ALABAMA - The dates for next year's Leagues Cup are out for what will be the 4th edition of the tournament: the competition will take place between July 26-August 25 and, although the calendar for Mexico's Apertura 2024 is still not available, it's more than likely that Liga MX and MLS teams will have to suspend league play again.
During the inaugural 47-team edition that took place this year, Liga MX teams had to suspend their Apertura 2023 schedule and took a small hiatus between July and August while MLS did the same thing after playing its mid-season All-Star game against Arsenal in the middle of July.
As it happened on this year's edition, the finalists and the third-placed teams will earn berths for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, but only the Leagues Cup champion will earn an automatic place in the Round of 16.
After winning this year's inaugural big-scale tournament, Inter Miami CF will compete for a chance to win the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup edition and a place in FIFA's new Club World Cup format, which is set to start in 2025.
Although it was not confirmed in the press release, it is expected that all Leagues Cup matches will continue to be held exclusively in the United States. This decision gave MLS teams a small advantage during this year's edition, as their performance improved drastically compared to their CONCACAF Champions League experience, where they have to play away games. Seattle Sounders remain the only MLS team to win the continental competition in the last 20 years.
Out of the 32 teams that advanced to the Knockout Rounds in 2023, 20 of them were MLS teams and six of them made it to the quarterfinals, with only Querétaro and Monterrey represented Liga MX.
The format of the competition will remain the same, with all 47 teams divided into 15 groups of three teams. The two best sides in each group will advance to the Round of 32.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami was the champion of the first 47-team Leagues Cup edition, winning the trophy in a fashionable manner.
Just a few days after announcing his move to MLS, Messi made his Inter Miami debut against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup. It didn't take long for Messi to establish himself as the new face of MLS, as he scored a phenomenal free kick in the 90th minute to give Inter Miami the win.
Overall, Messi scored in six of his team's seven games in the tournament, finishing as the top scorer with 10 goals.
Liga MX teams will try to bounce back after a lackluster 2023 edition, as only 12 of the 18 competing teams were able to qualify to the Knockout Rounds. Four Liga MX teams failed to collect a single point during the group stages.
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