By Jon Arnold
There are still three rounds of Leagues Cup play to go, but already we’ve seen one of the hallmarks of the tournament in its young history: Amazing goals.
While many soccer competitions end up in memorable scoring plays, Leagues Cup produces a high volume of good scoring opportunities, and they often end up in jaw-dropping moments.
Most soccer fans are familiar with FIFA’s Puskas award, given to the most beautiful goal scored over the year
The award is named after the legendary Hungary forward Ferenc Puskas. Perhaps a similar trophy for Leagues Cup would be named after Lionel Messi, who has seven Puskas nominees of his own and led Leagues Cup in scoring in the inaugural edition in 2013 with 10 goals. It also could be a Bouanga. While the LAFC attacker scored just once in this year’s competition, Denis Bouanga had six goals in each of the last two competitions.
If you’re looking for a Liga MX-based player, Monterrey’s German Berterame added to his total this year as well, scoring in a losing effort against FC Cincinnati to run his total to six goals across all Leagues Cups.
Whatever you want to call it, here are a few early candidates for our Leagues Cup Puskas - along with a trip down memory lane for some of the best goals of tournaments gone by.
Pedro de la Vega
The cherry on top of the Seattle Sounders’ big win over Cruz Azul, De La Vega scored a stunner at Lumen Field to make it 7-0. Alex Roldan struck a cross-field ball toward De La Vega who was standing near the corner of the area. The 24-year-old sized up the shot and struck it perfectly off the post and in with a long-range volley from what looked like an impossible angle.
Paulinho
A deflected cross didn’t slow Toluca’s forward down in the team’s Phase One matchup with CF Montreal. Seeing the ball change direction, the Portugal native stopped, adjusted and took flight, sending a left-footed overhead kick past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Braian Ojeda
Ojeda took the ball in the box just after the half-hour mark of RSL’s Phase One contest with Queretaro but didn’t look to have any real options. Looks can be deceiving. His next touch was a curling ball destined for the upper 90. Not only was it a golazo, it was the only goal in a Real Salt Lake victory over the Gallos Blancos.
Angel Correa
The Argentine arrival already has given Tigres fans plenty of moments to enjoy, but his best is the second goal he scored against the Houston Dynamo. In the 70th minute, he hassled Artur and took advantage of a bad pass to get off and running on the break. One-on-one with goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, Correa pulled off a step over, went to his right, sent Bond to the ground and finished.
Martín Ojeda
‘Tis the year of the volley. On an early push forward, Ojeda found himself all alone near the top of the box. He extended both arms to show the space he had, a gesture right back Alex Freeman rewarded with a cross. Like a training ground exercise, the Orlando City No. 10 tracked the ball in the air then struck it perfectly with his left foot, the first in a 5-1 win over Necaxa that pushed the Lions into the quarterfinals.
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Nelson Palacio
Not exactly known as a goal scorer, Palacio scored one of his two goals with RSL in Leagues Cup, but it was a memorable stunner in the 2024 competition. With RSL knotted at a goal each with Atlas, Palacio took the ball in the center of the field, took a touch and smashed in a screamer from way, way outside the box.
Juan Brunetta
Brunetta scored a worldie in Tigres’ 2024 tournament-opening contest with Inter Miami in front of a pro-Universitarios crowd at NRG Stadium. An attempted Miami clearance was headed back toward the box where Brunetta put his head on it as well. After one more header from Nicolás Ibáñez, Brunetta stuck his foot up with a seeing-eye shot that ended up in the back of the net for the opener in a 2-1 win.
Lionel Messi
Messi scored 10 goals in the 2023 competition, pushing Inter Miami to the title in his first competition with the Herons. The bookends are your best bet for the loveliest goal. His debut goal was a memorable free kick against Cruz Azul that dazzled the celebrities and fans in attendance. But his goal from open play in the 23rd minute of the final against Nashville SC may be even better from a purely aesthetic perspective. Messi asks for the ball on the far side but eventually has to go retrieve it himself. From there, he skips by a defender and puts it in the top corner from outside the box
Jared Stroud
Atlanta United’s defense thought it had dealt with the danger, heading away a corner kick from D.C. United in their group match. But the ball went outside the box to where D.C.’s Jared Stroud was waiting. The New Jersey native casually set himself up with a volley into the air, then swung his right foot through the ball to put it in at the near post.
