Style Phase)

Phase One replaces the old small “group stage” and runs roughly from late July to early August.

  • In each region (East/West), six “sets” of six teams are formed:
    • Each set = 1 MLS + 1 Liga MX club from each tier (Tier 1, 2, 3), so 3 MLS + 3 Liga MX total.
  • Each club plays three matches , all against opponents from the other league within its set.
* MLS teams only face Liga MX teams, and vice versa, in Phase One.

Here’s the quirky part: even though teams play cross-league, they are ranked in separate league tables :

  • All MLS results feed into a single MLS Leagues Cup table.
  • All Liga MX results feed into a separate Liga MX Leagues Cup table.

So an MLS win adds points to the MLS table; a Liga MX win adds to the Liga MX table, even though they’re playing each other.

Points System and “No Draws” Rule

The Leagues Cup uses a special points system that avoids true draws.

  • Regulation win (within 90 minutes) : 3 points for the winner, 0 for the loser.
  • Draw after 90 minutes :
    • Both teams get 1 point.
    • Then they go straight to a penalty shootout.
    • Shootout winner gets 1 extra point (so 2 total); shootout loser stays on 1.

In the knockout rounds, if a match is tied after 90 minutes, it also goes straight to a penalty shootout with no extra time.

Fans on forums often point out that this “extra point for shootout” makes the tables more volatile and a bit chaotic, but it keeps every match high-stakes.

Who Advances and How Knockouts Work

At the end of Phase One:

  • The top four teams from the MLS table and the top four from the Liga MX table advance to the quarterfinals.
  • This yields 8 teams total in the knockout rounds.

Knockout Stage

  • Single-elimination: Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final (plus a Third Place match).
  • All knockouts are MLS vs Liga MX, by design, to maximize interleague clashes.
  • If tied after 90 minutes, the winner is decided by penalties, with no extra time.

The top three finishers (champion, runner-up, third place) qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, with the champion generally skipping earlier rounds.

Why the Format Feels “Different”

Fans and forum posters often point out a few unusual quirks about how the Leagues Cup works now:

  • You only play teams from the other league, but your ranking is against your own league’s clubs , which can lead to weird scenarios where one league dominates head-to-head but still sends fewer teams forward.
  • The penalty shootout for an extra point is polarizing: some like the extra jeopardy , while others find it gimmicky compared to traditional league draws.
  • Organizers keep tweaking the format to find a balance that boosts viewership and interleague drama without bloating the calendar.

An example people discuss: you could have a situation where Liga MX clubs win lots of individual games, yet the structure of tables and tie-breakers still lets multiple MLS sides through—or vice versa—because everyone is cannibalizing points off each other in mixed sets.

Mini FAQ: “How does the Leagues Cup work?”

  • Who plays? 18 MLS and 18 Liga MX clubs, split into East and West regions.
  • How many games in Phase One? Each team plays 3 matches vs clubs from the opposite league.
  • How do points work? 3 for a win; if tied after 90, both get 1 and a penalty shootout gives the winner 1 extra point (2 total).
  • How do you advance? Top 4 in the MLS table and top 4 in the Liga MX table move to the quarterfinals.
  • What’s at stake? Trophy, bragging rights, and CONCACAF Champions Cup spots for the top three finishers.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.