MONTREAL – Following Thursday’s joint MLS and LIGA MX announcement, CF Montréal will host Pumas UNAM (LIGA MX) and D.C. United (MLS) on July 22 and 26 respectively, at Stade Saputo, to kick off the Group Stage of the 2023 Leagues Cup.
Kickoff times for both evening matches will be confirmed at a later date.
The tournament’s full group stage schedule was announced Thursday, confirming CF Montréal’s host status for its two matches in the East 2 group:
Saturday, July 22 – CF Montréal vs. Pumas UNAM – Stade Saputo
Wednesday, July 26 – CF Montréal vs. D.C. United – Stade Saputo
As with Concacaf Champions League and playoff games in recent years, Members will have the right of first refusal on their reserved seats for all Leagues Cup home games on a “pay as you go” basis. More information will be provided to Members in the coming weeks.
All other tickets for Leagues Cup home games go on sale on Wednesday, March 29. Leagues Cup matches will also be available in partial season ticket packages from that date.
Like Concacaf Champions League or MLS playoff games in recent years, Members will have first right of refusal on their reserved seats for all home Leagues Cup matches, on a "Pay As We Play" basis. More information will be communicated to Members in the coming weeks.
All other tickets for home Leagues Cup matches will go on sale on Wednesday, March 29. Leagues Cup matches will also be available for selection in Partial Membership packages starting then.
Bringing together all 47 clubs (18 from LIGA MX and 29 from MLS) into the inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup, 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 will take place from July 21 to August 19, 2023.
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.
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.
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.co
