Leagues Cup: Messi, Miami Get Liga MX's Tigres; Will It Be An All-MLS Final?

The 2025 Leagues Cup field has now been whittled down to just eight teams — with four each from MLS and Liga MX left standing. We’ll get to those quarterfinal matchups, but let’s assess the tournament so far.

The revamped format – fewer MLS participants, inter-league-only contests until at least the first knockout round – improved the product on the field. But it still wasn’t enough to prevent MLS clubs from continuing to get the better of their Mexican counterparts in a competition staged entirely on American and Canadian soil. (Liga MX squads have failed to reach the final in each of the last two editions.) 

Coming on the heels of FIFA’s U.S.-hosted, 63-match Club World Cup and played at the same time as the Premier League’s stateside "Summer Series" and in many of the same cities, fan turnout has reflected this market over-saturation. Phase One of the competition drew just 16,631 fans on average, well below MLS’s 2025 regular season average of 21,747. Just 5,709 watched already-eliminated San Diego FC beat Mazatlán — another team with no chance to advance — at SnapDragon Stadium on Tuesday. 

With just four of 18 clubs from each league making the quarterfinal cut, the final first-round match was rendered meaningless for too many fan bases.

Henry Martín and Club América were bounced out early from Leagues Cup competition. (Photo by Alex Goodlett - Leagues Cup/MLS via Getty Images)

Most of Liga MX’s giants didn’t advance. Club América, Chivas, and Monterrey all went three games and out. Same on the MLS side of the ledger, with defending champ Columbus Crew going home early despite amassing seven points from its three first-round games. Last year’s runner-up LAFC and Supporters Shield-chasing FC Cincinnati are similarly