October 6, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Sporting Kansas City News Release
Major League Soccer (MLS) and LIGA MX, with the support of Concacaf, announced today important competition details, including dates, format and hosting process, for the inaugural edition of the historic and highly-anticipated Leagues Cup 2023.
In a monumental new chapter for North American soccer, beginning in 2023, MLS and LIGA MX will pause their respective league seasons each summer and all 47 first division clubs in Canada, Mexico and the United States will compete in the World Cup-style tournament. The top three finishers will qualify for the Concacaf Champions League (CCL) with the Leagues Cup winner qualifying directly to the CCL Round of 16 while the second- and third-place clubs will qualify for CCL Round One.
Sporting Kansas City will host a LIGA MX opponent at Children’s Mercy Park and travel to face an MLS foe during the Leagues Cup 2023 group stage. Leagues Cup tickets will be available to the general public in the coming months and Sporting’s group stage home match is included in all Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Memberships.
Leagues Cup debuted as an eight-team tournament in 2019 and Sporting competed in the most recent edition of the competition in 2021, playing eventual champions Club Leon in the quarterfinals. Sporting will be in pursuit of the club’s first international trophy in team history after winning four major domestic championships in the last decade.
SKC VS. LIGA MX TEAMS AT CHILDREN’S MERCY PARK
Aug. 10, 2021 vs. Club Leon (Leagues Cup Quarterfinals)
April 11, 2019 vs. CF Monterrey (CCL Semifinals)
Feb. 21, 2019 vs. Deportivo Toluca FC (CCL Round of 16)
March 12, 2014 vs. Cruz Azul (CCL Quarterfinals)
Leagues Cup 2023 will be played across the U.S. and Canada beginning on July 21 with the final to be held on August 19. An event unprecedented in global soccer as the first official competition in the world to involve two leagues and be sanctioned by their Confederation, the inaugural Leagues Cup will consist of 77 matches.
For Leagues Cup 2023, one club each from MLS and LIGA MX will receive a bye past the Group Stage and enter the tournament in the Round of 32. MLS will be represented by the MLS Cup 2022 winner. For LIGA MX, of the two recent champions in Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2022, the club with the most combined points accumulated across both tournaments in the 2022 calendar year will qualify directly into the Round of 32. The remaining 45…
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