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2023 Leagues Cup
Tournament details
Host countries	Canada; United States
Dates	July 21 – August 19
Teams	47 (from 3 associations)
Venue(s)	30 (in 30 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Inter Miami CF (1st title)
Runners-up	Nashville SC
Third place	Philadelphia Union
Fourth place	Monterrey
Tournament statistics
Matches played	77
Goals scored	251 (3.26 per match)
Attendance	1,328,669 (17,255 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Lionel Messi; (10 goals)
Best player(s)	Lionel Messi
Best goalkeeper	Drake Callender
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The 2023 Leagues Cup was the third edition of the Leagues Cup, an international club soccer tournament between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX. It was held from July 21 to August 19, 2023, with all 77 matches held in either Canada and the United States. The tournament was organized by the two leagues (MLS and Liga MX) and sanctioned by CONCACAF, the continental governing body for the sport in North America, Central America and Caribbean.^[1]

Inter Miami CF won the tournament after defeating Nashville SC on penalties in the final at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee. Miami's Lionel Messi was the top goalscorer and awarded the best player of the Leagues Cup.^[2]

For the first time in the history of the competition, all MLS and Liga MX teams (47 total) competed in the tournament, with both leagues taking a pause in their respective seasons to participate.^[3] In addition, the Leagues Cup finalists and third-place team earned berths to the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, with winners Inter Miami automatically advancing to that tournament's round of 16.

Format

The 2023 Leagues Cup was the first edition where all MLS and Liga MX teams participated. The MLS Cup 2022 winners (Los Angeles FC) and the 2022 Clausura or 2022 Apertura champions with the highest aggregate points accumulated across 2022 (Pachuca) qualified automatically for the round of 32. The remaining 45 teams were placed into 15 groups of three.^[4]^[5]

For the group stage, teams played one match against each team in their group. Regulation wins were worth three points and regulation losses are zero points. Matches tied after 90 minutes advanced to a penalty shoot-out, where the winner earned two points and the loser earned one. All matches were held in either Canada and United States, with the MLS teams playing at home and intra-Liga MX matches played at MLS venues depending on their region.^[1]^[4]^[5] Matches disrupted by inclement weather, including thunderstorms, were delayed or postponed to another date to resume at the time of the stoppage.^[6]

Tie-breaking criteria for group play
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:^[7]^: 13 Points obtained in all group matches; Direct head-to-head match result between the tied clubs (for clarity, a victory on penalties was considered a win for purposes of this tiebreaker); Better goal differential between goals scored and goals conceded during the group stage; Greater number of goals scored during the group stage; Fewer number of goals conceded during the group stage; Clubs fair play table First yellow card: –1 point Second yellow card (indirect red card): –3 points (The first yellow card was not considered) Direct red card: –3 points Yellow card followed by a direct red card: –4 points; A draw organized by the organizing committee.

The top two teams in each group advanced to the round of 32, joining the MLS Cup winners and highest-ranked Liga MX champion. This phase of the tournament was a five-round single-leg knockout format with a third place match. As was the case during the group stage, knockout stage matches tied after 90 minutes were decided by a penalty shoot-out.^[7]^: 14 The two finalists and third place team earned berths for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, with the winners automatically advancing to the Champions Cup round of 16.^[1]

Teams and draw

The competition featured all 47 clubs from the two leagues: 29 from MLS and 18 from Liga MX.^[8] Teams were ranked by league using the 2022 Supporters' Shield table for MLS and the 2022 aggregate table for Liga MX. The champions of each league received a bye to the knockout stage as the highest seed. The top 15 remaining teams from each league were placed into groups based on ranking and in reverse order (for example, the 2nd-ranked MLS club was drawn against the 16th-ranked Liga MX club). The remaining teams (13 MLS and 2 Liga MX) were drawn into groups and divided into geographical regions. The first two teams of every group were seeded. The third team was the nearest geographically located unseeded team to the other two teams.^[4]

