Leagues Cup will use ‘Swiss’ format, sources say

The exact format of the 2025 Leagues Cup will not be formally released until January, but multiple sources from around MLS have told Sounder at Heart that it will offer some interesting wrinkles. Although the details are still being worked out, it’s designed around what is being referred to as a “Swiss” format that is broadly similar to the the current UEFA Champions League.

As MLS Commissioner Don Garber alluded to during his State of the League Address, the new format will allow for more matches between Liga MX and MLS while not sacrificing the total number of games in the tournament as would be the case if it were a simple single-elimination.

This is how it would work, essentially:

• Rather than a traditional group stage, there would be one group of 18 MLS teams and another group of 18 Liga MX teams. UEFA called this the “league stage.”
• They would each be drawn against three or four teams from the other league. The number of games in this stage of the tournament is apparently one of the details still being discussed.
• At the end of that stage, the four teams from each group with the most points would then advance to the quarterfinals where they’d likely match up against a team from the other league.
• The quarterfinal winners would then face off in a semifinal and then onto third-place and championship games. Three of those teams would then earn Concacaf Champions Cup berths.