The Leagues Cup is the annual summer tournament that pits every MLS club against every Liga MX club, the only competition in the world where all of one country's top-flight teams face all of another's in a single shared event. It has run every August since 2023, and it's already produced three different champions in three years. Here's how the format works, and what's happening in the 2026 edition right now.

What the Leagues Cup actually is

Before 2023, MLS and Liga MX clubs occasionally met in smaller regional competitions like the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but there was no annual event built specifically around the two leagues playing each other. There had been an earlier attempt: SuperLiga ran from 2007 to 2010 as a smaller summer tournament between a handful of MLS and Liga MX clubs, but it never grew beyond that and eventually folded. A one-off Leagues Cup was tried again in 2019 with just a small group of teams before the competition was fully relaunched in 2023 as the all-encompassing event it is today, pausing the MLS regular season for several weeks each summer so every club across both leagues can take part.

How the format works

The tournament features 36 clubs, the top nine teams in each MLS conference from the prior season, plus every Liga MX club. In Phase One, clubs are split into Eastern and Western regions of 18 teams each, then further split into three tiers of six (three from each league per tier). Every team plays three group matches, always against opponents from the other league, never against a team from its own league.

Scoring in Phase One is unusual: a win in regulation is worth 3 points, but there are no draws allowed to stand. If a match is level after 90 minutes, it goes straight to a penalty shootout, with the shootout winner earning 2 points and the loser 1. That no-draws rule exists specifically to force a winner in every single group match, which keeps every team's group table moving and avoids the kind of dead rubber that can creep into a normal group stage once qualification is already decided.

The knockout stage

The top four clubs in each league's regional tables advance to an eight-team knockout bracket. The quarter-finals are always cross-league by design (MLS's top seed plays Liga MX's fourth seed, and so on), guaranteeing at least one MLS vs. Liga MX derby in every quarter-final. From the semi-finals onward, two MLS clubs or two Liga MX clubs can end up facing each other. The winners meet in the final, and the two beaten semi-finalists play a third-place match.

The 2026 edition, happening right now

The sixth edition of the Leagues Cup is currently underway, running from August 4 through September 6, 2026, with the same 36-team format as the previous two editions. The quarter-finals are scheduled for August 25 to 27, the semi-finals for September 1 and 2, and the final and third-place match both fall on September 6. Whichever club lifts the trophy will join Inter Miami, Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders as champions of a tournament that's still finding its footing but already carries real weight on both sides of the border.

Who's won it so far

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2023	Inter Miami CF	Nashville SC	1-1 (10-9 pens)
2024	Columbus Crew	LAFC	3-1
2025	Seattle Sounders FC	Inter Miami CF	3-0

Inter Miami's 2023 win, secured on penalties in Nashville with goalkeeper Drake Callender scoring the winning spot kick himself, was Lionel Messi's first trophy in MLS colors, and it came only weeks after one of the most talked-about debuts in American sports history. Messi came off the bench in his first Inter Miami appearance, in the tournament's opening round against Cruz Azul, and scored a stoppage-time free kick from 25 yards to win the match 2-1. Seattle's 2025 title came in front of nearly 70,000 fans at Lumen Field, with the Sounders beating that same Inter Miami side 3-0 in the final. No Liga MX club has won the tournament outright yet, though several have reached the semi-finals.

What the tournament is actually worth

The Leagues Cup carries a total prize pool of roughly $40 million spread across all 36 clubs. Every team is guaranteed at least three matches in the group phase, worth a minimum of $300,000 in participation money, rising to $450,000 for a club that wins all three of its group games. The eventual champion takes home somewhere in the region of $2 million on top of the exposure and momentum that comes with the title. For context, that's a fraction of the $207 million Copa Libertadores purse in South America, and nowhere close to the roughly $2.6 billion the UEFA Champions League pays out across its competitors, which tells you the Leagues Cup is still a young, developing competition financially even as its on-field profile grows.

Why it matters beyond the trophy

The Leagues Cup carries real stakes beyond prize money: a guaranteed run of home fixtures against unfamiliar opposition that tend to draw strong attendance, and for the winner, a spot in the following year's CONCACAF Champions Cup, the region's premier annual club competition. It's also become a proving ground for MLS clubs against Liga MX sides that are, on the whole, considered the technically stronger league, so a strong Leagues Cup run carries genuine bragging rights across the border, not just a trophy. For MLS in particular, beating Liga MX opposition on a level, competitive footing has become one of the clearest public measures of how far the league has closed the gap with its southern neighbor, a gap that used to be taken for granted and is now genuinely debated after three years of results that have gone both ways.

There's also a simpler reason American fans have taken to it: it gives MLS clubs a summer stage against opponents most of their supporters otherwise only see on television during World Cup or Gold Cup buildup. A regular-season MLS match against another MLS club rarely carries the same novelty as, say, LAFC hosting a Liga MX giant with real stakes attached, and that novelty has translated into some of the best-attended midweek matches on the American soccer calendar.

Where the games are broadcast

Every Leagues Cup match streams on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, the same all-access subscription that carries every MLS regular-season and playoff game, with no local blackouts. That's a meaningful difference from how American sports fans are used to following club soccer, where a single competition can otherwise be scattered across several different broadcasters and streaming services depending on which teams are playing. Liga MX's own domestic broadcast deals also carry the tournament in Mexico, so a Leagues Cup match is one of relatively few games each year that's easy to find no matter which side of the border you're rooting from.

Follow the current Inter Miami and MLS season in our Messi at Inter Miami 2026 season stats guide, and see where the league's scoring greats rank in our MLS all-time top scorers list.

For the official bracket and results, see LeaguesCup.com.

FAQ

What is the Leagues Cup?

An annual summer tournament, running since 2023, that includes every MLS and Liga MX club in a shared competition, pausing both leagues' regular seasons for several weeks each August.

How many teams play in the Leagues Cup?

36: the top nine clubs from each MLS conference the previous season, plus all 18 Liga MX clubs.

Why doesn't the Leagues Cup allow draws in the group stage?

To guarantee a result in every match. A tied game after 90 minutes goes straight to penalties, with 2 points for the shootout winner and 1 for the loser.

Who has won the Leagues Cup?

Inter Miami CF (2023), Columbus Crew (2024) and Seattle Sounders FC (2025). No Liga MX club has won it yet. The 2026 edition is underway now, running through early September.

Does the Leagues Cup winner qualify for anything else?

Yes, a spot in the following year's CONCACAF Champions Cup, the region's top club competition.

Is the Leagues Cup the same as the CONCACAF Champions Cup?

No. The Leagues Cup is an MLS-Liga MX event played every summer. The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the wider regional club championship for all of North and Central America and the Caribbean, played in the spring.

How much prize money does the Leagues Cup pay out?

About $40 million total across all 36 clubs, with the champion earning roughly $2 million. It's a fraction of what South America's Copa Libertadores or Europe's Champions League pay out.

Was there ever a Leagues Cup before 2023?

An earlier, smaller tournament called SuperLiga ran between 2007 and 2010, and a limited one-off version of the Leagues Cup was tried in 2019, but the full 36-team, all-inclusive format only began in 2023.

Where can I watch the Leagues Cup?

Every match streams on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass in the US, with no blackouts, alongside Liga MX's own broadcast partners in Mexico.

Does the Leagues Cup replace the US Open Cup?

No, they're separate competitions. The Leagues Cup is the MLS-Liga MX summer event; the US Open Cup is a much older, open-entry knockout tournament for professional and amateur American clubs, played at a different point in the year.