FC Cincinnati head into their final Leagues Cup match of the opening phase with the possibility of advancing in sight, but will need a victory to see themselves into the knockout rounds. Their opponent this Thursday night, Chivas Guadalajara, bring over a century of soccer history to the match but given their 2025 Leagues Cup record, have already been eliminated from the tournament.
With a win over CF Monterrey and a penalty kick defeat to FC Juarez, FC Cincinnati enter this match with four points and are still in the mix to be one of four teams to advance out of the MLS table. But given how results have gone thus far, FCC will likely need at least seven points to continue on in the tournament
"We've already made our decisions, we're not going to wait till results come out to decide on our lineup. We had a plan, basically from Monterrey to Charlotte, how we would utilize our depth and make a couple changes,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Wednesday ahead of the match with Chivas. “We have a group that we're hoping goes out in a really good way, and however the results play out tonight will inform what our chances are, but we're trying to focus just on us and a good performance.”
“We feel good. I feel like we've taken points almost in the two games we've played. I think we're going to go into the game in a strong way to try to win the game. I mean, we're at home, so we always want to win and give everything and give ourselves a chance to maybe go through regardless of what the results are going to be. Today, we're going to head into the game in a strong
Regardless of how Thursday’s match goes, FC Cincinnati will return to the field next in MLS play as they take on Charlotte FC at TQL Stadium. Should FCC advance in Leagues Cup the tournament would continue in midweek matches around the regular season for the remainder of August, but regardless of the international tournament, FCC will continue to have a competitive campaign as they look to retake the lead in the Supporters’ Shield and finish the regular season strong.
“We're putting out a group that we want to go out in a very good way and position us as the game progresses to go and win a game,” Noonan added in his press availability. “So that's kind of how we've approached it but a good result, however, whatever that means for us in the tournament, going into the Charlotte game, I think is important.”
FC CINCINNATI vs Chivas Guadalajara – Thursday, August 7, 2025 – 7 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
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The Format
The Leagues Cup 2025 introduces a new format for this season, aiming to feature more interleague matchups than ever as teams from Liga MX and MLS compete for not only a trophy but also entry to the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup tournament.
This year, MLS and Liga MX teams will be separated into their own tables, with the top four teams in each league, by points, advancing to the knockout stages. Teams will only play opponents from the other league, though, so while how you rank amongst your own league will determine your path forward, your matchups (in FCC’s case) against Liga MX opponents are what will decide your standing in the table.
Like the previous two editions of the tournament, all Leagues Cup games will conclude with a victor, meaning that all draws at the end of regulation will be decided by a penalty shootout.
A win in regulation earns you three points, and a win in the shootout will earn you two. If you lose in the shootout, you are awarded one point, and a loss in regulation, like always, will result in zero points.
Each team in Phase One will play three matches, with the top four teams advancing directly to the quarterfinals. The knockout stages will commence after the conclusion of the MLS regular season, with knockout games scheduled for midweek and league matches continuing as usual on weekends.
The top three teams in the tournament – the Leagues Cup Champions, the finalist and the third-place game winner — will be automatically entered into the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Against Chivas
Club Deportivo Guadalajara is one of the oldest clubs in Mexico and a founding member of the Premiere Division in Mexico with the clubs roots dating back to 1906 and founding what is now known as Liga MX in 1943. Located in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Chivas (aka The Goats) are one of seven clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight and have the top division 12 times, been runners up another 10 times, won the Copa Mexico four times and twice have won the Concacaf Champions League.
Chivas are though quite familiar with FC Cincinnati and TQL Stadium as this will be the third time in four years that the two clubs have met in Cincinnati. The first time, in the Leagues Cup Showcase, The Orange and Blue defeated Chivas 3-1 in the one off match that announced the introduction of the tournament.
A year later, in the first formal Leagues Cup tournament as we know it now, FC Cincinnati defeated Chivas again 3-1 in a marathon of a match where Brandon Vazquez earned the hat-trick. That match, some may recall, was postponed in the 60th minute due to inclement weather after waiting multiple hours for the weather to pass, so play was resumed the next afternoon to finish the final 30 minutes in front of an empty stadium. Chivas scored their lone goal of the match on the ensuing throw-in to restart the game, but Vazquez restored the lead 10 minutes later to seal the victory.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Hometown Hero – On his next appearance for FC Cincinnati, Cincy native Nick Hagglund will make his 150th appearance in all comps for FCC, becoming just the third player in club history to reach the milestone (Yuya Kubo, Luciano Acosta). Hagglund has been out since May 25 when he suffered two broken ribs and a collapsed lung after a collision in FCC’s match at Atlanta United.
