Jon Arnold
Soccer is everywhere in the United States, and the summer of soccer will roll on long after the knockout rounds of the Gold Cup and Club World Cup that began over the weekend come to a close.
West of the Mississippi, the Gold Cup, Concacaf’s continental championship, has been taking place in California, Texas and this weekend in Arizona and Minnesota. Largely on the East Coast, FIFA’s newly expanded Club World Cup rolls on with an idea not totally unlike Leagues Cup - take clubs from rival leagues and give them a chance to play together more often with a big prize at the end.
Leagues Cup returns for its third edition in late July and will follow the MLS All-Star game in a parade of top-level events soccer fans in the U.S. are enjoying this summer. The All-Star Game, which pits the MLS All-Stars against their Liga MX counterparts, is a good build-up for the Leagues Cup which expands the MLS vs. Liga MX rivalry by playing regular matches between the teams.
While the All-Star Game also led into last year’s tournament, never before has there been such a busy summer of matches ahead of Leagues Cup kicking off.
Lionel Messi’s arrival and debut against Cruz Azul generated plenty of buzz, but that was just one moment. In the Gold Cup and Club World Cup, fans have been able to get to games or tune in to dozens of contests, gorging on a soccer smorgasbord throughout the month of June.
Leagues Cup will deliver more matches to dig into, and unlike past editions of the tournament, there won’t be a freeze of the domestic leagues, either. That means fans will be able to root for their team during the week in Leagues Cup play before heading to the stadium or tuning in to an MLS or Liga MX contest like usual.
It will lend the same feeling many fans are having now to the later summer months, with the days still long but the current tournaments wrapped up. Rather than matches in the afternoon and night, there will be stacked matchdays during the Leagues Cup league stage, then a few more matches just a few days later.
Managers will have to figure out how to keep their squad fresh, via personnel rotations and substations, but teams will be in the same type of rhythm they are when playing in Concacaf Champions Cup or other continental competitions.
Leagues Cup is still a month out, with the first League Stage games kicking off on July 29, but there is no shortage of action to watch until then. Club World Cup participant Rayados qualified for the Round of 16 and meets Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Monterrey will be fully focused on that tilt, but at this time next month will be preparing for contests against FC Cincinnati, the New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC in the League Stage of the tournament.
Messi’s Inter Miami squad also made the knockout rounds of the Club World Cup but was eliminated by PSG. Their Leagues Cup slate is made up of Atlas, Necaxa and Pumas.
Pachuca and LAFC, who both bowed out during the Club World Cup group stage, meet on August 1 as each team looks to return to continental competition and fight to represent Concacaf at the next Club World Cup. Tuzos also see San Diego FC and the Houston Dynamo, while LAFC meets Mazatlán and Tigres. Rounding out the Club World Cup participants, the Seattle Sounders have a 2025 CCC rematch with Cruz Azul, plus matchups against Santos Laguna and Tijuana.
Plus, both Mexico and the United States press on with a number of MLS and Liga MX players in their rosters as they look to capture another Gold Cup crown.
New teams enter the fray as well, many of them recognizing the Leagues Cup’s three CCC slots as their best opportunity to potentially get involved in the 2029 summer of soccer by winning a continental title and getting to the next edition of the expanded Club World Cup
For now, though, the focus will be on the games they have in front of them. That has to be fans’ mentality as well. Even with exciting moments for North American soccer very much on the horizon, ahead of the 2026 World Cup hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, those three nations will be locked in on Leagues Cup, watching the best club sides in those countries renew their rivalries and seek a regional title.
The summer of soccer is fully in swing, and it won’t be wrapping up any time soon. Grab a cold drink, get some snacks and enjoy the matches.
