Leagues Cup

The Leagues Cup is an annual club competition created in partnership between the MLS and the Liga MX as a a way to cooperate between both federations as they prepare to host the 2026 World Cup. It was launched in 2019 with only four teams, but the whole list of teams from both leagues were included in the competition in the summer of 2023.

Despite including teams from Mexico, the competition has always been held in the United States and Canada. Initially, the competition was held in one city, but with the addition of all teams the format changed to have 15 clubs from each league being seeded in fifteen groups. The rest of the teams would be drawn into all groups taking under consideration geographic restrictions to prevent extended flights. Added to that, the most recent champions for both leagues were handed byes into the KO stage of the competition.

Once drawn, all teams are required to play a single round-robin stage, which will see 30 teams making it to the KO round. Matches will go on from the Round of 32 all the way to the title match, with penalties being used as tiebreakers in all rounds except for the final.

Broadcast coverage of the Leagues Cup in the United States is available via TUDN and Fox Sports, who carry select games throughout the competition. The rest of the matches are available in over 100 countries on MLS Season Pass, the platform created by Apple TV. The streaming platform will carry Leagues Cup games until 2033.