This week brings a new wrinkle to the North American soccer calendar. The inaugural Leagues Cup event, a World Cup-style competition that pits MLS teams against those from Mexico’s Liga MX, gets underway this weekend.
For St. Louis CITY SC, the tournament presents a fascinating opportunity to continue building momentum as the season’s second half unfolds.
Are you a CITY SC fan?
Subscribe to the CITY Scene newsletter to get a fan’s guide to the pro soccer scene in St. Louis.
Here’s what you ought to know ahead of kickoff.
How it works
With league play on pause, the tournament features 47 clubs—29 from MLS and 18 from Liga MX—battling from July 21 through August 19. When group drawings were announced in March, St. Louis found itself in a three-team group alongside the Eastern Conference’s Columbus Crew and Mexican heavyweight Club América. CITY’s group stage schedule will progress like this:
- Sunday, July 23: at Columbus Crew, 6:30 p.m., Apple TV
- Thursday, July 27: vs. Club América, 9 p.m., Apple TV, FS1
The top two clubs in each of the 15 groups will advance to the 32-team knockout round. MLS Cup champions LAFC and Club de Fútbol Pachuca, which accumulated the most combined points in Liga MX last year, have already earned automatic qualification for the knockout stage.
For CITY, the tournament presents a chance to earn a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League—the Leagues Cup champions, as well as the second- and third-place finishers each receive berths in the event. Leagues Cup is also an opportunity for head coach Bradley Carnell’s club to measure itself against one of Mexico’s most decorated clubs.
There’s a lot to play for, so CITY won’t be taking this competition for granted.
“We want to go as far as we possibly can in this tournament,” Carnell says.
A look at the rulebook
Don’t worry about draws. There won’t be any.
If a Leagues Cup Group Stage match is deadlocked after 90 minutes, it will be decided by penalty kicks. In that scenario, the winner earns two points, while the loser takes one point. Otherwise, a regulation win is worth three points. A loss nets nothing. The two teams with the most points after two matches will advance from the group.
In the following round, play will progress like a typical knockout stage. If teams are tied after 90 minutes, the match will move on to two, 15-minute halves. If things remain even after two hours, the match advances to penalties.
Know your opponent
Head coach Wilfried Nancy’s Columbus Crew will be ready for the challenge at Lower.com Field on Sunday. While CITY enters the tournament with some momentum, the Crew are hoping to find a jolt after going winless in their final three games before MLS All-Star break. Although Columbus has struggled on the road this year, it has been a strong team at home with eight wins in 12 MLS matches. CITY will have to be careful against midfield maestro Lucas Zelarayán and star striker Christian Ramirez.
Meanwhile, América have just started their season and may lack some fitness as they travel to CITYPARK for their first match. CITY can’t look past the Mexican giants, who feature the league’s most valuable player in striker Henry Martin.
Club América are, arguably, North America’s most popular club, and should have a strong contingent of traveling fans for their match at CITYPARK. Fans that will be hoping to see star players Julián Quiñones, Diego Valdés, Álvaro Fidalgo, and Kevin Álvarez.
On the CITY side
Neither Carnell nor his players were willing to entertain the idea that this run of matches is a built-in break in the schedule. Instead, CITY recognizes it as an opportunity to continue building its resume as a club capable of competing on an international stage. The opportunity to play knockout soccer should not be taken lightly. CITY was disappointed with the way its brief stint in the U.S. Open Cup ended earlier this spring, and is eager to have a longer stay in this tournament.
“We look at this like we would any MLS game,” CITY defender Tim Parker says. “We’ll be ready to play.”
Carnell may have something up his sleeve, too. After missing the entire first half with a knee injury, defender Joakim Nilsson could soon make his long-awaited debut. Nilsson’s recovery has proceeded on schedule—a welcome sight for a player tabbed as CITY’s best defender entering the year.
Whatever happens in the coming days, St. Louis is striving to sustain the momentum it created in recent weeks and carry that back to league play when it resumes later next month. In the meantime, CITY will take the Leagues Cup tournament as seriously as any other competition.
“Momentum is hard to stop, so we want to keep momentum,” Carnell says. “Every official game there is to play, we want to win and give ourselves a good showing. We want to compete for things. The team has earned some points on the board now and we can put that aside and just focus on the new competition.”
