Portland placed in West 5 Group, opens Leagues Cup 2024 campaign this summer
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers are set to open its Leagues Cup 2024 campaign in the West 5 Group, MLS and LIGA MX announced today. Portland will face LIGA MX side Club León and Western Conference side Colorado Rapids. The summer tournament will be played from July 26 to August 25 with match location, schedule and ticket details to be announced at a later date.
The group stage of the Leagues Cup tournament marks the entrance for 47 teams from the two top-tier leagues in the U.S. and Canada (Major League Soccer) and Mexico (LIGA MX). The tournament features 77 matches during the summer where both leagues will pause their respective seasons. 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. Leagues Cup 2024 will decide three qualifiers for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup and an opportunity to earn a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Portland is set to face Mexican side Club León for the first time in club history. Portland has faced LIGA MX teams on 12 occasions, including last year’s Leagues Cup 2023 matches against C.F. Monterrey and Tigres UANL, eight friendly matches dating back to 2007, and two Concacaf Champions League matches against Club América in May of 2021.
The Timbers will also take on the Colorado Rapids for the 31st time across all competitions dating back to the 2011 MLS season. Portland leads the all-time series with 13 victories, 10 losses and seven draws. Notably, the Timbers have won 10 times and only dropped two results against the Rapids (10-2-2) when playing at Providence Park.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
As announced by MLS and LIGA MX, the Leagues Cup ranking will be based on combined MLS and LIGA MX club performance based on points in the last 34 regular season matches. MLS teams will be ranked based on the 2023 MLS Supporters’ Shield standings, while LIGA MX clubs will be ranked based on the cumulative 34 matches in the 2023 Clausura and Apertura tournaments.
Clubs are divided into three tiers based on the Leagues Cup Ranking (1-15, 16-30, 31-45), forming 15 groups of three clubs each, one club from each tier, prioritizing geographical and competitive balance among the 45 clubs. For 2024, Leagues Cup will be played in two regions, East and West, with seven groups in the East and eight groups in the West, regionalizing travel for all participating clubs.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans in over 100 countries and regions will be able to watch all 77 Leagues Cup matches on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, the subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer that is available on smart TVs, streaming devices, Apple devices, set-top boxes, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. In addition, TelevisaUnivision, TV Azteca, FOX Sports (FS1), TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for selected group stage matches in Mexico, United States and Canada.