More Milestones – Roman Celentano, currently at 12,300 minutes played, is 81 minutes away from matching all-time minutes record for FC Cincinnati. Evander, currently at 19 goals in all competitions is 3rd in a season in club history. His 15 goals in MLS play is also 4th in a season in club history.
Just Need a Chance – FC Cincinnati continue Leagues Cup 2025 action in the third year of the competition’s expanded format featuring all 18 Liga MX clubs and 18 qualifying MLS clubs. The Orange and Blue began Phase One with a 3-2 win over CF Monterrey and then drew FC Juárez, 2-2, before falling 4-3 in the shootout.
At the end of Matchday 2 of Phase One, FC Cincinnati are one of nine of the 18 participating MLS clubs in Leagues Cup with 4+ points. Regardless of results on Tuesday and Wednesday, FCC will be in contention to qualify for the Knockout Stages. FCC would need to finish in the top-four based on points earned, followed by goal difference and goals scored tiebreakers.
We meet again – The last time Cincinnati and Chivas met on July 27, 2023, weather created one of the more memorable matches in club history. In the 60th minute, with a 2-0 lead, a 3 hour, 56 minute weather delay halted the match and eventually suspended the match until the next day at 2 p.m., when Cincinnati would eventually win, 3-1. Brandon Vazquez netted his first and only FC Cincinnati hat trick, one of five 3-goal games for the Orange and Blue since joining MLS in 2019.
SCOUTING Chivas Guadalajara (1-1-0, 3 points, 12th in Liga MX Apertura – 0-1-1 in Leagues Cup, 2 points)
Chivas enter this match with their fate in the tournament out of their hands, with a PK shootout win over Charlotte, but a loss to the New York Red Bulls marking their record, by the time kickoff comes Thursday night at TQL Stadium, The Goats could have already be eliminated from advancing to the knockout stages with just two points gathered.
Should they still have a chance, a win would be absolutely necessary, and a win by multiple goals probably even more so, making the potential approach to this match for Head Coach Gabriel Milito potentially complicated.
Milito, 44, took over as Head Coach of Chivas this May and has only managed four games with his new team. Perhaps more well known at this point for his play on the field, the Argentine was a relied upon defender for the Argentine National Team in his playing days and made over 300 professional appearances in his time with Argentine giants Indipendiente as well as Spanish clubs Barcelona and Zaragoza before returning to Argentina to finish his career.
While new to his Mexican club and Liga MX as a whole, Milito is no novice in the Head Coaching world, managing five clubs over the last 10 years in over 300 matches.
On the field Chivas have plenty of connections to MLS with several players who have featured in both leagues. American youngster Cade Cowell made over 100 appearances for San Jose Earthquakes as a teenager before making the move to Chivas in 2023 as a 19-year-old – he has appeared as a sub in both Leagues Cup games thus far and converted a key penalty kick in the shootout on Sunday night. Cowell has started both Liga MX games this season for Chivas and scored one goal. He was also second in scoring for the team last season with five goals.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Alan Pulido, 34, played for Sporting Kansas City for four seasons before returning to Mexico this season. Pulido played for Chivas for four years prior to joining SKC as well, so the move was a bit of a home coming.
Another young star for Chivas is Armando Gonzàlez, who while only appearing as a sub for a total of 19 minutes in Liga MX play this season has scored twice in that time and leads the team early in the year.
Last season, Roberto Alvarado led the team in scoring with nine goals and added seven assists to his (also) team leading 16 goal contributions. Alvarado, 26, most often plays as a wide forward on the right side for the club, but as a National Team regular as well for Mexico he has shown a flexibility to either side or in the middle. Alvarado joined Chivas five years ago after breaking into the top division at just 17 with Pachuca.
In net for Chivas is academy product and budding Mexican National Team option Jose Rangel, who has appeared in both Leagues Cup matches and started every league game for the club dating back to the opening of last year's seasons in Liga MX. Rangel most recently appeared with El Tri at the Gold Cup this summer, but has been the standard bearer for his club since making his first team debut in 2023. In this tournament Chivas has conceded three goals with Rangel making five saves on the other shots on target. In the penalty shoot out with Charlotte Sunday night Rangel made one save and Charlotte missed well over the bar to bring the total to two stops as Chivas came out on top.
In both games this tournament Chivas has come out in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Pulido the loan striker (and captain) and Alvarado underneath as an attacking midfielder with Efrain Alverez alongside him. The back line of three consist of José Castillo, Gilberto Sepúlveda and Richy Ledezma.
