2025 Leagues Cup: Heading to the Quarter-Finals
by Tyler Doty | by Tyler Doty
The 2025 Leagues Cup is entering its most exciting phase of the competition, with only eight teams remaining, including four Mexican and four American teams, which will face each other to determine the new champion.
From the Liga MX, we have Puebla, Tigres, Pachuca, and Toluca, while from the MLS, we have Orlando City, Los Angeles Galaxy, Inter Miami, and the Seattle Sounders.
For a quick recap of the group stage, a total of 28 teams were eliminated: 14 from the Mexican League and 14 more from the MLS. We are left with the best from both leagues, and interestingly, we have the current champions: Toluca for Mexico and the LA Galaxy for the United States.
What is the format of the revamped Leagues Cup?
Due to the dominance of the United States in this tournament, the competition format has been changed (in fact, last season there were no Liga MX teams left in the semifinals). It consists of a group stage with 18 teams qualifying for each league, with an overall table that ultimately only qualifies four teams from each country for the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, the brackets are divided to have four matches with one representative from the Liga MX and another from the United States, to have a 50 percent equality between nations. However, in the semifinals and depending on the results, we could have matches between teams from the same country, something that is not allowed in the quarterfinals or the group stage. It all depends on who advances.
What is the path to the Leagues Cup final?
For now, the quarterfinals have been decided. If you want to know who the favorites are to win the Leagues Cup, stay tuned to our website.
In bracket one, we will have the match between Toluca and Orlando City. The winner of this match will face the winner of the game between Inter Miami and Tigres. On the other side of the bracket, in bracket two, the winner of the match between Seattle Sounders and Puebla will face the winner of the game between the Galaxy and Pachuca. (In the event of a tie after 90 minutes, we would go straight to a penalty shootout to determine the winner.)
In the semifinals, the winner of bracket 1 will face the winner of bracket 2 in the grand final, and the losers will play an extra match to determine third and fourth place in the competition.
- It should be noted that of the remaining teams, only Inter Miami has won this tournament, so they could be fighting for their second star in this competition.
When are the Leagues Cup quarterfinals played?
Unlike previous editions of the Leagues Cup, this tournament did not completely pause the Liga MX and MLS championships until the champion was decided. Instead, the group stage took place over two weeks and will resume on Tuesday, August 19, and Wednesday, August 20, with the quarterfinals.
Of course, it is important to keep in mind that these matches will not take place for a few weeks, so we invite you to check FanDuel regularly to find out the odds for the favorite teams to win the Leagues Cup.
The semifinals will be played on Tuesday, August 26, and Wednesday, August 27, and the third-place match and final will be played on Sunday, August 31. All of these matches will be in the United States.
