COLUMBUS – The Leagues Cup Organizing Committee announced today Phase One opponent details for Leagues Cup 2025. The Columbus Crew will host Liga MX sides Deportivo Toluca F.C. on Tuesday, July 29, Club Puebla on Friday, Aug. 1, and Club León on Tuesday, Aug. 5. All matches will be hosted at Lower.com Field. Toluca is the third-most successful team in Mexico, having won 10 league titles. Additionally, León is an eight-time league title winner. The match against Club Puebla marks the first time in Club history that the Black & Gold will face off against Los Camoteros.
The tournament will begin on Tuesday, July 29 with the final taking place on Sunday, August 31 across the U.S. and Canada. Times for all three Phase One contests at Lower.com Field will be announced at a later date.
TICKET INFO
Tickets to all three Phase One matches are available now at www.columbuscrew.com/tickets. Season Ticket Members will have the match on Friday, Aug 1 against Club Puebla included as part of their package.
LEAGUES CUP 2025 FORMAT
New for this year, Leagues Cup 2025 will be played in two rounds: Phase One and the Knockout Rounds. Phase One will feature three consecutive match dates per club to be played between July 29-August 7, and all 54 Phase One matches will be played between MLS and LIGA MX clubs.
The MLS and LIGA MX regular seasons will continue play through the month of August, with most Leagues Cup knockout matches played midweek.
Regional Tiers: Clubs will be divided evenly into two regions of 18 teams each: Eastern and Western.
The Leagues Cup Organizing Committee determined regional assignments based on Leagues Cup Ranking and geographical considerations. Within each region, the 18 teams will be sorted into three tiers:
- Tier 1: Teams ranked 1-3 from each league
- Tier 2: Teams ranked 4-6 from each league
- Tier 3: Teams ranked 7-9 from each league
Six sets will be formed to facilitate Phase One play, three sets in the East and three sets in the West. Each set will include six clubs: one MLS club and one LIGA MX club from each of the Tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3).
Phase One Matchups: Each club will play three matches against the three opponents from the opposite league within their set. Leagues Cup Phase One matches are determined by the Leagues Cup Ranking, as well as by region.
Points System: While competing on the field against teams from the opposite league, MLS and LMX teams will be competing in a league-specific table against the teams from their own league. New to this format, clubs will earn points within their league-specific tables. For example, an MLS club's win earns points in the Leagues Cup MLS table, while a LIGA MX win contributes to the Leagues Cup LIGA MX table. Further competition details, including tie-breaking criteria, will be included in the tournament regulations.
The top four (4) clubs from each Leagues Cup league-specific table advance to the Quarterfinals. The tables were designed to ensure more interleague matches into the Knockout Rounds.
Knockout Rounds: Following Phase One, the advancing four (4) clubs from the MLS and LIGA MX tables will be placed in a fixed bracket to compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds beginning with the Quarterfinals (four matches), featuring only MLS vs. LIGA MX matchups. The Quarterfinal pairings will be decided based on Leagues Cup Phase One performance with an inverse order of ranking among the respective league tables (MLS 1 vs. LIGA MX 4, MLS 2 vs. LIGA MX 3, MLS 3 vs. LIGA MX 2, and MLS 4 vs. LIGA MX 1).
The four (4) advancing clubs will compete in the two Semifinal matches, as determined by the bracket. The Leagues Cup 2025 Third Place match and Final will determine the three clubs that qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
