Major League Soccer and Liga MX have officially announced the format and competition rules for the expanded Leagues Cup, which will begin next season. The tournament will consist of 77 games and will include every team in both leagues, including teams in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Referred to by MLS as a “World Cup-style tournament,” the Leagues Cup will stop both MLS and Liga MX seasons for one month each summer. The 2023 Leagues Cup will begin on July 21, 2023. In the first year, all matches will be played across the US and Canada. The final will be played on August 19.
The tournament’s champion, runner-up and third place will all automatically qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Athletics previously reported on the sporting and commercial strategy following the League Cupbut now most of the finer details of the competition have been finalized.
This is brand new @LeaguesCup.🏆
1 mes de mucho soccer, dos grandes ligas, a renewed rivalry. ¡Prepare for el nuevo juego! #LeaguesCup2023 pic.twitter.com/Dq1ydDUY9h
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 6, 2022
Here’s what you can expect:
The 2022 MLS Cup winner, the Liga MX champion gets a bye after the group stage
Similar to World Cup, the League Cup will consist of a single-round group stage, followed by a 32-team single-elimination round. It adds some late stakes to this year’s competition, however, with one team per league getting a bye in the round of 32: The 2022 MLS Cup winner and whichever winner of Liga MX’s Clausura 2022 or Apertura 2022 ends up with many points in both tournaments.
The remaining 45 clubs will participate in the first round of the competition, which will consist of 15 groups of three teams each, divided into four regions.
The tour schedule will be released at a later date.
Planting and housing
The final 2022 Defenders Shield standings will determine the group stage for MLS teams, which could add a bit more weight to the MLS regular season. The top 15 MLS clubs will be drawn into groups based on what MLS describes as “seed and region” and will host two games each. Each group will have at least one Liga MX club.
Liga MX seeding will be based on the combined rankings of Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2022. The top 15 Liga MX clubs will be drawn into groups in reverse order from their MLS counterparts, so the 15th-ranked club of i Liga MX will be paired with the highest MLS club.
That leaves 13 MLS clubs and two Liga MX teams. Those teams will be separated geographically and then divided into groups, according to MLS. Matches between the two Liga MX teams will be played in selected venues depending on the group’s region.
Each team will play two matches in the group stage. The first two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage. Competition guidelines, including draw rules, will be released in the coming months for MLS.
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There will be no connection
This is where MLS and Liga MX have gotten creative. League Cup matches cannot end in a draw. Matches tied after 90 minutes will go straight to penalties.
However, both teams will receive at least one point if a match ends in a draw. The winner of the penalty shootout will earn an extra point. In short: shootout win = two points, shootout loss = one point.
This is unheard of for an official international tournament and a complete departure from the traditional rules sanctioned by FIFA.
When asked if FIFA had agreed to this particular idea, an MLS spokesperson said that “MLS and Liga MX have been working closely with CONCACAF to ensure harmonization in the details of the 2023 League Cup”.
The spokesperson added that as organizers, MLS and Liga MX set the rules of the competition. MLS has a history of exploitation unclear penalty kicksso this idea of the Leagues Cup is certainly on brand.
Knockout round
MLS and Liga MX teams that advance from the group stage will be placed in a fixed group and compete in single-elimination rounds. The round of 32 will be followed by a round of 16, with eight teams advancing to the quarter-finals, followed by two semi-final matches.
The highest-ranked MLS club based on the 2022 Defenders Shield standings remaining in the tournament will host the 2023 League Cup final and third-place match, both on August 19. MLS says the venue will be determined and announced before the final if the championship round pits two Liga MX teams against each other.
The winner of the League Cup qualifies directly for the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions League, while the runners-up and third-placed clubs qualify for the first round of the CCL.
In addition to CCL qualification, teams will also be motivated by a financial incentive. Prize money for the tournament is still being finalized, according to MLS. A league spokesman said the reward “will be substantial and valuable to participating clubs”.
How to watch the League Cup
Everything League Cup matches will be available on the Apple TV app, which is available on all Apple devices, smart TVs, game consoles and select streaming devices. This is of course because of 10-year, $2.5 billion media deal between MLS and Apple beginning in 2023. Web viewing of the tournament will be available via tv.apple.com.
(Photo: Aaron Doster / USA Today)
