Leagues Cup brings together two leagues from three countries, with the bulk of teams coming from Major League Soccer. That creates exciting matchups for fans of any team or league, seeing new teams, distinct styles and creating rivalries you may never have realized would exist.
Perhaps you’re the fan of a LIGA MX club and aren’t too familiar with MLS. You may not know your St. Louis CITY from your Orlando City, or your Houston Dynamo from your LA Galaxy.
So here’s a primer on the top league in the United States and Canada to get you up to speed:
How it works
MLS plays a 34-game regular season, then conducts a playoff to determine the winner of MLS Cup. While the Supporters’ Shield — awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the regular season — is a coveted prize, it’s MLS Cup that crowns a team the league champion.
One thing to highlight is that with the geographic size of the U.S., the teams are broken up into the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. Teams play conference rivals more often in the regular season, then see only teams in their conference on the road to MLS Cup before the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference final.
Most MLS teams are already 25 matches into the regular season by the time Leagues Cup 2024 kicks off. In the Western Conference, the two Los Angeles teams — the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC — lead the way with Rocky Mountain rivals Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids chasing right behind. In the East, it’s Inter Miami on top of the Ohio squads FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew — with the New York City squads, the Red Bulls and New York City FC coming right after.
What’s the history?
It’s been around since 1996, but that still means MLS is one of the youngest leagues in the world. The league’s launch followed the 1994 FIFA Men’s World Cup, which took place in the U.S., but it wasn’t always easy convincing Americans that soccer was on the same level as more traditionally American sports like baseball or basketball.
There were moments in the early 2000s when the league’s future was on shaky ground. Now one of the best-attended leagues in the world with record numbers of viewers tuning in worldwide thanks to the league’s new Apple TV partnership, it’s clear MLS is here to stay.
Designed to encourage competition and parity, in contrast to many countries whose league systems favor a few big teams, it’s been hard to pick out one or two top performers in MLS.
Inter Miami’s moves for Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez have marked them as the most ambitious team in the modern era. Traditionally, the LA Galaxy or New York Red Bulls had that label.
Teams outside the largest cities, too, have been able to mount sustained success. Columbus Crew SC is the reigning champion and has a bye into the Leagues Cup knockout stage despite being the 33rd-biggest media market in the country.
In addition to the presences of Messi and Co, there also have been plenty of familiar faces to LIGA MX fans who have had bright moments in MLS. The league has been home to Mexican legends like Jorge Campos with the LA Galaxy and Hugo Sanchez, more modern icons who played in both leagues like Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Landon Donovan and Herculez Gomez, and active players like Hector Herrera (Houston Dynamo) and Jonathan Rodriguez (Portland Timbers).
What’s the vibe?
MLS has an interesting supporters’ culture that often blends fan culture in Europe and South America but often includes elements of other fandoms in the city, whether it be college sports and their passionate fan bases or an NFL or NBA team in town.
That means songs in English and Spanish (and sometimes French and other languages) plus chants. Most teams have a tailgating culture with fans enjoying food and drinks in the parking lot before the match after arriving by car, though some teams’ stadiums lend themselves to the European style gathering at a bar before a march to the match. In cities like Seattle and Cincinnati, the march to the match isn’t to be missed.
Those sorts of unique soccer moments make the match-going experience so popular in the U.S., since it’s a totally distinct feel from going to the other sporting events in the city. A fascinating mash-up of what makes soccer fun, cool and different: It describes MLS and it describes Leagues Cup. Hopefully you now can enjoy the tournament even more deeply with a better understanding of what sets MLS apart on the global stage.
