FC Cincinnati are back in action for the second of three Phase One games for Leagues Cup 2026, hosting Liga MX club Pumas UNAM at TQL Stadium, looking to build on a strong start to the tournament.
After opening Leagues Cup earlier this week with a 3-1 win over CF Pachuca, FC Cincinnati quickly turned their attention to this Friday night match, looking to improve their standing in the table and increase their odds of advancing to the knockout stages.
Head Coach Pat Noonan says they feel the only way to feel totally confident in securing their spot in the next round of the tournament is to earn all nine points from their three games so that they will take that approach to this match:
Just win.
“Whatever we see, it'll be strong, and (Pumas) are always motivated,” Noonan said ahead of this Friday night’s match at TQL Stadium. “So, our mentality needs to be very strong and not think because of our performance and result against Pachuca that things get easier. It always becomes more difficult and our goal doesn't change. It's to advance, and the only way to do that is to get a good result.”
Entering Leagues Cup 2026, Pumas UNAM were on a two-game winning streak and had defeated FC Juarez 5-1 in their final league match before the tournament kicked off. But with a loss in the first match of Leagues Cup, their prospects for advancement got harder. That said, if they want to advance, Pumas are going to be desperate for a big result, and FCC have to prepare for that.
“I can't speak to how they would approach the game. They know their circumstance, which is they lost the first game and the goal differential is a minus-three,” Noonan said of his opponent this weekend. “So, they're going to try to make that up against us and it's our job to compete and be prepared in a way where we don't underestimate the strength of their group because of their first game.”
“Nine points, likely, will get us through and that's our goal,” Noonan added as to their own approach. “I've said, I think, seven with a good goal differential was last year's third and fourth place team, I believe… (so) obviously, if we can't get the win, can we advance in a shootout? But, whether we win by one goal, two goals, we're going to try to win this game, and it's more beneficial to have a plus-two than it is to have a plus-one, so, yes, that can factor into it, but the priorities to try to go and compete to win a game.”
FC Cincinnati kick this game off at TQL Stadium with their eyes on three points, but will then again turn it around and look to close out the group stage on Tuesday night when they host Atlas FC in their final Phase One match of this year's Leagues Cup.
FC Cincinnati vs Pumas UNAM – Friday, August 7, 2026 – 8 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
Watch/Stream (English/Spanish): Apple TV
English Local Radio: ESPN 1530
Spanish Local Radio: La Mega 101.5 FM
Leagues Cup Explained
For the second year, Leagues Cup 2026 brings its new format and table to the competition, providing one of the most challenging and punitive setups to a tournament that FC Cincinnati will play in this season.
Leagues Cup pits 18 clubs from both Major League Soccer and Liga MX against each other in a battle to earn a trophy as the top of the two most competitive leagues in Concacaf. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bye to the Round of 16 in the Concacaf Champions Cup, with the second- and third-place finishers also qualifying for the initial round of that event.
To win Leagues Cup, a club must play six matches, which includes three “group” games and three knockout stage matches.
The action starts with Phase One, which resembles more of a group stage. MLS and Liga MX are split into two tables, one for each league, with the top four teams from each side advancing to the knockout rounds. All matches will be played against interleague competition, so while you will be competing on the field against new foes, the pathway to advancing is based on your results as compared to your in-league compatriots. That means every match contributes to the table and who could advance.
It is also worth noting that there are no draws in Leagues Cup; all matches will end with a winner and a loser. Should teams be level after 90 minutes plus stoppage time, the match will move to a penalty kick shootout. For the table, a win outright will give a team three points, a win in the shootout will award two points, a loss in the shootout will give one point, and a loss outright will, as normal, give zero points.
Last year, in the first iteration of this tournament under these rules, an MLS side needed seven points (meaning no outright losses) and a goal differential of +6 to advance out of Phase One – meaning every match is important.
After Phase One, the top four teams from each league are sorted into a bracket for a single-elimination knockout stage. Only in the semifinal will it begin being possible for there to be in-league matchups. Should a team lose in the semifinals, they would still play in the third-place game.
History in Leagues Cup Play
FC Cincinnati began Leagues Cup 2026 in strong fashion, defeating CF Pachuca, 3-1, Tuesday at TQL Stadium. FCC are unbeaten all time in Leagues Cup openers, starting with a 2023 shootout win over Sporting Kansas City and outright wins each year since (2024, 1-0 vs Club Querétaro | 2025, 3-2 vs CF Monterrey | 2026, 3-1 vs CF Pachuca).
