FC Cincinnati kick off the third iteration of Leagues Cup this week and pause from the MLS regular season to make a push for another trophy this season, opening the tournament by taking on CF Monterrey on Thursday night at TQL Stadium.
In a new format for 2025, Leagues Cup will pit MLS teams against Liga MX teams exclusively in the group stage, meaning more matches against new teams than ever for the 2025 tournament. FC Cincinnati will first take on CF Monterrey, aka Rayados, first, in a rematch of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup duel the two clubs played in.
With the regular season calendar pausing for 10 days, and the chase for the Supporters’ Shield with it, FCC has no intention of changing or slowing themselves down in their pursuit of improvement. So while the tournament, and stakes, may have slightly changed, the goal for Leagues Cup 2025 is the same as ever. To get better, and to win.
“Leagues Cup doesn't change how we approach the starting group (or) the progress that you're looking to make, it's just a different competition,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said ahead of their first Leagues Cup game. “So it comes at a time where it's really a two-week break, and we know we have three games prior to our Charlotte game, so we'll try to maintain the rhythm.”
In the past, some MLS sides have used the tournament to experiment or give opportunities to others. But given where FCC is in their hunt for trophies and glory, creating change for changes sake doesn't help them continue to improve in the immediate or as they look further down the regular season.
“I don't think it's the stage of the season where you're looking for wholesale changes in your group. It's a matter of game to game, how do you get through it, and how can we put out a strong lineup, taking into account where guys are going into the game, and then we'll see how we get out of that first game,” Pat Noonan added. “But we're going after these games the same way we've been going at these league games, and that's to continue to progress, to continue to perform well, and we'll take it one game at a time."
For this match FC Cincinnati, while playing at TQL Stadium, will technically be listed as the away team for this match as CF Monterrey is seeded one place higher (10) than FCC is (11).
FC CINCINNATI vs CF Monterrey – Thursday, July 31, 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.
Versus Rayados
FC Cincinnati will face off with CF Monterrey for the third time in the club’s history, rekindling a rivalry first earned in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup when The Orange and Blue took on Rayados in the second round. FCC could not advance past the Liga MX giants and fell 3-1 on aggregate in the end.
From there, perhaps the most notable tie between the two clubs is the transfer of Brandon Vazquez to CF Monterrey ahead of the 2024 season for a multi-million dollar fee. Vazquez then departed Rayados ahead of the 2025 season when he joined MLS side Austin FC as a Designated Player.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Welcome to Leagues Cup – FC Cincinnati begin Leagues Cup 2025 Thursday, the third year of the competition’s expanded format featuring all 18 Liga MX clubs and 18 qualifying MLS clubs. With a new format, Leagues Cup 2025 will be played in two rounds: Phase One and the Knockout Rounds, ending with the Leagues Cup Final on August 31. The MLS and LIGA MX regular seasons will continue play through the month of August, with most Leagues Cup knockout matches played midweek.
FCC seek to finish in the Top 4 among all 18 MLS clubs in Phase One to qualify for the Knockout Stage. As in years past, regulation wins count as 3 points and no matches finish in ties – shootouts ensue if tied after 90 minutes, with the shootout winner earning an additional point.
A Rare Thursday– Thursday and next week’s match vs Chivas Guadalajara mark the 10th and 11th all-time matches for FC Cincinnati (since 2019) on a Thursday, the first since August 1, 2024 vs Club Querétaro. FCC are 4-5-0 in all competitions since 2019 on Thursday.
The 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.
Called-Up – Two FC Cincinnati 2 players - midfielder Yair Ramos and goalkeeper Nathan Crockford - have been added to the first-team roster for Leagues Cup.
SCOUTING CF Monterrey (2-1-0, 6 points, 4th in Liga MX Apertura)
CF Monterrey enters the 2025 Leagues Cup with good form in the early part of the Liga MX season and aims to start their 2025/26 season with a strong performance in this early cup competition.
Mexico’s top division, Liga MX, has only just begun their new season and have played three games this season thus far before breaking for this international club tournament. Rayados, meaning “The Striped-Ones” for their famous blue and white striped kits, lost their opening match of the season to Pachuca 3-0, but then defeated San Luis and Atlas in weeks two and three to come into this tournament in a strong way.
Domènec Torrent is the head coach of CF Monterrey and brings decades of experience to the side, having served as a head coach for seven teams and an assistant for major European clubs, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. The Spanish manager is also very familiar with Major League Soccer, serving as Head Coach of New York City Football Club in 2018 and 2019. In those two seasons, NYCFC finished third and first in the Eastern Conference, respectively.
Forward German Berterame leads CF Monterrey in goals this season, he is also the only play to score this season, scoring four times in the first three matches. Óliver Torres and Sergio Canales have assisted on those goals. Canales and Berterame led the team in goals last season as well, with Canales registering 14 goals and Berterame following him with 13.
On the defensive side of the ball, international superstar and 15-year Real Madrid man Sergio Ramos is the key defender for Rayados. Now 39-years-old, Ramos joined CF Monterrey last season and has had an impact on the squad nearly immediately. Known for his fiery playing style, Ramos has played every minute of the Liga MX season and has earned a yellow card in each of them. Ramos is also the captain of the side.
CF Monterrey enters this tournament not entirely fresh on the season, having played in the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this summer as well. With an undefeated group stage record (drawing Inter Milan, River Plate and beating Urawa Reds), the club bowed out of the tournament in the first knockout stage after a 2-1 loss to Dortmund.
Uruguay native Santiago Mele has been the goalkeeper for Monterrey this season, appearing in all three matches for them after transferring from Colombian side Junior at the beginning of the season. In addition to his duties with Rayados, Mele has been the go-to starter for his national team of late, most recently starting for Uruguay in World Cup Qualifiers in June against Venezuela.
