All four Liga MX quarter-finalists suffered elimination from the Leagues Cup 2025 following last night's defeat.
Tigres, Toluca, Pachuca and Puebla were the four teams that qualified for the knockout rounds of the competition, having topped the Mexican side of the Leagues Cup, Phase One.
By reaching the knockout rounds, each of the Liga MX teams were paired up with a top four performing side from the MLS to make up the knockouts bracket. This meant that the quarter-finals looked like this:
Tigres vs Inter Miami
Toluca vs Orlando City
Puebla vs Seattle Sounders
Pachuca vs LA Galaxy
First to the plate was Tigres, looking to bounce back after defeat at the weekend to Club América. However, the game started in the worst possible way when Uruguayan legend Luis Suárez gave the MLS side the team. Tigres dug in and found a response in the second half through Ángel Correa, but a late, controversial penalty decision allowed Suárez and Miami to put the nail in the coffin, which the former Barcelona striker managed to do, ending Tigres' hopes of becoming the first side to win the Leagues Cup twice.
Next up was Toluca, who took Orlando to a penalty shootout to decide who would advance. Despite the game heading to a shootout, manager Antonio Mohamed opted to replace many of Toluca's typical takers like Paulinho, Jesús Angulo and Helinho. All of the first four takers managed to dispatch from 12 yards, but misses from Federico Castro and Juan Pablo Domínguez sent the reigning Liga MX champions packing.
Puebla were the tournament's surprise package until this point. Despite performing poorly in the league, they had managed to reach the knockout rounds. Like Toluca, they also took their MLS counterparts to a penalty-shootout, although they had the chance to finish the game during normal time, given the red card to Danny Musovski. However, they were made to pay from the spot. Ricard Sánchez and Nicólas Díaz were the unlucky ones as all three Liga MX sides bowed out, with Pachuca last up.
Pressure was on for Pachuca, having seen everyone else fall at the same hurdle, but Los Tuzos had the same problem within the first half when Alonso Aceves converted into the wrong net before Marco Reus doubled the lead for the Galaxy. Pachcua pulled one back through Alexandre Zurawski in the 96th minute, but it was little too late to force a third penalty shootout of the night.
It's a second straight year that no Liga MX side has reached the final four of the Leagues Cup, which will raise questions for the event's organisers as they try to find ways for MLS and Liga MX sides to continue competing outside of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
What are your thoughts of the Liga MX performances in the Leagues Cup? Let us know!