HOUSTON (March 14, 2024) – Today, the official Leagues Cup 2024 Group Stage Schedule as well as the tournament’s hub venues are unveiled together with the Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light. The second edition of this Concacaf-sanctioned competition features all 18 clubs from the Mexican league, LIGA MX, and all 29 clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS) representing the U.S. and Canada. These 47 clubs will compete in a World Cup-style club tournament from July 26 to August 25, 2024.
Houston Dynamo FC will begin group play on Saturday, July 27 when they host Atlas CF at 7 p.m. CT at Shell Energy Stadium. The Dynamo will close group play on Monday, Aug. 5 when the team hosts Real Salt Lake at 8 p.m. CT. The Dynamo reached the Round of 16 of the 2023 Leagues Cup tournament, defeating Club Pachuca and Santos Laguna from LIGA MX at Shell Energy Stadium.
Additionally, Houston will serve as the hub city for Tigres UANL from LIGA MX. Tigres will open the group stage on Wednesday, July 31 when they face Puebla at Shell Energy Stadium at 8:30 p.m. CT. The group stage will conclude on Saturday, Aug. 3 when Tigres host the defending champions of the tournament, Inter Miami CF, at 7 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. Tigres is one of four LIGA MX teams that earned hub privileges following their performance in the 2023 Clausura and Apertura tournaments.
Dynamo members will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets for all Leagues Cup group matches in Houston at Shell Energy Stadium and NRG Stadium. The exclusive window for Dynamo members will open on March 21 and the only way fans can secure tickets during the pre-sale window is by joining the club prior to March 20. For additional information about Dynamo memberships and additional benefits, visit HoustonDynamoFC.com.
Shell Energy Stadium has hosted several marquee international events in the last two years and is often the home for international friendlies that feature national and club teams from around the globe. The venue was the only stadium in Texas to host matches during the W Concacaf Gold Cup and held back-to-back sold-out doubleheaders in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup. Additionally, Shell Energy Stadium hosted the Round of 16 clash between Tigres and Monterrey during the 2023 edition of Leagues Cup and a rematch later in the year, both sold-out events.
The venue features new field-side seats plus new audio and visual improvements throughout the venue, the third seven-figure investment into the venue following the arrival of club majority owner Ted Segal. The venue opened a new 15,000-square foot, air-conditioned space in the East Concourse and replaced more than 17,000 seats in the seating bowl in 2023 as part of a $27 million project.
Leagues Cup 2024, to be held in Canada and the United States, will determine three qualifiers for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, with the winner of Concacaf Champions Cup representing the region at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The complete Leagues Cup 2024 Group Stage schedule along with broadcast details can be found **here.**
Advancing teams will compete in the single-game elimination knockout rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 from August 7-9 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 from August 12-13 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals on August 16-17 (four matches) before the two semifinal matches on August 20 or 21.
The Leagues Cup 2024 Final and the Third-place match will be played on Saturday, August 25, which will determine the three clubs that will qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. The game times and broadcast details for the elimination rounds and Finals will be announced once the match ups are known.
Leagues Cup 2024 Bracket and Venues
As part of today’s Leagues Cup 2024 Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light, the official tournament bracket – which confirms the East and West region matchups and pathway to the grand final - can be downloaded **here.**
As previously announced, Leagues Cup 2024 introduced a tournament ranking system and hub privileges for the highest-ranked LIGA MX clubs. The Leagues Cup ranking is based on combined MLS and LIGA MX club performance in the last 34 regular season matches. MLS teams are ranked based on the 2023 MLS Supporters’ Shield standings, while LIGA MX clubs are ranked based on the cumulative 34 matches in the 2023 Clausura and Apertura tournaments.
All participating clubs, except the two Leagues’ champions, are divided into three tiers based on the Leagues Cup Ranking (1-15, 16-30, 31-45), forming 15 groups of three clubs each, prioritizing geographical and competitive balance among the 45 clubs. For 2024, Leagues Cup will be played in two regions, East and West, with seven groups in the East and eight in the West, to regionalize travel for all participating clubs. Both LIGA MX and MLS Cup champions, Club America and Columbus Crew respectively, receive automatic byes to the Round of 32.
The LIGA MX Champion and the three top-ranked LIGA MX clubs will be granted hub privileges. The cities and venues, which minimize travel and rewards the Mexican clubs by playing in pre-determined locations, are as follows:
- Club America (LIGA MX league champion and No. 1 rank) will have hub privileges through the Semifinals in the state of California. Club America will debut at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on August 9. Tickets will be on sale on Tuesday, March 26th.
- C.F. Monterrey (No. 2 rank) will have hub privileges in the state of Texas through the Round of 16, including both group stage matches against Austin FC and Pumas hosted at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas. Tickets will be on sale on Tuesday, March 19th.
- Chivas Guadalajara (ranked No. 5) will have hub privileges through the Round of 32 in the state of California, including their debut at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27 against the San Jose Earthquakes and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on August 4 facing the LA Galaxy. Tickets to the Levi’s Stadium match will be on sale on Wednesday, March 27th .
- Tigres(No. 8 rank) will have hub privileges throughout the Group Stage in the state of Texas. Tigres will have both of its matches in Houston, including their debut at Shell Energy Stadium on July 31 against Puebla and have their second game at NRG Stadium against Inter Miami CF on August 3. Tickets to both Tigres matches will be on sale on Tuesday, March 26th.
- Tickets for all matches will be available on LeaguesCup.com.
Also announced today, Columbus Crew and Club America, the respective MLS Cup and LIGA MX reigning champions, have learned their Round of 32 schedule. Columbus Crew begin their run on Thursday, August 8, hosting the second-place finisher in Group West 4 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio (time TBD), while Club America will make its knock-out stage appearance on Friday, August 9 hosting the second-place finisher in Group West 8 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Calif. (time TBD). For more information about the format, ranking and groups, further details can be found at LeaguesCup.com.
Fans in over 100 countries and regions – including Canada, Mexico and the United States - will be able to watch all 77 Leagues Cup matches on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, the subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer. MLS Season Pass is available on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, as well as on the web at tv.apple.com. Fans can also access MLS Season Pass from the Apple TV app on Apple Vision Pro, where they can watch games alongside other apps in their physical space; within an Environment, so the screen feels 100 feet wide; and in Spatial Audio for an even more immersive viewing experience. In addition, TelevisaUnivision, TV Azteca, FOX Sports (FS1), TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for selected matches in Mexico, United States and Canada.