MLS (2022 Supporters' Shield table)
Rank	Team	Pot
1	Los Angeles FC	Bye
2	Philadelphia Union	Seeded
3	CF Montréal	Seeded
4	Austin FC	Seeded
5	New York City FC	Seeded
6	New York Red Bulls	Seeded
7	FC Dallas	Seeded
8	LA Galaxy	Seeded
9	Nashville SC	Seeded
10	FC Cincinnati	Seeded
11	Minnesota United FC	Seeded
12	Inter Miami CF	Seeded
13	Orlando City SC	Seeded
14	Real Salt Lake	Seeded
15	Portland Timbers	Seeded
16	Columbus Crew	Seeded
17	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Unseeded
18	Colorado Rapids	Unseeded
19	Charlotte FC	Unseeded
20	New England Revolution	Unseeded
21	Seattle Sounders FC	Unseeded
22	Sporting Kansas City	Unseeded
23	Atlanta United FC	Unseeded
24	Chicago Fire FC	Unseeded
25	Houston Dynamo FC	Unseeded
26	San Jose Earthquakes	Unseeded
27	Toronto FC	Unseeded
28	D.C. United	Unseeded
–^[a]	St. Louis City SC	Unseeded

Liga MX (2022 aggregate table)
Rank	Team	Pot
1	Pachuca	Bye
2	América	Seeded
3	UANL	Seeded
4	Monterrey	Seeded
5	Santos Laguna	Seeded
6	Cruz Azul	Seeded
7	Puebla	Seeded
8	Guadalajara	Seeded
9	Toluca	Seeded
10	León	Seeded
11	Necaxa	Seeded
12	Atlético San Luis	Seeded
13	Atlas	Seeded
14	Mazatlán	Seeded
15	UNAM	Seeded
16	Tijuana	Seeded
17	Juárez	Unseeded
18	Querétaro	Unseeded

Teams receiving bye to knockout stage.

Teams assigned to a group based on league ranking.

Teams drawn into a group.

^
St. Louis City SC joined Major League Soccer in 2023 and therefore had no 2022 season ranking.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows:^[9]

Schedule for 2023 Leagues Cup
Phase	Round	Date
Group stage	Matchday 1	July 21–23, 2023
	Matchday 2	July 25–27, 2023
	Matchday 3	July 29–31, 2023
Knockout stage	Round of 32	August 2–4, 2023
	Round of 16	August 6–8, 2023
	Quarter-finals	August 11–12, 2023
	Semi-finals	August 15, 2023
	Third place play-off	August 19, 2023
	Final	August 19, 2023

Group stage

The group stage was played from July 21 to 31.^[10] Competing teams were divided into fifteen groups of three teams. Teams in each group played one another in a single round-robin, where the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage.

West

West 1

West 2

West 3

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	UANL	2	6
2	Portland Timbers	2	3
3	San Jose Earthquakes	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Monterrey	2	6
2	Real Salt Lake	2	3
3	Seattle Sounders FC	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	León	2	5
2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2	4
3	LA Galaxy	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Central

Central 1

Central 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Columbus Crew	2	6
2	América	2	3
3	St. Louis City SC	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Chicago Fire FC	2	4
2	Minnesota United FC	2	3
3	Puebla	2	2

Source: Leagues Cup

Central 3

Central 4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	FC Cincinnati	2	5
2	Sporting Kansas City	2	4
3	Guadalajara	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Toluca	2	6
2	Nashville SC	2	3
3	Colorado Rapids	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

South

South 1

South 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Mazatlán	2	5
2	Juárez	2	4
3	Austin FC	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Orlando City SC	2	5
2	Houston Dynamo FC	2	3
3	Santos Laguna	2	1

Source: Leagues Cup

South 3

South 4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Inter Miami CF	2	6
2	Cruz Azul	2	2
3	Atlanta United FC	2	1

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Charlotte FC	2	5
2	FC Dallas	2	4
3	Necaxa	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

East

East 1

East 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Philadelphia Union	2	6
2	Querétaro	2	3
3	Tijuana	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	UNAM	2	4
2	D.C. United	2	3
3	CF Montréal	2	2

Source: Leagues Cup

East 3

East 4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Atlas	2	6
2	New York City FC	2	3
3	Toronto FC	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	New York Red Bulls	2	5
2	New England Revolution	2	4
3	Atlético San Luis	2	0

Source: Leagues Cup

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, if the scores were equal at the end of regulation time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winners.^[7]^: 15

The host team was determined by several criteria, including group winner for round of 32 and the 2022 regular season standings for matches between two MLS clubs, where the team with the higher number of points hosted starting in round of 16. For MLS vs. Liga MX matches, the MLS club hosted. Matches between two Liga MX teams were hosted at a neutral venue appointed by the Organizing Committee from a predetermined list.^[11]

