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Chicago Fire FC Announces Leagues Cup 2023 Schedule

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CHICAGO (March 9, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC and Major League Soccer (MLS) today announced the Club’s schedule for Leagues Cup 2023 – a first-of-its kind World-Cup style tournament featuring all 47 clubs from MLS and LIGA MX (18 from LIGA MX, 29 from MLS).  
 
The Fire will kick off Leagues Cup 2023 on the road against Minnesota United FC on Thursday, July 27 at Allianz Field. Four days later, the Club will host Puebla, a former club of Fire legend DaMarcus Beasley, at SeatGeek Stadium on Monday, July 31. The kickoff times for both matches will be announced at a later date.

Chicago Fire FC Season Ticket Members will have access to the Fire’s home match against Puebla as part of their annual membership. Tickets for the match will appear on Chicago Fire FC Account Manager starting at 10:00 a.m. CT on Monday, March 13. Fans who wish to purchase a Season Ticket Membership can do sohere. Members will also have access to a presale at 10:00 a.m. CT on Monday, March 13 on the Chicago Fire FC Account Manager Member Headquarters pagehere. Single-game tickets to attend the Fire’s match against Puebla will be available to the general public for purchase at 12:00 p.m. CT on Monday, March 13 onChicago Fire FC Account Manageror by calling 888-MLS-FIRE.

Fans in over 100 countries and regions will be able to watch Leagues Cup* on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com.

In addition, TelevisaUnivision, FOX Sports, TSN and RDS will be the linear broadcast home for select Leagues Cup matches in the United States and Canada.

The Leagues Cup 2023 Group Stage kicks off on July 21 and runs through July 31. Every team will play two matches in the Group Stage, with the top two teams from each group, as determined by points, advancing to the Knockout Stage Round of 32. No matches in the Leagues Cup Group Stage will end in a tie. If a game is tied after 90 minutes, the game will proceed to a penalty shootout.

Advancing teams will compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals from August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.

The Leagues Cup 2023 Final and third-place game will be played on Saturday, August 19 and determine the three clubs that will qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions League.

Leagues Cup 2023 Bracket Announcement presented by Coors Light 

Group Stage: As previously announced, the Leagues Cup 2023 groups can be viewed here.  

The MLS Cup 2022 champion, the Los Angeles Football Club, has qualified directly and will host its Round of 32 match. Club de Fútbol Pachuca earned the bye as the LIGA MX champion with the most combined points accumulated across the Clausura and Apertura seasons in the 2022 calendar year.  

Knockout Rounds: Pachuca will enter the Knockout Stage in the South region, in the opposite bracket from the MLS Cup champion, LAFC, which enters in the West region. Following the Group Stage, the advancing teams will join LAFC and Pachuca to compete in the single-game elimination Knockout Rounds, beginning with the Round of 32 on August 2-4 (16 matches), followed by the Round of 16 on August 6-8 (eight matches). The eight advancing teams will compete in the Quarterfinals on August 11-12 (four matches) before the two Semifinal matches on August 15.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 32. The top advancing club from each group will face a second-place team from a group in their same region. 

Due to the odd number of teams this year, the second-place team in Group 1 of the South region will enter the Leagues Cup 2023 bracket in the West region due to that group having the lowest-performing team in the 2022 season (No. 2 club in the South region).

For the potential Knockout round match-ups and the pathway to the Final, see the above bracket. 

Knockout Round - Venues: In 2023, advancing MLS clubs will host knockout round matches against LIGA MX teams, and MLS venues will host all Leagues Cup knockout round matches. Round of 32 matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the group winner. Round of 32 matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a regional venue designated by the Organizing Committee.

Starting with the Round of 16, matches between two MLS clubs will be hosted by the club with the better 2022 regular season performance. Matches between two LIGA MX clubs will be hosted at a venue designated by the Organizing Committee.

The pool of regional venues for matches between two LIGA MX clubs during the knockout round are as follows:

  • West: BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, CA), Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, CA), America First Field (Salt Lake City, UT), PayPal Park (San Jose, CA)
  • Central: SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, IL), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), DICK’S Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, CO), Shell Energy Stadium (Houston, TX)
  • South: Q2 Stadium (Austin, TX), Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX), Exploria Stadium (Orlando, FL)
  • East: Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ), Subaru Park (Chester, PA), Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)

Knockout Round match locations and kickoff times will be announced at the conclusion of the Group Stage.