The 2019 Leagues Cup was the inaugural edition of Leagues Cup, a club competition featuring four clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in an eight-team single-elimination tournament hosted in the United States. It began on July 23, 2019, with the first set of quarterfinals, and culminated in a final match played in Las Vegas on September 18, 2019. Cruz Azul won the final, defeating UANL 2–1.
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | July 23 – September 18, 2019 |
Teams | 8 (from 2 associations) |
Final positions | |
Champions | Cruz Azul (1st title) |
Runners-up | UANL |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 7 |
Goals scored | 19 (2.71 per match) |
Attendance | 122,884 (17,555 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Andrés Ibargüen (2 goals) |
Qualification
The inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup featured eight teams—four invitees from Major League Soccer and four Liga MX clubs chosen based on competitive results. Future editions are planned to use league results to determine the participating teams from MLS.[1]
Teams
The following 8 teams (from two associations) participated in the tournament.
Association | Team |
---|---|
Mexico (4 teams) | América |
Cruz Azul | |
UANL | |
Tijuana | |
United States (4 teams) | Chicago Fire |
Houston Dynamo | |
LA Galaxy | |
Real Salt Lake |
Bracket
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
July 23 – Carson | ||||||||||
LA Galaxy (p) | 2 (3) | |||||||||
August 20 – Carson | ||||||||||
Tijuana | 2 (1) | |||||||||
LA Galaxy | 1 | |||||||||
July 23 – Bridgeview | ||||||||||
Cruz Azul | 2 | |||||||||
Chicago Fire | 0 | |||||||||
September 18 – Las Vegas | ||||||||||
Cruz Azul | 2 | |||||||||
Cruz Azul | 2 | |||||||||
July 24 – Houston | ||||||||||
UANL | 1 | |||||||||
Houston Dynamo | 1 (5) | |||||||||
August 20 – Houston | ||||||||||
América (p) | 1 (6) | |||||||||
América | 2 (3) | |||||||||
July 24 – Sandy | ||||||||||
UANL (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||||
Real Salt Lake | 0 | |||||||||
UANL | 1 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
Chicago Fire | 0–2 | Cruz Azul |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Attendance: 14,213
Referee: Oshane Nation ( Jamaica)
LA Galaxy | 2–2 | Tijuana |
---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Penalties | ||
| 3–1 |
|
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson
Attendance: 10,421
Referee: Saíd Martínez ( Honduras)
Houston Dynamo | 1–1 | América |
---|---|---|
Beasley 85' | Report | Benedetti 73' |
Penalties | ||
| 5–6 |
|
BBVA Stadium, Houston
Attendance: 20,315
Referee: Walter López Castellanos ( Guatemala)
Real Salt Lake | 0–1 | UANL |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy
Attendance: 15,136
Referee: John Pitti ( Panama)
Semifinals
América | 2–2 | UANL |
---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Penalties | ||
| 3–5 |
|
BBVA Stadium, Houston
Attendance: 22,532
Referee: Diego Montaño Robles ( Mexico)
LA Galaxy | 1–2 | Cruz Azul |
---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson
Attendance: 20,135
Referee: Mario Escobar ( Guatemala)
Final
Cruz Azul | 2–1 | UANL |
---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
Attendance: 20,132
Referee: Marco Antonio Ortíz Nava ( Mexico)
Top goalscorers
Team eliminated for this round.
Rank | Player | Team | Goals | By round | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QF | SF | Final | |||||||||
1 | Andrés Ibargüen | América | 2 | 2 | |||||||
2 | Roberto Alvarado | Cruz Azul | 1 | 1 | |||||||
DaMarcus Beasley | Houston Dynamo | 1 | |||||||||
Nicolás Benedetti | América | 1 | |||||||||
Emmanuel Boateng | LA Galaxy | 1 | |||||||||
Washington Camacho | Tijuana | 1 | |||||||||
Emil Cuello | LA Galaxy | 1 | |||||||||
Elías Hernández | Cruz Azul | 1 | |||||||||
José Madueña | Cruz Azul | 1 | |||||||||
Ariel Nahuelpán | Tijuana | 1 | |||||||||
Orbelín Pineda | Cruz Azul | 1 | |||||||||
Guido Pizarro | UANL | 1 | |||||||||
Jonathan Rodríguez | Cruz Azul | 1 | |||||||||
David Romney | LA Galaxy | 1 | |||||||||
Eduardo Vargas | UANL | 1 | |||||||||
Yoshimar Yotún | Cruz Azul | 1 |
References
- ^ Santaromita, Dan (May 29, 2019). "MLS, Liga MX announce Leagues Cup 8-team tournament". Pro Soccer USA. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved May 31, 2019.