The CUP League organizing committee has announced the new improved format for the next 2025 League Cup, which will present matches exclusively between the major leagues (MLS) and the Liga MX clubs through the quarterfinals.
The official tournament sanctioned by the Concacaf will be played in the United States and Canada from July 29 to August 31Crown the best club among the first two North American football leagues.
In its third edition, the Cup 2025 leagues will reward again Three places in the CONCACAF 2026 Champions CupWhere the winner will represent the region during the FIFA International Club competitions.
The CUP 2025 leagues appear 36 clubs::
- 18 Liga MX teams
- 18 MLS qualification teams
The nine best teams from each MLS conference, who participated in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup qualifiers, will qualify.
According to the new qualification criteria of the MLS of the North America Cup, the MLS extension club entering San Diego FC will replace the Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the CUP 2025 leagues.
The Cup 2025 leagues will be played in two laps::
- Phase one
- Direct elimination
- The first phase will include three consecutive match dates per club to be played consecutive.
- The 54 phase one games will be played between MLS and Liga MX clubs.
The four advanced clubs of the MLS and Liga MX tables will be placed in a fixed medium to participate in the towers to be eliminated in a single match starting with the quarter -finals, comprising only MLS against Liga MX.
The pairs of quarter -finals will be decided according to the performance of the League of phase one.
- MLS 1 against Liga MX 4
- MLS 2 against Liga MX 3
- MLS 3 against Liga MX 2
- MLS 4 against Liga MX 1
The four advanced clubs will participate in the two semi-final games. The match and the LEGUES CUP 2025 will determine the three clubs that will qualify for the CONCACAF 2026 Champions Cup.
The regular seasons of MLS and Liga MX will continue until August, with most of the matches with direct elimination of the league cup played in the middle of the week.
The Cup leagues classification combines MLS and Liga MX League performance on 34 regular season games in a unified table.
- MLS clubs are classified according to the shield classification of MLS 2024 supporters
- The Liga MX clubs are classified according to the 34 cumulative games in the tournaments of Clausura and Apertura 2024
Regional classification
The clubs will be divided uniformly into two regions of 18 teams each: Eastern and Western.
The organizing committee of the Cup leagues determined the regional assignments based on the classification of leagues and geographic considerations. In each region, the 18 teams will be sorted in three levels:
- Tier 1: The teams ranked 1-3 of each league
- Tier 2: The teams ranked 4-6 of each league
- Tier 3: The teams ranked 7-9 from each league
Six sets will be formed to facilitate the phase one game, three in the east and three in the west. Each set will understand Six clubs: An MLS club and a Liga MX club of each level.
Phase games one
Each club will play three games against three opponents of the opposite league in its set. The leagues of phase one leagues are determined by the classification of the Cup leagues, as well as by the region.
Point system
While competition in the field against the opposite league teams, the MLS and Liga MX teams will compete and win points in a table specific to the League against teams of their own league.
For example, the victory of a MLS Club wins points in the MLS table of the League Cup, while a Liga MX victory contributes to the Liga MX Cup MX table. Other details on competition, including the breakdown criteria, will be included in the tournament regulations.
The four best clubs of each table specific to the League of Leagues present themselves in the quarterfinals. The tables have been designed to ensure more interliga in direct elimination towers.
No prints
The Cup 2025 leagues will maintain its current format of No Draws.
- Regulation trache: a point for both teams
- Penetric with Win: Two points
- Gain regulation: three points
During the quarter-finals of the League Cup, semi-finals, third place and the last, if it is equal at the end of the regulation, the winner will be determined by a subsequent penalty shootout.
