The 2021 Leagues Cup was the second edition of the Leagues Cup organized by Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX. The tournament was originally planned to include sixteen teams but was later reduced to eight teams.
The 2020 edition of the tournament was canceled in May 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in North America. In the final at Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada, near Las Vegas, León defeated Seattle Sounders FC 3–2 to win their first title.
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.
The top four Liga MX from the 2020–21 season aggregate table who are not competing in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals or the 2021 Campeones Cup qualified for the Leagues Cup.
+ Major League Soccer (4 berths) Team Qualification method Sporting Kansas City 1st, Western Conference Orlando City SC 4th, Eastern Conference Seattle Sounders FC 2nd, Western Conference New York City FC 5th, Eastern Conference
+ Liga MX (4 berths)Team Qualification method León 3rd, aggregate table UANL 5th, aggregate table Santos Laguna 6th, aggregate table UNAM 7th, aggregate table
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.
Results
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
GK 1 Rodolfo Cota DF 4 Andrés Mosquera DF 21 Jaine Barreiro DF 6 William Tesillo DF 24 Osvaldo Rodríguez MF 25 Omar Fernández MF 8 José Iván Rodríguez MF 22 Santiago Colombatto MF 13 Ángel Mena FW 7 Víctor Dávila FW 16 Jean Meneses Substitutes: DF 28 David Ramírez MF 10 Luis Montes FW 20 Emanuel Gigliotti MF 11 Elías Hernández Manager: Ariel Holan
GK 24 Stefan Frei DF 28 Yeimar Gómez DF 3 Xavier Arreaga DF 27 Shane O'Neill MF 16 Alex Roldán MF 6 João Paulo MF 22 Kelyn Rowe MF 94 Jimmy Medranda MF 7 Cristian Roldan MF 12 Fredy Montero FW 9 Raúl Ruidíaz Substitutes: MF 20 Nicolas Benezet MF 84 Josh Atencio DF 11 Brad Smith FW 17 Will Bruin Manager: Brian Schmetzer
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoalsBy round1 Ángel Mena León31 22 Santiago Colombatto León211 Omar Fernández León2 Raúl Ruidíaz Seattle Sounders FC115 Nicolas Benezet Seattle Sounders FC1 1 Valentín Castellanos New York City FC1 Víctor Dávila León1 Cameron Duke Sporting Kansas City1 Emmanuel Gigliotti León 1 Nicolás Lodeiro Seattle Sounders FC1 Jean Meneses León1 Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC1 Santiago Ormeño León 1 Juan Ferney Otero Santos Laguna1 Cristian Roldan Seattle Sounders FC 1 Rogério UNAM1
References