Pumas marks the eighth different Liga MX opponent the Orange and Blue have faced in club history. Friday also marks just the eighth all-time matchup for FC Cincinnati (since 2019) on a Friday, the first since August 9, 2024 against Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup play.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
(Courtesy of *FC Cincinnati Communications*)
Leagues Cup Leaders – With an assist of Evander’s goal on Tuesday, Gerardo ‘Dado’ Valenzuela extended his club record in career Leagues Cup assists to 4 – while Pavel Bucha scored his fourth-career Leagues Cup goal to come within one of Brandon Vazquez’s career club record (5).
Ahead by a Century – FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan enters Friday with 99 career wins for FC Cincinnati in all competitions. His overall record with the club since being named to his first-career managerial role in 2022 is 99-52-47.
Turn it Around Quick – Friday marks FC Cincinnati’s 46th match under Head Coach Pat Noonan on just two-days rest. Since 2022, FCC are 23-12-11 in such matches.
Scouting Pumas UNAM (2-1-0, 6 Points, 4th in the Liga MX Apatura, 0-1-0 in Leagues Cup, -3 GD)
Pumas UNAM come into this match in a strange spot and at a crossroads of how they can approach the rest of the Leagues Cup tournament after a disappointing start to the competition.
After falling to Charlotte FC by a 3-0 margin in the opening game of the tournament, the Liga MX giants sit at the bottom of the table entering the second round of matches and have a long way to climb up the table to be able to advance out of Phase One and into the Knockout stage of the 2026 edition of this tournament.
That being said, Pumas UNAM, the seven-time winners of Liga MX, runners-up of the most recent Clausura season, three-time Concacaf Champions League winners and historic superpowers of Mexican football, have more than enough talent and firepower to get themselves at least back in the picture in a big way.
“Well, we now have one additional game than the three that we looked at and one of them happened to be against Pachuca, which allowed us to see a little bit of both of our first two opponents. So, some of the differences structurally stick out as far as how they use their outside backs, how they rotate some things in the midfield. So, again, a technically strong team,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of how they prepared for this match. “Now it's a matter of what we think we're going to see because of the first round results. So, there's depth there and there's a talented team and obviously coming off of the end of last year being in a final, I know there's been a change in the coach, but we respect what we're about to see tomorrow.”
Pumas UNAM, or more officially known as Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., is one of the most popular clubs in Mexico and is often referred to as part of the Los Cuatro Grandes, or the big four. Founded in 1954, the club represents the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and gained the moniker of Pumas after an early Head Coach had his prematch speeches compared to those of a wildcat, and the nickname stuck with the public, eventually becoming the official name of the club. An American connection to Pumas UNAM is that their official colors, Gold and blue, are modeled after the University of Notre Dame, as in the 1940s the American Football coaches from the Indiana school helped establish a team at the school. The program disbanded, but the identity stuck.
The Liga MX side come to Cincinnati with a ton of talent but also a lot of familiar faces. Two regular starters for Pumas UNAM have deep ties to Major League Soccer, with Coco Carrasquilla (a former Houston Dynamo DP) and Pedro Vite (a former star for Vancouver Whitecaps) both starting in the first Leagues Cup game.
“They’ll know what this league is about, the travel, the teams. So, it's maybe just information that they can provide (their teams) as far as our team, our players, and connections that they have,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of the familiar faces in their next opponent. “So, those were all very strong players and have gone on to another strong team. But, it just gives you a little bit, maybe, on the inside to help the players, staff that aren't as familiar, but, like I said, even if they're not, they know how to compete and win against MLS sides. So, we have to be prepared for that.”
Aside from the two former MLS stars, Pumas UNAM are anchored by a few Liga MX All-Stars that took them to a final in their previous season. Forward Roberto Morales, who has one goal and three assists this season so far, did not appear in the opening game of Leagues Cup. Still, Brazilian defender Nathan Silva played all 90 minutes for the side in their loss to Charlotte.
The leading scorer for the side, though, is Brazilian forward Juninho, who has three goals so far this year. The striker joined Pumas from Flamengo and has been a dynamic piece for the side, but was one of four players who rotated out from the club's last Liga MX match into the Leagues Club match.
The side is led by Head Coach Esteban Solari, who is in his first year managing Pumas after serving as manager of Pachuca in the 2025-2026 season. Solari played for Pumas as a player and now as manager after starting his career as a youth national team manager for Argentina.
Under Solari, Pumas UNAM have played with two different starting formations, most often using a 4-3-3 shape but also flexing to a 4-2-3-1 when needed.
In net for the Mexico City-based club is Costa Rican legend Keylor Navas, who is in his second calendar year with the club. Navas, who represented his home nation at three World Cups, made his name as a keeper with Paris-Saint Germain, Real Madrid and Nottingham Forest before coming over to Liga MX.