Bracket

August 2 – Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles FC

7

August 8 – Los Angeles, CA

Juárez

1

Los Angeles FC

4

August 4 – Sandy, UT

Real Salt Lake

0

León

1

August 11 – Pasadena, CA

Real Salt Lake

3

Los Angeles FC

2

August 4 – Vancouver, BC

Monterrey

3

UANL

1 (5)

August 8 – Houston, TX

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

1 (3)

UANL

0

August 4 – Portland, OR

Monterrey

1

Monterrey

1

August 15 – Nashville, TN

Portland Timbers

0

Monterrey

0

August 4 – Columbus, OH

Nashville SC

2

Columbus Crew

3 (3)

August 8 – Saint Paul, MN

Minnesota United FC (p)

3 (4)

Minnesota United FC (p)

2 (4)

August 4 – Kansas City, KS

Toluca

2 (2)

Toluca

4

August 11 – Nashville, TN

Sporting Kansas City

1

Minnesota United FC

0

August 4 – Bridgeview, IL

Nashville SC

5

Chicago Fire FC

0

August 8 – Nashville, TN

América

1

América

2 (5)

August 4 – Cincinnati, OH

Nashville SC (p)

2 (6)

FC Cincinnati

1 (4)

August 19 – Nashville, TN

Nashville SC (p)

1 (5)

Nashville SC

1 (9)

August 3 – Chester, PA

Inter Miami CF (p)

1 (10)

Philadelphia Union (p)

0 (5)

August 8 – Chester, PA

D.C. United

0 (4)

Philadelphia Union (p)

1 (4)

August 3 – Harrison, NJ

New York Red Bulls

1 (3)

New York Red Bulls

1

August 11 – Chester, PA

New York City FC

0

Philadelphia Union

2

August 3 – Washington, D.C.

Querétaro

1

UNAM

0

August 7 – Foxborough, MA

Querétaro

1

Querétaro (p)

1 (4)

August 3 – Foxborough, MA

New England Revolution

1 (3)

Atlas

2 (7)

August 15 – Chester, PA

New England Revolution (p)

2 (8)

Philadelphia Union

1

August 2 – Frisco, TX

Inter Miami CF

4

Third place play-off

Mazatlán

1

August 6 – Frisco, TX

August 19 – Chester, PA

FC Dallas

2

FC Dallas

4 (3)

Philadelphia Union

3

August 2 – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Inter Miami CF (p)

4 (5)

Monterrey

0

Inter Miami CF

3

August 11 – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Orlando City SC

1

Inter Miami CF

4

August 2 – Houston, TX

Charlotte FC

0

Pachuca

0 (3)

August 7 – Houston, TX

Houston Dynamo FC (p)

0 (5)

Houston Dynamo FC

1

August 3 – Frisco, TX

Charlotte FC

2

Charlotte FC (p)

0 (4)

Cruz Azul

0 (3)

Round of 32

The matches were played from August 2 to 4, 2023.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Inter Miami CF	3–1	Orlando City SC
Mazatlán	1–2	FC Dallas
Pachuca	0–0 (3–5 p)	Houston Dynamo FC
Los Angeles FC	7–1	Juárez
Atlas	2–2 (7–8 p)	New England Revolution
Philadelphia Union	0–0 (5–4 p)	D.C. United
UNAM	0–1	Querétaro
New York Red Bulls	1–0	New York City FC
Charlotte FC	0–0 (4–3 p)	Cruz Azul
León	1–3	Real Salt Lake
Columbus Crew	3–3 (3–4 p)	Minnesota United FC
FC Cincinnati	1–1 (4–5 p)	Nashville SC
Chicago Fire FC	0–1	América
Toluca	4–1	Sporting Kansas City
Monterrey	1–0	Portland Timbers
UANL	1–1 (5–3 p)	Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Round of 16

The matches were played from August 6 to 8, 2023.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Dallas	4–4 (3–5 p)	Inter Miami CF
Querétaro	1–1 (4–3 p)	New England Revolution
Charlotte FC	2–1	Houston Dynamo FC
América	2–2 (5–6 p)	Nashville SC
Philadelphia Union	1–1 (4–3 p)	New York Red Bulls
Toluca	2–2 (2–4 p)	Minnesota United FC
UANL	0–1	Monterrey
Los Angeles FC	4–0	Real Salt Lake

