Leagues Cup bracket, schedule, standings as MLS and Liga MX clubs go head to head for 2023 title

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, in the USA, select Leagues Cup matches will be televised by TUDN and Univision, which both stream on Fubo, available to new users on a free trial. 

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.

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.

Group stage

How did they come up with these groups? The top 16 teams in each league from last season’s standings were seeded from top to bottom.

The top seed from each league (LAFC and Pachuca) 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) were 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

East 2 standings, schedule

East 3 standings, schedule

East 4 standings, schedule

South 1 standings, schedule

South 2 standings, schedule

South 3 standings, schedule

South 4 standings, schedule

Central 1 standings, schedule

Central 2 standings, schedule

Central 3 standings, schedule

Central 4 standings, schedule

West 1 standings, schedule

West 2 standings, schedule

West 3 standings, schedule

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 similar to the NCAA 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

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Third Place match

Finals