By Jon Arnold
When the 2025 Leagues Cup kicks off Tuesday, it will feel both familiar and radically different for fans who enjoyed the past two editions of the tournament. The tournament will pit teams from MLS against their Liga MX counterparts. That hasn’t - and won’t - changed. In fact, there are now more of those rivalry moments than ever coming in the first phase of the competition.
While previous editions included groups that sometimes meant MLS vs. MLS contests or Liga MX vs. Liga MX games taking place at neutral sites, the new format guarantees that all three of the league phase contests a club plays will be against rivals from the other league.
That’s just one of the exciting things about this week’s Leagues Cup return. Let’s take a look at what to expect once the ball gets rolling Tuesday:
Cross-league contests
As mentioned, it’s going to be A LOT of Liga MX vs. MLS matchups - and both leagues are full of teams with something to prove. A Liga MX club is yet to claim one of the three Concacaf Champions Cup places awarded to the top-three finishers, with Monterrey’s fourth-place finish in 2023 the best in tournament history.
With less time being spent in the U.S. under the new format, Liga MX clubs may be able to be fresher and better-rested. That may see them match the form they show in the CCC itself, which has seen a Mexican club win all but one of the last 20 editions.
Of course, MLS teams are hopeful to continue their hegemony and hold off Liga MX’s charge at changing Leagues Cup history.
Attacking soccer
With the two-bowl trophy of the Leagues Cup and three Concacaf Champions Cup slots up for grabs, teams enter the leagues phase with a simple goal: Finish in the top four of their league table to move to the knockout stage. The four top teams from each league will go into the quarterfinals where, once again, they will see rivals from the opposing league. Win that game and you’re just one victory away from a place in the continental championship, and two away from Leagues Cup glory.
But with fellow teams from your league all seeking the same thing, teams will need to push for all nine possible points in the first three matches. Anything else, and you’re leaving it up to luck - and the tiebreakers.
The tiebreaker at the end of 90 minutes is well known to fans of Leagues Cup. If the score is knotted after two halves of play, we head to the penalty spot to decide a winner.
Teams could, however, be level on points after the three Phase One matches. The greater number of wins in regular time is the first tiebreaker, but the second is goal difference and the third is goal scored. Then, things go to goals conceded and the Fair Play Table.
So, participating teams will be incentivized to go out and score, seeking to not only win matches and boost their goal difference but also to avoid a nervous shootout.
That means fans will see games that may be more open with attacking players finding more spaces to work in as both teams push for a win - and look to score as many goals as possible.
Rivalries renewed
There will be familiar faces all over the field during the three Phase One match days of Leagues Cup, starting right from the opening whistle.
Reigning Liga MX champion Toluca meets the Leagues Cup holder Columbus Crew in a contest that will bit star winger Alexis Vega, fresh off a Gold Cup title with Mexico, against U.S. defender Max Arfsten - plus Diego Rossi, Darlington Nagbe and a host of other stars who helped the Crew win the title last season.
Later that night, Tigres return to Houston - a city with many Tigres supporters where the club has worked to win over even more new fans. But they’ll be doing battle with the hometown team Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium. The night closes with Hirving Lozano seeing his boyhood club Pachuca visit his current team, MLS expansion juggernaut San Diego FC.
And that’s just the first night of matches. The first phase also sees CCC rematches from throughout the years, including a chance for immediate revenge for the Seattle Sounders. They fell short against Cruz Azul in the 2025 CCC Round of 16 as La Maquina rolled to the title. The teams have a rematch July 31 at Lumen Field. LAFC will get another go at Tigres in a rematch of the 2020 Concacaf Champions Cup final in which Tigres overcame a goal from Diego Rossi to lift their first international title. And, across town, the LA Galaxy meet both Tijuana and Santos Laguna after memorable CCC series in the past.
All in all, it leads to a Phase One that will be different than any ever experienced before, but one that should be fast and furious with all the elements that make Leagues Cup fun, different and great.
