HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls will compete in the 2020 Leagues Cup, between MLS and Liga MX, as announced Thurday by Major League Soccer.

The Red Bulls qualified for the Leagues Cup based on their overall finish in the MLS table last season.

The Leagues Cup, in its second season, will expand to 16 teams, eight from MLS and eight from Liga MX. The tournament will begin July 21-22 with Round of 16 matches taking place across the U.S and Canada. The quarterfinals are slated for Aug. 4-5, and the semifinals on Aug. 25-26. The Leagues Cup final is on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

“We look forward to entering another continental competition and facing off against some of the best teams from Liga MX,” Red Bulls sporting director Denis Hamlett said in a statement. “We want to win every trophy we can, and this tournament gives us an opportunity to really test ourselves within Concacaf.”

The Red Bulls are no stranger to competing with Liga MX, having faced Chivas Guadalajara, Club Tijuana and Santos Laguna in the Concacaf Champions League the last few seasons.

“Our close collaboration with Liga MX continues to grow, and the expanded Leagues Cup will take it to a new level,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “When we started our partnership with Liga MX two years ago, we knew that we had the opportunity to create something unique and special for soccer fans. Leagues Cup is a perfect example of how we are working together to grow the sport in North America.”

The participating Liga MX clubs will qualify through sustained performances across the 2019-20 Apertura and Clausura seasons – specifically the Apertura 2019 and Clausura 2020 Champions, the Champion of Copa MX, and the following five top-ranked teams in the combined 2019-20 table. As of today, the Apertura 2019 Champion, CF Monterrey, is the first team to qualify from Liga MX for Leagues Cup 2020.

New for the 2020 edition will be the inclusion of a draw to determine the matchups between clubs ahead of the Round of 16. MLS and LIGA MX teams will be seeded and drawn to ensure the most competitive matches, with a second draw ahead of the quarterfinals, to guarantee the most amount of interleague play.

Confirmed LIGA MX teams will be announced at the conclusion of the 2020 Clausura tournament, along with details of the draw and competition matters.

Similar to the 2019 edition, all matches between MLS and LIGA MX clubs will be played in the home market of the MLS team. In the event of a same-league matchup in the later stages of the tournament, the inter-MLS games will be hosted at the MLS market of the higher-seeded team. Matches featuring two LIGA MX teams, as well as the Leagues Cup Final, will be played in a neutral US-based venue to be announced.

The tournament will be broadcast on the Univision and ESPN family of networks in the United States, TSN and TVA in Canada, and Televisa in Mexico.

Leagues Cup dates
(Times TBD and subject to change)

July 21-22 – Round of 16

Philadelphia Union vs. LIGA MX TBD (Talen Energy Stadium, Chester, PA)
Real Salt Lake vs. LIGA MX TBD (Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT)
Minnesota United FC vs. LIGA MX TBD (Allianz Field, St. Paul, MN)
LA Galaxy vs. LIGA MX TBD (Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA)
Toronto FC vs. LIGA MX TBD (BMO Field, Toronto, Canada)
D.C. United vs. LIGA MX TBD (Audi Field, Washington D.C.)
Portland Timbers vs. LIGA MX TBD (Providence Park, Portland, OR)
New York Red Bulls vs. LIGA MX TBD (Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ)

Aug. 4-5 – Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1 – TBD vs. TBD
Quarterfinal 2 – TBD vs. TBD
Quarterfinal 3 – TBD vs. TBD
Quarterfinal 4 – TBD vs. TBD

Aug. 25-26 – Semifinals

Semifinal 1 – TBD vs. TBD
Semifinal 2 – TBD vs. TBD

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Final

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.