The 2025 Leagues Cup is the upcoming fifth edition of the Leagues Cup, an international club soccer tournament contested by Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX clubs in North America. It will be held from July 29 to August 31, 2025, and feature 36 teams. Unlike the previous editions, only the top 18 MLS teams from the 2024 season qualified for the tournament. All 18 Liga MX clubs will participate.
The tournament will consist of a league phase, known as "phase one", and a knockout phase. During phase one, teams will play three games against teams in the other league (i.e. all games will be MLS vs Liga MX).[1] The top four teams from each league will advance to the knockout stage which will consist of the quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. Like previous editions of the Leagues Cup the top three clubs will qualify the CONCACAF Champions Cup.[2]
Thirty-six teams will participate in the Leagues Cup including all 18 Liga MX teams and 18 out of 30 MLS teams.[3] The 18 MLS teams qualified for Leagues Cup by reaching the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, with one exception. San Diego FC replaced Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who will not participate because they will compete in two other cup competitions in 2025.[2]
To determine matchups, all teams were placed into a combined ranking that used the 2024 Supporters' Shield table for MLS teams and the most recent 34 matches in the 2024 Clausura and Apertura seasons for Liga MX teams. These teams were then divided into an East region and a West region based on geographical and performance criteria. Within each region, teams were assigned to tiers based on the combined ranking with the restriction that each tier includes three teams from each league.
Finally, six "sets" were formed by drawing one team per league from each of the three tiers of a region. Teams will play three matches against teams from their set who are not from their league.[2]
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