Minnesota United and Major League Soccer today announced that the club will host both Club Puebla of LIGA MX and Chicago Fire FC of MLS at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minn. during the Central 2 group stage matches of Leagues Cup 2023. The inaugural edition of the official Concacaf competition will see all 47 clubs (18 from LIGA MX, 29 from MLS) compete in a World Cup-style tournament from July 21 - August 19, 2023.
The Loons will first host Club Puebla on Sunday, July 23 before welcoming the Chicago Fire on Thursday, July 27. Both matches will take place at Allianz Field, with kick times and broadcast information to be announced at a later date.
Ticket Information
MNUFC Season Ticket Members are automatically guaranteed their 2023 season seat location for all potential Leagues Cup home games at the Season Ticket Member rate, with automatic payment charged as each round is confirmed. Should STMs not be interested in attending Leagues Cup home games, they must opt-out of this program by the Thursday, March 16 deadline. Single-game tickets for all Leagues Cup group stage games at Allianz Field are now on sale at SeatGeek.com.
Fans in over 100 countries and regions will be able to watch Leagues Cup* on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com.
In addition, TelevisaUnivision, FOX Sports, TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for select Leagues Cup matches in the United States and Canada.
Advancing teams will compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals from August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.
The Leagues Cup 2023 Final and third-place game will be played on Saturday, August 19 and determine the three clubs that will qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions League.
MNUFC is set to face Club Puebla, as the LIGA MX representative in its group stage contests. Puebla, nicknamed “La Franja” (“The Striped Ones”), finished eighth in 2022 Liga MX Apertura standings with a 4-10-3 (W-L-D) record and 22 points. Puebla defeated Guadalajara 1(5) – 1(4) in a penalty-kick shootout during the play-in game of the 2022 Apertura Playoffs to advance to the quarterfinals. La Franja then lost in the quarterfinals to Club America on an 11-2 aggregate. Since the founding of the club in 1944, Puebla has won a number of trophies, including two Primera Division (now LIGA MX) titles in the 1982-83 and 1989-90 campaigns, five Copa MX titles, one Campeon de Campeones title (Apertura vs Clausura winners) in 1990, one SuperCopa MX title (Apertura vs Clausura winners) in 2015, one Concacaf Champions’ Cup (now Concacaf Champions League) in 1991 and two Ascenso MX titles in 1970 and 2006-07. This will be the first-ever matchup between Minnesota United and Puebla.
The Loons are also set to face the Chicago Fire, an Eastern Conference side in MLS. Founded in 1997, the Fire have competed in the league for 25 years with storied success. In its first season in 1998, the club notably won both MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Chicago has since won the U.S. Open Cup in 2000, 2003 and 2006 while securing an MLS Supporters’ Shield title in 2003. MNUFC currently holds a 3-1-1 (W-L-D) record against Chicago in regular-season matches all-time.
Leagues Cup 2023 Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light
Group Stage: As previously announced, the Leagues Cup 2023 groups can be viewed here.
The MLS Cup 2022 champion, the Los Angeles Football Club, has qualified directly and will host its Round of 32 match. Club de Fútbol Pachuca earned the bye as the LIGA MX champion with the most combined points accumulated across the Clausura and Apertura seasons in the 2022 calendar year.
Knockout Rounds: Pachuca will enter the Knockout Stage in the South region, in the opposite bracket from the MLS Cup champion, LAFC, which enters in the West region. Following the Group Stage, the advancing teams will join LAFC and Pachuca to compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals on August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 32. The top advancing club from each group will face a second-place team from a group in their same region.
Due to the odd number of teams this year, the second-place team in Group 1 of the South region will enter the Leagues Cup 2023 bracket in the West region due to that group having the lowest-performing team in the 2022 season (No. 2 club in the South region).
For the potential Knockout round match-ups and the pathway to the Final, see the above bracket.
Knockout Round - Venues: In 2023, advancing MLS clubs will host knockout round matches against LIGA MX teams, and MLS venues will host all Leagues Cup knockout round matches. Round of 32 matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the group winner. Round of 32 matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a regional venue designated by the Organizing Committee.
Starting with the Round of 16, matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the club with the better 2022 regular season performance. Matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a venue designated by the Organizing Committee.
The pool of regional venues for matches between two LIGA MX clubs during the knockout round are as follows:
- West: BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, CA), Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, CA), America First Field (Salt Lake City, UT), PayPal Park (San Jose, CA)
- Central: SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, IL), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), DICK’S Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, CO), Shell Energy Stadium (Houston, TX)
- South: Q2 Stadium (Austin, TX), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), Exploria Stadium (Orlando, FL)
- East: Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ), Subaru Park (Chester, PA), Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
Knockout Round match locations and kickoff times will be announced at the conclusion of the Group Stage.
Beginning in 2023, MLS and LIGA MX will pause their respective league seasons each summer and compete in Leagues Cup, an official Concacaf competition to be played across the U.S. and Canada. The champion and the second and third-place finishers will qualify for the Concacaf Champions League and have an opportunity to earn a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.
The complete details on the Leagues Cup format can be viewed here.
*This excludes Leagues Cup for viewers in Mexico
