The 2026 Leagues Cup standings are beginning to take shape less than a week into the tournament, with several clubs already eliminated from contention before the knockout rounds even begin. According to MLSsoccer.com's latest tracker, updated as of August 9, no club from either Major League Soccer or Liga MX has yet clinched a spot in the knockout stage, but the field of contenders is shrinking fast. Two MLS teams, Minnesota United FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, have already been eliminated, while six Liga MX sides, Atlas FC, Atlético de San Luis, Club Necaxa, Santos Laguna, CF Pachuca and Pumas UNAM, are out of the running.
The fourth edition of Leagues Cup kicked off on August 4, bringing together 18 clubs from MLS and all 18 clubs from Liga MX in a Concacaf-sanctioned competition built around the rivalry between the two leagues, according to Apple. For the first time in the tournament's history, the event expanded beyond the United States and Canada, staging four Phase One matches in Mexico. Every match is streaming live on Apple TV in more than 100 countries and regions, with commentary available in English, Spanish and French.
How The Format Works
Phase One runs from August 4 through August 13 and consists of 54 cross-league matchups played in a round-robin format, according to FOX Sports. Every match must produce a winner, so any game tied after regulation heads straight to penalties. Teams earn three points for a win in regulation, two points for winning a penalty shootout after a draw, and one point for losing that shootout. Crucially, each league maintains its own separate standings table for this phase rather than a single combined leaderboard, meaning MLS clubs are only competing against other MLS clubs for position, and Liga MX clubs only against other Liga MX clubs, even though every match on the schedule pits a team from one league against a team from the other.
The top four clubs from the MLS table and the top four from the Liga MX table advance to the knockout rounds. Those rounds open with the quarterfinals on August 25-27 and build to a single final on September 6, per FOX Sports.
What's At Stake
Beyond the trophy itself, Leagues Cup carries direct consequences for continental competition. The tournament awards three berths into the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, going to the champion, runner-up and third-place finisher, according to Apple. The eventual Leagues Cup champion also receives a direct entry into the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, a route that can eventually lead to FIFA's marquee club competitions, including the FIFA Club World Cup.
Defending champion Seattle Sounders FC opened this year's title defense against Toluca FC, the reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winner, at Estadio Nemesio Díez, according to Apple. Seattle lifted its first Leagues Cup trophy last year with a 3-0 win over Inter Miami CF in the 2025 final. FOX Sports noted that Liga MX has not reached a Leagues Cup final since León's win in 2021, with MLS clubs, Inter Miami in 2023, the Columbus Crew in 2024 and Seattle in 2025, sweeping the last three titles.
Star Power Across Both Leagues
This year's field includes several players fresh off deep World Cup runs. France's Antoine Griezmann, now with Orlando City SC, and Poland's Robert Lewandowski, with the Chicago Fire, are both making their Leagues Cup debuts, alongside Brazil's Casemiro, who joined Inter Miami CF, according to Apple. FOX Sports also pointed to LAFC's Son Heung-min, Vancouver Whitecaps' Thomas Müller and a group of Liga MX prospects tied to Mexico's World Cup squad, including 17-year-old Gilberto Mora of Tijuana and four Chivas players who featured for Mexico this summer.
Inter Miami, still built around Lionel Messi, opened Phase One against Atlético San Luis on August 5 before facing Monterrey on August 8 and León on August 12, per FOX Sports' published schedule. Messi is expected to play throughout the competition after returning from Argentina's World Cup run, joined by countryman Rodrigo De Paul. Atlético San Luis is among the six Liga MX clubs already eliminated according to the MLSsoccer.com update, underscoring how quickly the group phase has separated contenders from the rest of the field even for opponents facing a marquee MLS roster.
Several United States national team players are also featured across MLS rosters this summer, including Charlotte FC's Tim Ream, NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese and Club América's Alejandro Zendejas, according to FOX Sports. Chicago Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady, Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan and FC Cincinnati defender Miles Robinson round out the list of USMNT players in the tournament, alongside Real Salt Lake's Diego Luna and Zavier Gozo, both of whom narrowly missed the World Cup roster.
It's worth distinguishing the Leagues Cup group tables from MLS's separate regular-season standings, which run independently of the tournament. FOX Sports' preview noted Nashville sitting atop the MLS regular-season table, with Vancouver and LAFC also positioned for potential deep runs, but that ranking reflects each club's domestic league position rather than its Leagues Cup group standing, where Vancouver has already been eliminated according to MLSsoccer.com's tracker.
With five more days left in Phase One before the August 13 cutoff, the eight knockout berths, four per league, remain unclaimed. Fans can track live scores, real-time stats and standings updates through the Apple Sports app or the Apple News Leagues Cup hub as the group tables continue to sort themselves out ahead of the August 25 quarterfinals.
