The 2025 Leagues Cup final is the upcoming final match of the fifth edition of the Leagues Cup, a soccer tournament played between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX. The match is scheduled to be played on August 31, 2025, at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, United States, by host Seattle Sounders FC and Inter Miami CF. Both teams are in their second Leagues Cup final; Seattle finished as runners-up in the 2021 edition, while Miami won the 2023 final. It is the second-ever match played between the two teams, who were already scheduled for a regular match in September 2025. The 2025 final is the third consecutive Leagues Cup final to only feature MLS teams.
The Leagues Cup is an annual international tournament between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight soccer league in the United States and Canada, and Liga MX, the top flight league in Mexico. It is hosted entirely in the United States and Canada during the middle of the MLS regular season.[1] The top three teams qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the premier continental club championship in the region.[2] Unlike other soccer tournaments, the Leagues Cup has no draws or extra time; a tied match at the end of regulation time immediately proceeded to a penalty shootout to determine the winner.[3]
The fifth edition of the competition was contested by 36 teams—18 from each league—in a smaller format than previous years that included all MLS teams. The MLS entrants were limited to the participants from the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, with the exception of Vancouver Whitecaps FC after they were replaced by expansion team San Diego FC.[2] Each team played in three inter-league matches in the first round, named the "league phase", played over a short break in the regular seasons for both leagues. The four teams from each league's table with the most points qualified for the knockout stage, which began with the quarterfinals round that was played as the regular season resumed.[3] The quarterfinals retained the inter-league matchups through seeding, but later rounds for intra-league matches.[2] The defending champions were the Columbus Crew, who were eliminated in the league phase.[4]
Both of the finalists, Seattle Sounders FC and Inter Miami CF, had previously appeared in the Leagues Cup final. Seattle were defeated by Club León in the 2021 final, while Miami won the 2023 final against Nashville SC.[1][5] Seattle and Miami were also among the three MLS participants in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[6] The two teams had only played one previous match in 2022, but were already scheduled for an MLS regular season match in September 2025.[5][7] Every Liga MX team were eliminated by the quarterfinals, leaving only MLS teams to play in the final for the third consecutive year.[8][9]
Seattle Sounders FC entered MLS as an expansion team in 2009 and have won a total of eight major trophies and titles: two MLS Cups, four U.S. Open Cups, one Supporters' Shield, and the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League.[10] The team finished as runners-up in the Leagues Cup in 2021 and reached the quarterfinals under the expanded format in 2024. The Leagues Cup remains the only active North American competition that the Sounders have yet to win.[11] Seattle were eliminated from the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs in the Western Conference Final by the LA Galaxy, who eventually won the title.[12]
The Sounders were the only team to win all three matches in the league phase and finished atop the MLS table.[13] They defeated Cruz Azul 7–0 in the opening match, setting a record for the largest margin of victory for an MLS team against a Liga MX opponent.[14] Seattle finished the league phase with 2–1 victories against Santos Laguna and Club Tijuana.[13][15] The Sounders played to a scoreless draw against Club Puebla in the quarterfinals and won 4–3 in the penalty shootout, during which Andrew Thomas made two saves.[16] Striker Danny Musovski was sent off in the 76th minute for touching the referee and later received a suspension for the rest of the tournament.[17] They qualified for the tournament with a 2–0 away defeat of the LA Galaxy, who hosted the semifinal due to their seeding as MLS Cup 2024 champions. Defender Nouhou was sent off for a tackle on Gabriel Pec in the second half after a video assistant referee review.[18]
Inter Miami CF, the 2023 Leagues Cup champions, finished second in the MLS table during the league phase.[19] They opened the tournament with a 2–1 win against Atlas after two assists from Lionel Messi, including one on a stoppage-time goal from Marcelo Weigandt.[20] Messi was injured early in the team's second match, against Club Necaxa, which ended in a 2–2 draw in regulation time. Miami won 5–4 in the ensuing penalty shootout to earn two points.[21] They then won 3–1 against Pumas UNAM to qualify for the quarterfinals against Tigres UANL.[19]Luis Suárez scored both goals in the 2–1 victory; manager Javier Mascherano was sent off at half-time for arguing with referees but was later accused of contacting assistant coaches on his cell phone.[22] Miami hosted their inter-state rivals, Orlando City SC, in the semifinals and conceded in the stoppage time of first half. Messi had returned from his injury and scored twice—the first from a penalty kick—and was followed by Telasco Segovia's goal in stoppage time to earn a 3–1 victory.[23]
The final will be broadcast globally with English and Spanish commentary on MLS Season Pass, an online streaming service operated by the league and Apple under the Apple TV+ platform. Play-by-play commentator Jake Zivin and analyst Taylor Twellman will lead the English broadcast, while Diego Valeri and Sammy Sadovnik are on the call for the Spanish broadcast.[27] A television broadcast on Univision and TUDN will use a separate Spanish commentary team.[23] The match will also be transmitted nationally in English on SiriusXM FC, a satellite channel. In the Seattle area, the match's radio broadcast will be in English on KJR-FM and Spanish on El Rey KKMO.[27]
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