SEATTLE - Mexico and the United States will continue their partnership at the soccer level with the introduction of a new tournament. On July 19, all 14 NWSL clubs and the six teams with the most points achieved in LIGA MX Femenil during the Clausura and Apertura 2023 will compete for the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup, a 33-match tournament that will consist of 30 group stage contests followed by a "Final Four" format.
The semifinal round will take place on August 6 at the CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The venue, home to NWSL team Kansas City Current, opened on March of 2024 and is the first privately financed stadium exclusively built for a professional women's soccer team in the United States.
The championship match will take place at the Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas on October 25, more than three months after the tournament kicks off.
The 20 competing teams were divided into five groups of four with at least one LIGA MX Femenil team in each group. Tijuana, América, Chivas, Rayadas, Tigres and Pachuca will be the Mexican representatives for the first edition of the tournament.
Of the five group winners, the top four teams with the most points will advance to the semifinal round.
How to watch?
CBS Sports will be the exclusive home of the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup in English, broadcasting all 33 games with every match set to stream live on their streaming service Paramount+.
Univision and NWSL+ will be the networks responsible for covering the competition for a Spanish-language public, with TUDN airing three group stage matches while the rest can be accessed via NWSL+.
Women's soccer is expanding in North America
The creation of the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup is just another example of the commitment that North American countries have in expanding the women's game. Back in March, CONCACAF announced the creation of an annual W Champions Cup, the region's first official women's continental club championship.
The competition will include the best clubs from the region and will also serve as the sole path through which CONCACAF teams can qualify to the new FIFA Women's Club World Cup, which FIFA has announced will take place in January and February of 2026, featuring 16 teams.
The inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup is set to start on August 2024 and will conclude in May 2025, with a centralized final-four format for the knockout stages.
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