The 2023 Leagues Cup for the first time features all 47 top-flight clubs from the United States, Canada, and Mexico doing battle in a month-long competition that will crown the best club between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Mexico’s Liga MX.
Both MLS and Liga MX are taking a break from regularly scheduled domestic action to focus on this competition, ensuring all eyes will be on Leagues Cup to see who reigns supreme across the top two North American leagues.
There is added interest in the competition this year for two reasons: It is the first edition of the Leagues Cup competition that will see all teams from the two leagues participate, and it’s also the first time that the winner is awarded a berth into next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Additionally, Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami has drawn global attention toward the tournament as the Argentine superstar attempts to win his first piece of silverware with his new club.
MORE: How to watch every Leagues Cup match on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
How to watch Leagues Cup live stream, TV channel
Every Leagues Cup match will be available to stream around the world on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
In addition, select Leagues Cup matches will be televised in the USA by TUDN and Univision, which both stream on Fubo, available to new users on a free trial.
Due to Messi’s presence, Inter Miami’s matches in the Leagues Cup will be getting special treatment from Apple TV with an enhanced production including 18 cameras, a Steadicam, Skycam, and other cameras with super slow-motion capabilities.
2023 Leagues Cup standings
The competition begins with a group stage featuring 15 groups made up of three teams each. The top two teams advance from each group to the Round of 32.
In the group stage, matches that end in a draw after 90 minutes head to a penalty shootout, with the winner of the shootout earning an extra point in the standings (two points instead of one).
Group stage
How did they come up with the groups? The top 16 teams in MLS and Liga MX from last season’s standings were seeded from top to bottom.
The top seed from each league (LAFC from MLS and Pachuca from Liga MX) was given a direct berth to the knockout rounds, while the remaining 15 seeds were paired up against the other league with higher-seeded teams facing the lowest-seeded teams on the opposite side.
For example, the MLS No. 2-seed (Philadelphia Union) was matched with the Liga MX No. 16-seed (Tijuana) to create one pairing. The third team for each group — mostly from MLS since there are 29 MLS clubs and 18 Liga MLS clubs — was selected based on geographical location, thus creating the concept of regional groups — East, South, Central, and West.
East 1 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Philadelphia Union-Q | 6 | 2-0-0 | +6 |
| 2. | Tijuana | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
| 3. | Queretaro | 0 | 0-0-1 | -4 |
East 2 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | D.C. United-Q | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 2. | CF Montreal | 2 | 0-1-1 | -1 |
| 3. | Pumas UNAM | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
East 3 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | NYCFC | 3 | 1-0-1 | +4 |
| 2. | Atlas | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 3. | Toronto FC | 0 | 0-0-1 | -5 |
East 4 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | New England Rev. | 4 | 1-1-0 | +4 |
| 2. | NY Red Bulls | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| 3. | Atletico San Luis | 0 | 0-0-1 | -4 |
South 1 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Mazatlan-Q | 5 | 1-1-0 | +2 |
| 2. | FC Juarez | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| 3. | Austin FC | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
South 2 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Orlando City-Q | 5 | 1-1-0 | +1 |
| 2. | Houston Dynamo-Q | 3 | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| 3. | Santos Laguna | 1 | 0-1-1 | -1 |
South 3 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Inter Miami-Q | 6 | 2-0-0 | +5 |
| 2. | Cruz Azul-Q | 2 | 0-1-1 | -1 |
| 3. | Atlanta United | 1 | 0-1-1 | -4 |
South 4 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | FC Dallas-Q | 4 | 1-1-0 | +3 |
| 2. | Charlotte FC | 2 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| 3. | Necaxa | 0 | 0-0-1 | -3 |
Central 1 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Club America-Q | 3 | 1-0-0 | +4 |
| 2. | Columbus Crew-Q | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 3. | St. Louis City | 0 | 0-0-2 | -5 |
Central 2 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Minnesota United | 3 | 1-0-1 | +3 |
| 2. | Chicago Fire | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 3. | Puebla | 0 | 0-0-1 | -4 |
Central 3 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | FC Cincinnati-Q | 5 | 1-1-0 | +2 |
| 2. | Sporting KC | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| 3. | Guadalajara | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
Central 4 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Toluca | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 2. | Nashville SC | 3 | 1-0-1 | 0 |
| 3. | Colorado Rapids | 0 | 0-0-1 | -1 |
West 1 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Portland Timbers | 3 | 1-0-1 | +1 |
| 2. | Tigres UANL | 3 | 1-0-0 | +1 |
| 3. | San Jose Earthquakes | 0 | 0-0-1 | -2 |
West 2 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Monterrey | 3 | 1-0-0 | +3 |
| 2. | Real Salt Lake | 3 | 1-0-1 | 0 |
| 3. | Seattle Sounders | 0 | 0-0-1 | -3 |
West 3 standings, schedule
| Rank | Club | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Club Leon-Q | 5 | 1-1-0 | +1 |
| 2. | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| 3. | LA Galaxy | 0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
2023 Leagues Cup bracket for knockout stage
Once the group stage is completed, the 30 teams that advance will join the two defending league champions (LAFC and Pachuca) to begin a bracket-style tournament, determining the ultimate winner.
