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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

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