MONTREAL – CF Montréal will be facing Pumas UNAM (LIGA MX) and D.C. United (MLS) in the 2023 Leagues Cup group stage, slated to kick off this July.
CF Montréal will play two matches in the group stage. The top two teams from each group, as determined by points, will be advancing to the knockout stage Round of 32. The full Leagues Cup 2023 bracket and schedule will be announced in the coming months.
Bringing together all 47 clubs (18 from LIGA MX and 29 from MLS) into the inaugural competition, CF Montréal will participate in this officially sanctioned Concacaf competition where 15 groups will face off in a World Cup-style tournament that will qualify three clubs for the 2024 Concacaf Champions League. The inaugural edition of Leagues Cup will take place from July 21 to August 19, 2023.
The top 15 MLS clubs – excluding MLS Cup champion LAFC – were placed in their corresponding geographic region first, and then based on their position in the final 2022 Supporters’ Shield standings. The top 15 LIGA MX teams, based on the combined Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2022 standings – excluding LIGA MX champion Pachuca – were paired in reverse order with the top 15 MLS clubs.
Furthermore, all 15 Leagues Cup groups were divided up into four regions: West, Central, South and East. With the exception of the West, each region will have four groups. Thank to its historic 2022 Eastern Conference second-place finish, CF Montréal was placed in Group 2 of the East region.
Pumas UNAM is a Mexican club based in Mexico City. Founded in 1954, the club has won the Mexican championship on seven occasions, most recently finishing 11th in the 2022 season (Apertura). The club was also a finalist in the last edition of the Concacaf Champions League, losing 5-2 on aggregate to the Seattle Sounders on May 4.
Every team will play two matches in the Group Stage, with the top two teams from each group, as determined by points, advancing to the Knockout Stage Round of 32. No matches in the Leagues Cup Group Stage will end in a tie. If a game is tied after 90 minutes, the game will proceed to a penalty shootout.
All CF Montréal matches in Leagues Cup will be available on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. In addition, RDS and TSN will also broadcast select Leagues Cup matches.
Leagues Cup 2023 – Groups
West
- West 1: Tigres UANL (No. 2 LIGA MX), Portland Timbers (No. 14 MLS), San Jose Earthquakes (No. 25 MLS)
- West 2: Monterrey (No. 3 LIGA MX), Real Salt Lake (No. 13 MLS), Seattle Sounders FC (No. 20 MLS)
- West 3: LA Galaxy (No. 7 MLS), Club Leon (No. 9 LIGA MX), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (No. 16 MLS)
Central
- Central 1: América (No. 1 LIGA MX), Columbus Crew (No. 15 MLS), St. Louis CITY SC (No. 28 MLS)
- Central 2: Puebla (No. 6 LIGA MX), Minnesota United FC (No. 10 MLS), Chicago Fire FC (No. 23 MLS)
- Central 3: Chivas Guadalajara (No. 7 LIGA MX), FC Cincinnati (No. 9 MLS), Sporting Kansas City (No. 21 MLS)
- Central 4: Nashville SC (No. 8 MLS), Toluca (No. 8 LIGA MX), Colorado Rapids (No. 17 MLS)
South
- South 1: Austin FC (No. 3 MLS), Mazatlán FC (No. 13 LIGA MX), FC Juárez (No. 16 LIGA MX)
- South 2: Santos Laguna (No. 4 LIGA MX), Orlando City SC (No. 12 MLS), Houston Dynamo FC (No. 24 MLS)
- South 3: Cruz Azul (No. 5 LIGA MX), Inter Miami CF (No. 11 MLS), Atlanta United (No. 22 MLS)
- South 4: FC Dallas (No. 6 MLS), Necaxa (No. 10 LIGA MX), Charlotte FC (No. 18 MLS)
East
- East 1: Philadelphia Union (No. 1 MLS), Club Tijuana (No. 15 LIGA MX), Querétaro (No. 17 LIGA MX)
- East 2: CF Montréal (No. 2 MLS), Pumas (No. 14 LIGA MX), D.C. United (No. 27 MLS)
- East 3: New York City FC (No. 4 MLS), Atlas (No. 12 LIGA MX), Toronto FC (No. 26 MLS)
- East 4: New York Red Bulls (No. 5 MLS), Atlético de San Luis (No. 11 LIGA MX), New England Revolution (No. 19 MLS)
