The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by the two leagues in 2018.

Campeones Cup
Founded2018
RegionNAFU (Canada, Mexico, United States)
Number of teams2
Current champion(s)Mexico América
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)Mexico UANL
(2 titles)
Television broadcastersUnited States
MLS Season Pass (English, also available worldwide)
Univision (Spanish)
Canada
TSN (English)
TVA Sports (French)
Mexico
Televisa (Spanish)
TUDN (Spanish)
Websitecampeonescup.com
2024 Campeones Cup

Format

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The Campeones Cup is contested by the winner of the MLS Cup, held annually in November or December, to decide the winner of the Major League Soccer season, and the Campeón de Campeones, held annually in July between the winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments in Liga MX. If a Liga MX team wins both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, then the team automatically wins the Campeón de Campeones and compete in the Campeones Cup. The Major League Soccer team, based in either Canada or the United States, hosts the match, at the end of the summer.[1] Its format is similar to the J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship, which is always hosted by the Japanese team.

The two leagues had previously fielded teams in the SuperLiga, which ran from 2007 to 2010, and currently compete in the CONCACAF Champions League.[2] The inter-league partnership was spurred in part by the joint North American bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a desire to improve the level of play in CONCACAF.[3] The inaugural edition was hosted by Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario on September 19, 2018, and won by Tigres UANL.[2] Atlanta United FC became the first MLS team to win, defeating Club América 3–2 in 2019.[4]

The 2020 edition, which would have been hosted by Seattle Sounders FC, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] MLS and Liga MX announced that the game would return in 2021.[6] The return of Campeones Cup ended in a 2–0 Columbus Crew win over Cruz Azul at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio on September 29, 2021.

Results

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Year MLS club Result Liga MX club Venue Attendance
2018 Toronto FC 1–3 UANL   BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario 14,823
2019 Atlanta United FC 3–2 América   Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia 40,128
2020 Seattle Sounders FC [a]   CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington
2021 Columbus Crew 2–0 Cruz Azul   Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio 18,026
2022 New York City FC 2–0 Atlas   Yankee Stadium, New York, New York 24,823
2023 Los Angeles FC 0–0
(2–4 p)
UANL   BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California 20,605
2024 Columbus Crew 1–1
(4–5 p)
América   Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio 20,198

Performances

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By club

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As of the 2024 edition, a total of nine teams have qualified for the cup. In the table below, teams are ordered first by the number of appearances, then by the number of wins, and finally by alphabetical order. In the "Years of Appearance" column, bold years indicate a winning Campeones Cup appearance.

Club Wins Losses Years of Appearance
  UANL 2 0 2018, 2023
  Columbus Crew 1 1 2021, 2024
  América 1 1 2019, 2024
  Atlanta United FC 1 0 2019
  New York City FC 1 0 2022
  Toronto FC 0 1 2018
  Cruz Azul 0 1 2021
  Atlas 0 1 2022
  Los Angeles FC 0 1 2023

By nation

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Nation Times won Times runner-up Winning clubs Runners-up
  Mexico 3 3 UANL (2)
América (1)
América (1)
Cruz Azul (1)
Atlas (1)
  United States 3 2 Atlanta United FC (1)
Columbus Crew (1)
New York City FC (1)
Los Angeles FC (1)
Columbus Crew (1)
  Canada 0 1 Toronto FC (1)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Major League Soccer and Liga MX Fuel Rivalry with New Partnership" (Press release). Major League Soccer. March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Anne M. (March 13, 2018). "Toronto FC to host first Campeones Cup as MLS, Mexico's Liga MX form partnership". Toronto Star. Associated Press. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  3. ^ Marshall, Tom (March 13, 2018). "Campeones Cup latest venture to unite Liga MX with Major League Soccer". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  4. ^ "Warshaw: Atlanta United bring the swagger, take home Campeones Cup" (Press release). Major League Soccer. August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "MLS All-Star Game, Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup canceled for 2020" (Press release). Major League Soccer. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "MLS, Liga MX cancel 2020 Campeones Cup, eye 2021 return" (Press release). Campeones Cup. May 19, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
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