Quarter-finals

The matches were played on August 11, 2023.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Inter Miami CF	4–0	Charlotte FC
Nashville SC	5–0	Minnesota United FC
Philadelphia Union	2–1	Querétaro
Los Angeles FC	2–3	Monterrey

Semi-finals

The matches were played on August 15, 2023.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Philadelphia Union	1–4	Inter Miami CF
Monterrey	0–2	Nashville SC

Third place play-off

The winner of the third place match qualified for the first round of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

August 19, 2023

18:00

Philadelphia Union	3–0	Monterrey
Bueno 1' Uhre 45+2' Bedoya 69'	Report

Subaru Park, Chester, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 17,731

Referee: Juan Calderón

Final

Both clubs qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, with the winners qualifying directly to the round of 16.

August 19, 2023

8:00 p.m. CDT

Nashville SC	1–1	Inter Miami CF
Picault 57'	Report	Messi 23'
Penalties
Mukhtar Leal Godoy Zimmerman Surridge Moore Lovitz MacNaughton Davis Shaffelburg Panicco	9–10	Messi Busquets Campana Miller Ulloa Kryvtsov Alba Gómez Ruiz Yedlin Callender

Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee

Attendance: 30,109

Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Team eliminated for this round.

Player was inactive for this round.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	R32	R16	QF	SF	F	Total
1	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami CF	1	2		2	2	1	1	1	10
2	Bongokuhle Hlongwane	Minnesota United FC	2	2		2	1				7
3	Denis Bouanga	Los Angeles FC				3	2	1			6
4	Germán Berterame	Monterrey		2	3						5
4	Brandon Vázquez	FC Cincinnati	1	3		1					5
6	Dániel Gazdag	Philadelphia Union	1	3							4
6	Robert Taylor	Inter Miami CF	1	2				1			4
8	Gustavo Bou	New England Revolution		1		2					3
	Cucho Hernández	Columbus Crew	1		2
	Josef Martínez	Inter Miami CF				1		1	1
	Fafà Picault	Nashville SC		1					1	1
	Harold Preciado	Santos Laguna		2	1
	Sam Surridge	Nashville SC					1	1	1
	Giacomo Vrioni	New England Revolution		3

Marketing and symbols

The official song of the tournament was "Tiki Taka Toco", sung in Spanish by California-based Mexicana group Fuerza Regida. A short instrumental version of the song is used for match broadcasts on MLS Season Pass as well as advertisements and stadium announcements.^[13] The marketing for the tournament focused heavily on the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami CF, which was credited with increasing subscriptions and viewership;^[14] on the day of Messi's debut for Miami, subscriptions to MLS Season Pass rose by 110,000 in the United States.^[15]

Controversies

This edition received accusations of being designed to favor MLS teams. Most notably, the fact that all matches were played at MLS venues in Canada or United States.^[16]^[17] Some Mexican coaches and players considered the format unfair, since there was no games in Mexico. For example, Nicolás Larcamón, coach of Club León stated: "there is a benefit for the MLS teams, on their field, in their environment, in their climate. I would love to have a second game in León, It would be ideal to play in both stadiums to equilibrate the balance".^[18]

The Mexican (and LAFC) player Carlos Vela declared: "Obviously, for me, the fairest thing is we should also had games in Mexico, that it shouldn't be all playing in the United States, so that everyone could had a little bit of playing away, at home, and being a little more even" he also added: “Not only does (being local) benefit, the Mexican team has to be away from their home and their families for a long time and it is not fair. I believe that, if you hold a tournament, everyone must have the same possibilities, or the same advantages and disadvantages, in that aspect I think that those from the MLS have a little more advantage, (Although) in the end we know that anything can happen on the field ”.^[19]

Noticeably, this was also reflected in a greater travel effort for the Mexican squads since the 18 Liga MX clubs traveled more than twice as many kilometers as all 29 in the MLS. Mexicans added an estimated 69,495 km; while combined Americans and Canadians, only 33,995. The criticism was more severe from the president of Club Monterrey, who, prior to their match against Los Angeles FC, pointed out that the Mexicans had moved more than 9,000 km, while throughout the Leagues Cup the team from the MLS had not left the Los Angeles metropolitan area.^[16]^[20]

“It’ll be our fifth game (traveling), while LA(FC) will be home with their players eating dinner with their families every night, going to the movies, resting,” he stated.^[17]