Leagues Cup 2024 format explained

Leagues Cup 2024 is almost here, and the format of the competition offers a month’s worth of soccer matches for fans to enjoy this summer.

Both Major League Soccer and Liga MX are putting their seasons on pause for the second straight year to participate in Leagues Cup 2024, a month-long competition featuring all 29 MLS clubs and 18 Liga MX clubs. The competition highlights the best talent across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, but only one side will come out victorious as the new Leagues Cup champions.

Now, even in the aftermath of Copa America 2024 and Euro 2024, soccer fans still have plenty of high-stakes matches to watch before Europe’s top five leagues return for the 2024/25 season. In fact, the first Leagues Cup game starts on Friday, July 26, and the competition continues throughout August.

Here’s a breakdown of the Leagues Cup 2024 format.

The Leagues Cup 2024 format might sound a bit confusing on paper, but it is very similar to any other soccer tournament in the world, with a few exceptions. The tournament opens with a group stage, then proceeds to the knockout rounds until just two teams are left to face off in the final.

The group stage consists of 15 groups of three teams each while the reigning MLS champions, Columbus Crew, and the reigning Liga MX champions, Club America, get a bye to the Round of 32. The tournament is broken down into two regions, the East (seven groups) and the West (eight groups).

The remaining 45 teams must earn enough points in the group stage to advance to the knockout rounds. Like last year, the competition still includes a “No Ties” format. If a game ends in a draw after 90 minutes, then both teams will receive one point before going straight to a penalty shootout. The winner of the shootout will receive an extra point.

The top two clubs from each group will make it to the next stage of the competition while the 15 bottom teams make an early exit.

The Leagues Cup 2024 knockout rounds begin with the Round of 32, followed by the Round of 16, then the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the biggest match of all, the final.

The two losers from the semi-finals will get to play in a third-place match, and the winner, along with the two clubs in the final, will be the three teams to qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup.