Whether you love it, hate it, or are indifferent, Leagues Cup in back in full force starting this Saturday. The tournament that runs from July 26 though August 24 will begin its second season. While marred by controversy due to MLS pretty much giving up the US Open Cup for a League-run cup, Leagues Cup does have some charm as well as giving fans the opportunity to see LIGA MX clubs and having three Champions Cup berths on the line.

Last year’s tournament saw Messi and his friends at Inter Miami win over Nashville in the final, the Union finishing 3rd in Chester after defeating CF Monterrey 3-0 with Jesus Bueno scoring a Leagues Cup record goal 33 seconds into the match.

But enough about the past- let’s look at what the 2024 edition has in store and what lies ahead of the Philadelphia Union as they kick off this Saturday when they face Charlotte FC.

Updated Rules and Format

The 2024 edition of Leagues Cup will see a few tweaks from the previous year. Most notably, the Leagues Cup ranking system which, per the press release, states “The Leagues Cup ranking will be strictly 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.”

Sound confusing? To keep it simple, know that there are three tiers that are used to select each group. Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 are based on those results. Like last year, both the winner of Liga MX and MLS Cup will have a bye into the round of 32. However, new this year, the Liga MX champion and the top three clubs in Liga MX will be granted hubs to cut down on travel for those clubs and treat them as the home team.

The list of the Liga MX teams that will be granted hubs includes:

• Club America, which host through the semi finals
• C.F. Monterrey, which will host through the round of 16
• Chivas, which will host through round of 32
• Tigres, which will host through the group stage

The no-draws rule from the previous year is still in effect, meaning that once the 90 minutes is up, teams who are tied will go straight to penalty kicks to decide points in the group stage (2 points for a shootout win) and who moves on the the knockout rounds. For those that remember last season’s knockout stage for the Union, the club advanced on PKs in both the round of 32 and round of 16 with results over D.C United and Red Bulls, respectively.

Controversy from Supporters groups

Even during last year’s Leagues Cup, there was rumbling through fans and supporters that the tournament was nothing more than a money grab for MLS owners and Liga MX, and that the tournament heavily favored MLS clubs due to not having host cities in Mexico and also the time of the season for the Mexican clubs that are just starting Clausura part of their season.

Things got even more heated in 2024 due to scheduling congestion and the number of games caused by this tournament. MLS decided to withdraw their first team squads from the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup, the most historic in US soccer history. MLS instead opted to allow their MLS Next Pro clubs to participate instead, which raised a lot of debate and controversy around the soccer community.

Without going more into it, if you are reading this article you probably know MLS decided to allow a mix of MLS and MLS Next Pro clubs join, which again led to fans and supporters clamoring to #savethecup! While we can debate the pros and cons of both tournaments, one thing is for sure, some supporters groups are boycotting the Leagues Cup, including the Union’s own Sons of Ben. Released on Monday, the SOB posted this over social media.

The statement by the Union’s supporters group was not alone. Other supporters groups across MLS have also joined in support of boycotting the League Cup due to MLS’s actions toward the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup. Actions vary from full boycott of supporters participation of the tournament to very limited participation in supporter activities.

These supporters groups include Viking Army (Red Bulls), Austin Anthem and Los Verdes(Austin), and Iron Lion Firm (Orlando City), just to name a few.

What is interesting is there are a few, and I mean very few, MLS supporters groups that, while opposed to the MLS actions towards the U.S Open Cup, have decided to stick with the players and their club and offer support even though they are against the Cup. One of those groups, Columbus’s Nordecke, offered this message on social media:

However, this release was immediately met with backlash from members and other supporters groups around the league. It will be interesting to see how fans and supporters choose to participate during the Leagues Cup, and it will be one of the small story lines in my opinion worth keeping an eye on as the tournament moves forward.

The Union’s Group and Opponent Profile

When the Leagues Cup group pairings were announced, the Philadelphia Union drew the top spot in the East #4 grouping along with MLS Eastern Conference foe Charlotte FC and LIGA MX stalwart Cruz Azul rounding out the group of three in what should be a very competitive group according to head coach Jim Curtin.

“Unfortunately, for us, you know, we were given a really good seed, but sometimes as seasons change and teams change, unfortunately, we have Charlotte who is damn good, and just added Swiderski and is beating Austin as we speak right now, and is a really, really good team. And then Cruz Azul, if you guys watch Liga MX, is absolutely destroying everybody and killing everybody. So they were teams that were maybe seeding-wise towards the bottom last year, and we were the top seed and we got rewarded with what happens to be now two very, very strong teams.”

So with that said, let’s take a look at both of the teams that the Union will face to start off Leagues Cup.

Charlotte FC

Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm

Former Aston Villa boss, Dean Smith, has a remarkable job in his first year in Charlotte. The team currently sits in 6th place in the Eastern Conference with 37 points, only 5 off the club record of 42 points. However, what is more impressive is that the club has only given up 27 goals in 25 games this year, giving this club a defensive identity.

Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina is tied with LAFC’s Hugo Lloris for the most clean sheets in MLS this season. Add to the fact that Philadelphia has scored 0 goals versus Charlotte this year and suffered a 2-0 loss back on June 22nd.

To make things more interesting, Charlotte DP striker Karol Świderski returns from his loan at Serie A side Hellas Verona to make things more interesting on Saturday. Look forward to a close and competitive match that could set the tone for the Union moving forward in the Cup chase.

Cruz Azul

Sunday, August 4 at 8pm

Currently tied for the top of the table with Pumas in the Apertura season of Liga MX, Cruz Azul has been a force since hiring manager Martin Anselmi and finishing the Clausura in second place last season. This team will be a problem for anyone in the tournament, including the Union.

Union fans might also be familiar with their striker Giorgos Giakoumakis from his time with Atlanta United. The forward, who signed with Cruz Azul earlier this year, has 2 goals and 1 assist in 3 games played so far this season.

A result in favor of the Union could go a long way to making advancement a lot easier for the knockout stages.

Looking down the bracket should the Union advance

Looking at the bracket if Philadelphia advances, they will have one of two routes.

Win group 4 and they will face the likes of Orlando City, C.F Montreal, or San Luis from the second spot of Group 2. Should the Union advance, they will likely face an FC Cincinnati club on the road in the next round making for another interesting contest should they advance.

If the Union finish second, they will face the winner of Group 2, only then to face either group 5 (New England, Nashville, Mazatlán)  or 7 winner (D.C United, Atlanta, Santos) in the next round with some very familiar MLS foes.

Both roads will have some good competition, however the second place in the group might be a little easier based on current standings in both leagues for the Union. Time will tell if they make it to the knockout round and how things will shake out.

Does it benefit the Union to make a deep run?

On our recent episode of The One Team We Agree On, we were asking if a deep run or a bowing out early benefit the Philadelphia Union. You can hear our response in the linked video, however, I will say this: If the Union can get back to the Semifinals and get another Champions Cup berth out of it, this will go a long way with this current group to make a strong push the final nine games.

In my opinion, even if the Union make the playoffs this season, they are going to be on the road most likely and that will make a playoff push even harder. I’m not saying they do not win the MLS Cup- not at all, just saying if you can make a good run and win a Leagues Cup, great! But if nothing else, keep the momentum going through this tournament and use it build on the final part of the season.

Either way- love it or hate it, Leagues Cup is back and the Union have another championship opportunity in front of them and that might be the key to turning a disappointing season around.