Captivating or contrived? SDFC sees Leagues Cup as a chance to win first trophy

Cool, contrived, controversial, captivating, contentious, curious, confounding — pick your adjective.

Leagues Cup is one of the above or, perhaps, all of the above.

The midseason tournament pitting Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX begins Tuesday with six matches, including C.F. Pachuca vs. San Diego FC at Snapdragon Stadium, and continues through August in and around their league schedules.

At stake are three berths in the annual CONCACAF Champions Cup, and regional bragging rights.

Leagues Cup began modestly in 2019, with four teams from each league and a neutral-site final at the aging Sam Boyd Stadium outside Las Vegas. It wasn’t played at all in 2020 because of the pandemic, had eight teams again in 2021, then was merely a “showcase” of exhibition games in 2022.

The past two years saw the field explode to all 47 clubs from both leagues. The 2025 edition has been pared to 36 — all 18 from south of the border and the top 17 from MLS last season plus expansion San Diego FC.

That’s because MLS Players Association rules limit MLS clubs to only two outside competitions per season, and the Vancouver Whitecaps were entered in the CONCACAF Champions Cup plus the annual Canadian championships. That took them out of Leagues Cup. The next highest ranking team from last season was Austin FC, but SDFC was picked instead, either as a favor to the new owners or because Snapdragon Stadium is only 20 miles from the Mexican border.

This is where competition and commerce intersect. Is Leagues Cup a worthy event, or merely a shameless cash grab?

You’ll find arguments on both sides.

“The clear intention, whether it’s CONCACAF or Liga MX or MLS or the clubs, is this is a long-term proposition,” said Tom Mayo, the former English middle-distance runner who is executive director of Leagues Cup. “We’re here to stay. We’re building something for the future, and that’s incredibly exciting.

“It’s a world-class tournament. It’s iconic on the global soccer calendar. This is where the three countries and two leagues come together. It’s an unprecedented tournament in many ways. It’s like the (English) Premiership against the (German) Bundesliga. We want to make it a cornerstone.”

The counter comes from folks like former U.S. national team striker and prominent soccer commentator Herculez Gomez, who called it a “travesty” and “pathetic on so many levels” on ESPN’s “Futbol Americas” show.

Gomez doesn’t like that Leagues Cup has devalued the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the nation’s oldest ongoing soccer tournament that dates to 1913 and was modeled after England’s F.A. Cup to encompass all levels of competition, from amateur to professional. Reigning U.S. Open Cup champion LAFC can’t defend its title this year because it is playing in both the Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup, accounting for its two allotted outside competitions.

He also notes that none of the 62 matches is played in Mexico, and that all 18 Liga MX teams, good and bad, compete against only the cream of MLS.

“You load the deck in favor of Major League Soccer,” Gomez said. “And Liga MX is going to take it, because the powers that be at Liga MX have literally said, ‘We don’t care. We’re more interested in the money. Whatever you want, we will do. You tell us what to do, Major League Soccer, we’re going to go ahead and do it. Just sign the check.’”

It’s not a tournament in the truest sense, sacrificing competitive integrity to maximize and monetize the U.S.-Mexico rivalry. Each team plays three group matches against teams from the opposite league (SDFC hosts Pachuca, Mazatlan and Tigres from Monterrey). The top four from each league advance to single-elimination quarterfinals that guarantee four more MLS vs. Liga MX matchups, meaning at least 58 of the 62 games will be crossover battles.

One league theoretically could win every group match against the other, yet four teams from each will advance regardless to preserve MLS vs. Liga MX quarters.

“They were the games that were the best fan atmosphere, when there was Liga MX vs. MLS,” Mayo said of feedback from last year’s tournament. “It really wasn’t that difficult when we drew a conclusion at the end of the season. If this is about rivalry, make it about rivalry. Let’s take the top 18 clubs from MLS and the 18 from Liga MX and put them together, and put them into this format.

“When they come together, it’s just a different tempo, it’s a different expectation.”

How will it be received by fans?

We’ll see. Last year, supporters groups from multiple MLS teams staged boycotts during Leagues Cup to protest MLS’s deprioritization of U.S. Open Cup that significantly shrank crowds in some markets. Mayo said that so far “we haven’t seen that come through this year.”

Another issue is midweek games, which typically don’t draw well in MLS, with kickoffs as late as 8 p.m. Leagues Cup is not part of SDFC’s season ticket package, and the club recently offered a 20% off flash sale for the three games against Mexican opposition — an indication they’re not selling as briskly as hoped.

Another issue: Falling in the midst of summer fixture congestion, some clubs may treat Leagues Cup as glorified friendlies to rest their regulars with second-string rosters sprinkled liberally with players from their youth academy.

SDFC, though, doesn’t have many alternatives. It hasn’t launched a youth academy, doesn’t have a reserve team and has an injury-racked senior roster.

“We don’t have a lot of choice,” sporting director Tyler Heaps said recently. “We don’t have a lot of bench options at the moment. So I think you’ll see a strong team.”

Midfielder Luca de la Torre is all in, despite an exhausting summer that included heavy minutes with the U.S. national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and now three Leagues Cup games in eight days.

“It’s a chance to win a trophy, right?” he said. “And to play three games at home against teams from a different (league), it’s really interesting. I’m really excited to play in it. … We don’t play a game without the intention of trying to win it.”

SDFC bolsters roster with forward, midfielder

SDFC announced Monday that it has acquired forward David Vasquez on loan from the Philadelphia Union and landed midfielder Pedro Soma from Spain’s UE Cornellà.

Vasquez has made two appearances for the MLS club, one in the U.S. Open Cup and one in the MLS regular season on June 29. The deal loan agreement is through the remainder of 2025 season with a permanent trade option.

Soma’s contract with SDFC is guaranteed through 2027 with a club option for 2028.

Leagues Cup: San Diego FC vs. C.F. Pachuca

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Snapdragon Stadium

Radio: 760 AM (English); 1700 AM (Spanish)