Earlier this month, MLS and Liga MX Clarified the challenges for the group stage For the 2024 League Cup. Similar to last year, 47 teams from both Major League Soccer and Liga MX will compete in the second tournament, with the group stage beginning on July 26th.
Club America, the top team in Liga MX by total points, and the 2023 MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew both won the group stage by default, leaving the remaining 45 teams divided into 15 groups, with seven of them in the East. remained in the district. and 8 in the West.
So, now that the groups are set, which MLS team has the best path to break out of the group and advance to the Round of 32? Sounders at Heart’s Jeremiah Oshian has his thoughts on the group from a rankings perspective. We broke it down and saw how the numbers stacked up.
Since I’m a nerd, I’ve ranked the League Cup groups in terms of difficulty. We took the League Cup ranking and Concacaf club ranking for each club and averaged them. According to this equation, West 3 is the softest and East 3 is the toughest. Sounder is the second softest. pic.twitter.com/KmpIBqvUQB
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) January 31, 2024
First, it will help you understand how the pot was drawn. The teams were divided into three pots and one team from each formed a group.
Next, apply Oshan’s ranking list to the various groups.
East 7 failed but ended up in the third easiest group.
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) February 1, 2024
In the West 3 group, both FC Dallas and St. Louis City have a great chance of getting out of the group by playing against FC Juarez, one of the bottom teams. St. Louis City is ready to bounce back after a successful debut last year where they finished as the top team in the Western Conference, while FC Dallas should take points from Juarez and advance to the Round of 32.
LAFC is rebuilding with some new stars, but the club is building a roster aimed at success in major tournaments. When they face the Vancouver Whitecaps and Club Tijuana, they will be anchored by new goaltender Hugo Lloris and will be favorites to win the West 7, especially if they can find a way to satisfy the black-shirted Dennis Bouanga. It should be.
atlanta united is set for the East 7 class, with a roster of young stars poised to get back on track in 2024. DC United and Santos Laguna are also in this group, but Atlanta is the team that should win the group and advance to the next group. knockout stage. With Thiago Almada on the rise and Giorgos Jakoumakis ready to take his game to an even higher level, Atlanta will look to make some moves to add this trophy to their case in 2024. Welcome.
The Philadelphia Union really enjoys these knockout-style tournaments, and their members aren’t afraid to play against Liga MX teams. Union, which sits in the East 4 alongside Charlotte FC and Cruz Azul, has arguably the best goalie in all of Concaf in Andre Blake. If he’s in the game, Philadelphia just needs to focus on scoring, and they have plenty of that.
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Orlando City is steadily climbing the standings and could do some damage in the group stage. They are paired with CF Montreal and Atlético de San Luis in East 2, and they bring in great experience in Nico Lodeiro to further strengthen their attack.
The New England Revolution and Nashville SC both have an inside track in the East 5 as they are grouped with Mazatlan FC. Mazatlán is the lowest team in the League Cup standings, so that means the Revs and Nashville will each need to pick up the most points against the Liga MX side.
The League Cup is still a few months away, but now that the groups have been announced, teams can start planning their rotations so they can get serious for the second leg of the tournament. The MLS team will be looking to retain the trophy in America once again, so it will bring some excitement to the summer.
