COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Crew will host two teams as part of the inaugural Leagues Cup between Major League Soccer and Liga MX.
Both leagues announced the group stage opponent details on Friday and the Crew were drawn into the Central 1 group with Liga MX’s Club América and MLS expansion team St. Louis CITY SC.
Starting this year, MLS and Liga MX will pause their respective league seasons each summer and all 47 first division clubs will compete in a World Cup-style tournament.
The champion, as well as the second and third place finishers, will qualify for the Concacaf Champions League and an opportunity to earn a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Match dates for both group stage contests at Lower.com Field will be announced at a later date. The tournament will begin on Friday, July 21 with the final taking place on Saturday, Aug. 19.
Club América is the most successful club in Mexico, having won 13 league titles, most recently winning the Apertura 2018. They are a seven-time winner Concacaf Champions Cup/Champions League, most recent victory coming in the 2015-16 edition.
They have earned six Copa MX titles, last winning in Clausura 2019 and has won the Campeon de Campeones six times, most recently in 2019.
In the 2021-22 Liga MX season, Club América finished second place in aggregate and appeared in both of the season’s Liguilla tournaments in the quarterfinal stage.
St. Louis enters MLS this season as the 29th team in the league. This will be the first and only time the Crew face them in 2023.
The match against Club América will be included as part of current 2023 Crew Season Ticket Memberships and 10-Match Ticket Plans. The match against St. Louis will be included in partial plans and single-match tickets.