The knockout stage is essentially crafted in a bracket style similar to the NCAA college basketball tournament.
All matches will be played in MLS stadiums. For knockout stage matches involving two MLS clubs, the host will be determined by group stage tiebreaker criteria (points, goal differential, goals scored, etc.)
Round of 32
| No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| 1 | Wed, Aug. 2 | TBD | LAFC vs. 2nd, South 1 | MLS Season Pass |
| 2 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Club Leon vs. 2nd, West 2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 3 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, West 1 vs. 2nd, West 3 | MLS Season Pass |
| 4 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, West 2 vs. 2nd, West 1 | MLS Season Pass |
| 5 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 1 vs. 2nd, Central 2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 6 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 4 vs. 2nd, Central 3 | MLS Season Pass |
| 7 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, Central 2 vs. 2nd, Central 1 | MLS Season Pass |
| 8 | Fri, Aug. 4 | TBD | FC Cincinnati vs. 2nd, Central 4 | MLS Season Pass |
| 9 | Thu, Aug. 3 | TBD | Philadelphia vs. 2nd, East 2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 10 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 4 vs. 2nd, East 3 | MLS Season Pass |
| 11 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 2 vs. 2nd, East 1 | MLS Season Pass |
| 12 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, East 3 vs. 2nd, East 4 | MLS Season Pass |
| 13 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Mazatlan vs. 2nd, South 4 | MLS Season Pass |
| 14 | Wed, Aug. 2 | TBD | Inter Miami vs. Orlando City | MLS Season Pass |
| 15 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | 1st, South 4 vs. Cruz Azul | MLS Season Pass |
| 16 | Aug. 2-4 | TBD | Houston Dynamo vs. Pachuca | MLS Season Pass |
Round of 16
| No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| 1 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #1 vs. Winner, R32 #2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 2 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #3 vs. Winner, R32 #4 | MLS Season Pass |
| 3 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #5 vs. Winner, R32 #6 | MLS Season Pass |
| 4 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #7 vs. Winner, R32 #8 | MLS Season Pass |
| 5 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #9 vs. Winner, R32 #10 | MLS Season Pass |
| 6 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #11 vs. Winner, R32 #12 | MLS Season Pass |
| 7 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #13 vs. Winner, R32 #14 | MLS Season Pass |
| 8 | Aug. 6-8 | TBD | Winner, R32 #15 vs. Winner, R32 #16 | MLS Season Pass |
Quarterfinals
| No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| 1 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #1 vs. Winner, R16 #2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 2 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #3 vs. Winner, R16 #4 | MLS Season Pass |
| 3 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #5 vs. Winner, R16 #6 | MLS Season Pass |
| 4 | Fri/Sat, Aug. 11/12 | TBD | Winner, R16 #7 vs. Winner, R16 #8 | MLS Season Pass |
Semifinals
| No. | Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| 1 | Tues, Aug. 15 | TBD | Winner QF #1 vs. Winner QF #2 | MLS Season Pass |
| 2 | Tues, Aug. 15 | TBD | Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 | MLS Season Pass |
Third Place match
| Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| Sat, Aug. 19 | TBD | Loser SF #1 vs. Loser SF #2 | MLS Season Pass |
Finals
| Date | Time | Match | TV/Streaming |
| Sat, Aug. 19 | TBD | Winner SF #1 vs. Winner SF #2 | MLS Season Pass |
