2023 Leagues Cup: Groups, teams and what to know

The 15 League Cup groups have been set consisting of all 47 clubs, 18 from Liga MX and 29 from the MLS. Each region will have four different groups except for the West which will only have three.

Two teams will not have to play in the group stage and get an automatic bye to the round of 32. LAFC which was the MLS Cup champion in 2022 and Pachuca which was the Liga MX champion and had the most combined points across the Clausura and Apertura seasons in 2022. The remaining teams in the MLS and Liga MX (Clausura and Apertura) have been placed in their groups by their performance in 2022 and their geographic region.

Group Assignments

Here is the breakdown of the groups for the group stage:

West

• West 1: Tigers UANL, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes
• West 2: Monterrey, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC
• West 3: LA Galaxy, Club Leon, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Central

• Central 1: America, Columbus Crew, St. Louis CITY SC
• Central 2: Puebla, Minnesota United FC, Chicago Fire FC
• Central 3: Chivas Guadalajara, FC Cincinnati, Sporting Kansas City
• Central 4: Nashville SC, Toluca, Colorado Rapids

South

• South 1: Austin FC, Mazatlán FC, FC Juarez
• South 2: Santos Laguna, Orlando City SC, Houston Dynamo FC
• South 3: Cruz Azul, Inter Miami CF, Atlanta United
• South 4: FC Dallas, Necaxa, Charlotte FC

East

• East 1: Philadelphia Union, Club Tijuana, Queretaro
• East 2: CF Montreal, Pumas, D.C. United
• East 3: New York City FC, Atlas, Toronto FC
• East 4: New York Red Bulls, Atletico de San Luis, New England Revolution

How were the groups determined

The MLS sorted the top 15 MLS clubs by the 2022 Supporters’ Shield standings and were placed in the corresponding region first. The Liga MX clubs were then sorted by the top 15 Liga MX teams by the combined points that they received during the Clausura and Apertura 2022 standings and were paired in reverse order with the top 15 MLS clubs.

The Remaining MLS clubs were then placed into groups by region and then based on what their position was in the MLS Supporters Shield standings. After the last of the MLS teams were placed there was still one open spot in the South and the East. The last two Liga MX teams were then placed into those open positions, which were FC Juarez and Querétaro.

Each team will play two matches in their groups which would determine which of the two teams in each group will advance to the Round of 32.

How to watch the 2023 Leagues Cup

You can be able to watch all the action through Apple TV+ or if you would like to see the action in person you can go to www.leaguescup.com/tickets. If you are an MLS season ticket holder, you will need to contact your club representative for more information.