Leagues Cup begins today
The 2023 Leagues Cup begins tonight with five games. You can check out the full schedule here, but you probably mostly want to know that Inter Miami CF are set to host Cruz Azul at 8 pm ET on MLS Season Pass and Univision.
Alba signs with Inter Miami CF
Inter Miami CF have signed another FC Barcelona legend, announcing Thursday afternoon they have acquired left back Jordi Alba. The Spanish international defender is under contract through the 2024 MLS season with an option for 2025. He was a free agent. Alba spent the past 15 years competing in LaLiga, first for Valencia CF and then Barça, all while amassing 37 goals and 107 assists in 605 matches across all competitions.
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Leagues Cup begins today, hand-in-hand with Lionel Messi’s probable Inter Miami debut. It’s, if I may be so bold, one of the single biggest days in the history of the sport on this continent. Maybe the biggest.
To celebrate, we’re shifting up the format of the Kickoff for a little while. We’re going to be your Leagues Cup chaperone here. A friendly (and brief) guide to the day’s upcoming events, as well as the results of the games from the night before. There are group stage games every night (except one) from now until July 31. It’s going to be a lot to keep up with. We should hopefully make that task easier.
Before the competition begins, let’s go over a few ground rules…
We’ve got every single MLS and Liga MX team involved in this thing. That’s 47 teams. Based on seeding from last year's standings (as well as geographical considerations), 45 of those teams have been separated into 15 groups of three. Each team will play two games in their group with the top two teams advancing to the knockout round.
There will be no ties. If a game is tied after 90 minutes, both teams get at least one point. It will then go to a penalty shootout with the winning team taking home two points instead of one.
LAFC (2022 MLS Cup champions) and Pachuca (LIGA MX Apertura 2022 champions) have already automatically qualified for the knockout round. Pachuca edged Atlas (LIGA MX Clausura 2022 champions) for the guaranteed LIGA MX bye based on their better cumulative points mark across both Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2022.
The group stage is followed by a single-elimination bracket. There will be no extra time in these games. If they’re tied after 90 minutes they go straight to penalties.
The two finalists and the winner of the third-place game get a spot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup (formerly CCL), and the winner automatically advances to the CCC’s Round of 16.
All games will be played in the U.S. or Canada.
Got it? Good.
We’ll go ahead and rely on our friendly neighborhood Plusometer to help us preview each game, each day. Remember, The Plusometer gives us a scientifically viable watchability score out of 50. Although sometimes The Plusometer is admittedly extremely wrong, oops.
Cruz Azul vs. Inter Miami CF - 8:00 pm ET
WATCH ON: **Apple TV - MLS Season Pass**, Univision
Plusometer Score: 50/50
Lionel Messi is set to make his Inter Miami debut against one of Mexico’s grandes. No one, not even the folks involved, knows what this is going to look like. It’s hard to even know how Inter Miami should try to approach this.
It kind of feels like they should view it as a tune-up for their near-impossible task of making the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs over their final 12 regular season games? Either way, it will genuinely be one of the single most fascinating moments in the history of American sports. I can’t undersell this. That’s why we’re giving it our first-ever 50/50. Well, fine, second ever. The first time we did it though, the game got canceled. If Messi stubs his toe in pregame warmups and decides it’s best to just sit this one out, you know who to blame.
Orlando City SC vs. Houston Dynamo FC - 8:00 pm ET
WATCH ON: Apple TV - MLS Season Pass
Plusometer Score: 30/50
This is basically a totally decent MLS game. Admittedly, that makes it tough to find a ton of intrigue, but both teams have played good ball from time to time this year. I’m increasingly confident that Orlando are putting the pieces together. I’ve said it before, but they feel like as good of a dark horse pick as any to make a deep run out of (mostly) nowhere.
Austin FC vs. Mazatlán - 8:30 pm ET
WATCH ON: Apple TV - MLS Season Pass
Plusometer Score: 21/50
Mazatlán had seven points in Clausura 2023. Not seven wins. Seven points. Over 17 games. They had a -22 goal differential in that span. We’re talking Wooden Spoon-era FC Cincinnati kind of stuff here. Things haven’t been much better in this year’s Apertura either, having now gone winless in their first three matches. To put it bluntly, Austin are favored here.
That said, Austin hopefully learned a lesson earlier this year about underestimating teams in continental competitions. Folks should be concerned if they come out just as flat in this one and drop points.
FC Dallas vs. Charlotte FC - 9:00 pm ET
WATCH ON: **Apple TV - Free**
Plusometer Score: 25/50
Another totally fine MLS game. FC Dallas will be very, very glad to have Jesús Ferreira back in this one. With Ferreira at the Gold Cup and Paul Arriola injured, Dallas have struggled of late. There’s a chance they could use this competition as a springboard for a more on-brand final stretch of the MLS season.
Club León vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 10:30 pm ET
WATCH ON: **Apple TV - Free**
Plusometer Score: 32/50
The 'Caps have come a long way since they fell out of CCL earlier this year. Well, kind of. They’ve at least been able to put together some excellent performances They’ve also had some pretty inexplicable losses. If we get the good version of Vancouver though, it feels like they can compete with nearly anyone. Maybe even the reigning CCL champs?
- Take a look at the MLS stars with ties to Liga MX as Leagues Cup begins.
- Joe Lowery passed out grades for each MLS team heading into Leagues Cup.
Good luck out there. Show someone you care.
