2021 Leagues Cup

The 2021 Leagues Cup was the second edition of the Leagues Cup organized by Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX. The tournament was originally planned to include sixteen teams but was later reduced to eight teams.

2021 Leagues Cup

The Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates	August 10 – September 22
Teams	8 (from 2 associations)
Final positions
Champions	León (1st title)
Runners-up	Seattle Sounders FC
Tournament statistics
Matches played	7
Goals scored	21 (3 per match)
Attendance	98,635 (14,091 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ángel Mena (3 goals)
← 2020 2022 Showcase →

The 2020 edition of the tournament was canceled in May 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in North America.^[1] In the final at Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada, near Las Vegas, León defeated Seattle Sounders FC 3–2 to win their first title.

Qualification

The top two Major League Soccer teams from each conference in the 2020 season who did not qualify for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League qualified for the Leagues Cup.^[2]

The top four Liga MX from the 2020–21 season aggregate table who are not competing in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals or the 2021 Campeones Cup qualified for the Leagues Cup.^[3]

Major League Soccer (4 berths) Team Qualification method Sporting Kansas City 1st, Western Conference Orlando City SC 4th, Eastern Conference Seattle Sounders FC 2nd, Western Conference New York City FC 5th, Eastern Conference

Liga MX (4 berths) Team Qualification method León 3rd, aggregate table UANL 5th, aggregate table Santos Laguna 6th, aggregate table UNAM 7th, aggregate table

Matchups and schedule

On July 7, 2021, Major League Soccer and Liga MX announced the Leagues Cup schedule as well as the opening round matches.^[4][5]

Results

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	August 12 – Orlando, FL
	Orlando City SC	0
					September 14 – Seattle, WA
	Santos Laguna	1
					Santos Laguna	0
	August 10 – Seattle, WA
					Seattle Sounders FC	1
	Seattle Sounders FC	3
									September 22 – Paradise, NV
	UANL	0
									Seattle Sounders FC	2
	August 11 – New York, NY
									León	3
	New York City FC	1 (2)
					September 15 – Houston, TX
	UNAM (p)	1 (3)
					UNAM	0
	August 10 – Kansas City, KS
					León	2
	Sporting Kansas City	1
	León	6

Quarterfinals

Orlando City SC	0–1	Santos Laguna
	Report	Otero 30'

August 12

7:00 p.m. EDT

Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 750

Referee: Selvin Brown (Honduras)

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New York City FC	1–1	UNAM
Castellanos 61'	Report	Rogério 72'
Penalties
Castellanos Tajouri-Shradi Callens Sands Moralez	2–3	Velarde Mozo Lira Galindo Saucedo

August 11

8:00 p.m. EDT

Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Attendance: 17,276

Referee: Oshane Nation (Jamaica)

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Seattle Sounders FC	3–0	UANL
Ruidíaz 23' (pen.) Montero 64' Lodeiro 70'	Report

August 10

7:00 p.m. PDT
(10:00 p.m. EDT)

Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 17,077

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

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Sporting Kansas City	1–6	León
Duke 61'	Report	Colombatto 16' Fernández 27', 44' Mena 62' Meneses 72' Dávila 79'

August 10

7:00 p.m. CDT
(8:00 p.m. EDT)

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas

Attendance: 15,579

Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)

Semifinals

Seattle Sounders FC	1–0	Santos Laguna
Ruidíaz 90+3'	Report

September 14

7:00 p.m. PDT
(10:00 p.m. EDT)

Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 12,201

Referee: Keylor Herrera (Costa Rica)

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León	2–0	UNAM
Colombatto 16' Ormeño 68'	Report

September 15

7:00 p.m. CDT
(8:00 p.m. EDT)

BBVA Stadium, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 10,928

Referee: Walter López (Guatemala)

Final

León	3–2	Seattle Sounders FC
Mena 61', 81' (pen.) Gigliotti 85'	MLS ESPN	C. Roldan 48' Benezet 90+2'

September 22

7:00 p.m. PDT
(10:00 p.m. EDT)

Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada

Attendance: 24,824

Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

Team details

León Seattle Sounders FC GK 1 Rodolfo Cota DF 4 Andrés Mosquera  59' DF 21 Jaine Barreiro DF 6 William Tesillo DF 24 Osvaldo Rodríguez MF 25 Omar Fernández  71' MF 8 José Rodríguez MF 22 Santiago Colombatto   23' MF 13 Ángel Mena FW 7 Víctor Dávila  60' FW 16 Jean Meneses  60' Substitutes: DF 28 David Ramírez  59' MF 10 Luis Montes  90+3'  71' FW 20 Emanuel Gigliotti  60' MF 11 Elías Hernández  60' Manager: Ariel Holan GK 24 Stefan Frei DF 28 Yeimar Gómez DF 3 Xavier Arreaga  10' DF 27 Shane O'Neill  83' MF 16 Alex Roldán MF 6 João Paulo  15' MF 22 Kelyn Rowe  83' MF 94 Jimmy Medranda  68' MF 7 Cristian Roldan  82' MF 12 Fredy Montero  77' FW 9 Raúl Ruidíaz  27' Substitutes: MF 20 Nicolas Benezet  83' MF 84 Josh Atencio  83' DF 11 Brad Smith  68' FW 17 Will Bruin  77' Manager: Brian Schmetzer

Top goalscorers

  Club eliminated for this round.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals	By round
				QF	SF	F
1	Ángel Mena	León	3	1		2
2	Santiago Colombatto	León	2	1	1
	Omar Fernández	León		2
	Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders FC		1	1
5	Nicolas Benezet	Seattle Sounders FC	1			1
	Valentín Castellanos	New York City FC		1
	Víctor Dávila	León		1
	Cameron Duke	Sporting Kansas City		1
	Emmanuel Gigliotti	León				1
	Nicolás Lodeiro	Seattle Sounders FC		1
	Jean Meneses	León		1
	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC		1
	Santiago Ormeño	León			1
	Juan Ferney Otero	Santos Laguna		1
	Cristian Roldan	Seattle Sounders FC				1
	Rogério	UNAM		1

References

1. "MLS All-Star Game, Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup canceled for 2020" (Press release). Major League Soccer. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
2. Straus, Brian. "MLS Reveals Leagues Cup Participants, Campeones Cup Date". Sports Illustrated.
3. "Tigres, Pumas, León and Santos Laguna set to represent Liga MX in the 2021 Leagues Cup". Leagues Cup. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
4. "2021 Leagues Cup schedule and Liga MX participants announced". Major League Soccer. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
5. "2021 Leagues Cup: Semifinal matchups, locations & times". Major League Soccer. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.