2021 Leagues Cup
The 2021 Leagues Cup was the second edition of the Leagues Cup organized by Major League Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation. The tournament was originally planned to include sixteen teams but was later reduced to eight teams.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 10 – September 22, 2021 |
| 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 | 97,885 (13,984 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ángel Mena(3 goals) |
The defending champions were Cruz Azul, who won the 2019 edition of the tournament. The 2020 edition of the tournament was canceled in May 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in North America.[1]
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 aggregate table who are not competing in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals or the 2021 Campeones Cup qualified for the Leagues Cup.[3]
|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
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 | ||||||||||
| Orlando City SC | 0 | |||||||||
| September 14 – Seattle | ||||||||||
| Santos Laguna | 1 | |||||||||
| Santos Laguna | 0 | |||||||||
| August 10 – Seattle | ||||||||||
| Seattle Sounders FC | 1 | |||||||||
| Seattle Sounders FC | 3 | |||||||||
| September 22 – Paradise | ||||||||||
| UANL | 0 | |||||||||
| Seattle Sounders FC | 2 | |||||||||
| August 11 – New York City | ||||||||||
| León | 3 | |||||||||
| New York City FC | 1 (2) | |||||||||
| September 15 – Houston | ||||||||||
| UNAM (p) | 1 (3) | |||||||||
| UNAM | 0 | |||||||||
| August 10 – Kansas City | ||||||||||
| León | 2 | |||||||||
| Sporting Kansas City | 1 | |||||||||
| León | 6 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
| Orlando City SC | 0–1 | Santos Laguna |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| New York City FC | 1–1 | UNAM |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 2–3 | ||
| Sporting Kansas City | 1–6 | León |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Semifinals
| Seattle Sounders FC | 1–0 | Santos Laguna |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| León | 2–0 | UNAM |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Final
Top goalscorers
| 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 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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
- "MLS All-Star Game, Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup canceled for 2020" (Press release). Major League Soccer. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- Straus, Brian. "MLS Reveals Leagues Cup Participants, Campeones Cup Date". Sports Illustrated.
- "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.
- "2021 Leagues Cup schedule and Liga MX participants announced". Major League Soccer. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- "2021 Leagues Cup: Semifinal matchups, locations & times". Major League Soccer. August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.