Leagues Cup quarterfinals: Will Messi play? Knockout matchups and bracket
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, defending MLS Cup champion L.A. Galaxy, the Seattle Sounders and Orlando City will represent MLS, while Toluca, Pachuca, Tigres UANL and Puebla will represent Liga MX in the knockout stage.
The 2025 Leagues Cup quarterfinals schedule has not yet been announced, but will be played on Aug. 19 and 20.
Coincidentally, the MLS clubs will meet in regular-season matches before the quarterfinals: Inter Miami will visit Orlando City, and the Sounders will visit the Galaxy on Aug. 10. Then, Inter Miami will host the Galaxy on Aug. 16.
Here are the Leagues Cup quarterfinal matchups:
Seattle Sounders vs. Puebla
The Sounders stormed out to first place in the MLS Leagues Cup table with a 7-0 win against Concacaf Champions Cup winners Cruz Azul in their tournament opener. They also beat Santos Laguna and Club Tijuana to be the only MLS club with three victories in the first phase.
Seattle will face Puebla – which beat New York City FC 3-0, lost to Columbus Crew 3-1, and advanced with a 2-1 win against CF Montreal.
Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL
Messi missed the majority of the first phase due to a muscle strain. Still, Inter Miami's roster of stars was able to lead them to a 3-1 win against Pumas UNAM to advance.
It's unclear when Messi might return, but Inter Miami will face Tigres for the second straight Leagues Cup tournament. Inter Miami lost 2-1 without Messi and Luis Suarez when they met in the 2024 group stage, but both teams advanced to the round of 32.
Tigres reached the 2025 quarterfinals, following a 4-1 win against Houston Dynamo and a 2-1 win vs. San Diego FC, despite a 2-1 loss to LAFC in the final phase one match.
L.A. Galaxy vs. Pachuca
The Galaxy may be the worst team in MLS despite winning MLS Cup last season, but their Leagues Cup run could provide a spark to end 2025.
With a 5-2 win against Club Tijuana and 4-0 win against Santos Laguna, the Galaxy will meet Pachuca in the quarterfinals.
Pachuca also beat San Diego FC and the Houston Dynamo, while they won a penalty shootout against LAFC to reach the knockout stage.
Orlando City vs. Toluca
Orlando City exploded with a 3-1 win vs. Atlas and a 5-1 win against Club Necaxa, which included a hat trick by Luis Muriel, to reach the quarterfinals.
They'll face Toluca, the first Liga MX club to qualify for the quarterfinals, after a penalty shootout win against Columbus Crew and 2-1 victories against Montreal and NYCFC.
2025 Leagues Cup bracket
The Leagues Cup bracket is set so the winner of Inter Miami-Tigres would face the Orlando City-Toluca winner, while the winner of Seattle-Puebla would face the Galaxy-Pachuca winner.
Which MLS and Liga MX clubs were eliminated from Leagues Cup?
MLS: Atlanta United, Charlotte FC, FC Cincinnati, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo FC, LAFC, Minnesota United FC, CF Montréal, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Diego FC.
Liga MX: Club América, Atlas FC, Atlético de San Luis, Chivas de Guadalajara, Club Léon, Cruz Azul, FC Juárez, Mazatlán FC, CF Monterrey, Club Necaxa, Pumas UNAM, Querétaro FC, Santos Laguna, Club Tijuana.
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