Soccer tournament held in Canada and the United States
International football competition
The 2025 Leagues Cup was the 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 was held from July 29 to August 31, 2025, and featured 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 participated.
The tournament consisted of a group stage, known as “Phase One”, and a knockout phase. During phase one, teams played three games against teams in the other league (i.e., all games were MLS vs Liga MX).[3] The top four teams from each league advanced to the knockout stage, which consisted of the quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. Like previous editions of the Leagues Cup, the top three clubs qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.[4]
In Phase One, teams earned three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in a penalty shoot-out, or one point for a loss in a penalty shoot-out.[5] In the event two or more teams ended the group stage tied on points, these tiebreakers in order were used for ranking:[6]
Greater number of wins in regular time.
Greater goal difference.
Greater number of goals scored.
Fewer number of goals conceded.
Fewer points in the team’s Fair Play Table.
A draw organized by the Organizing Committee.
Teams
Thirty-six teams participated in the Leagues Cup, including all 18 Liga MX teams and 18 out of 30 MLS teams.[7] 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 did not participate because they were competing in two other cup competitions in 2025.[4]
Draw
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 included 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 played three matches against teams from their set who were not from their league.[4]