Columbus Crew to host Club América, St. Louis City in Leagues Cup group stage
Club América, the most historically successful club in Liga MX, is coming to Columbus.
As part of the 2023 Leagues Cup, which will feature every team from both MLS and Liga MX in a monthlong tournament, the Crew will host group-stage matches against both Club América and first-year MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC.
The top 15 teams from the 2022 MLS standings each earned hosting seeds for the group stage, and MLS Cup winner LAFC gets a bye into the knockout round, so the Crew secured the final hosting spot as the No. 16 seed. The tournament begins on July 21 and the final is set for Aug. 19.
The Crew will host St. Louis City on July 23 and Club América on July 31. From there, the top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout stage. The winner of the group will place the second-place team from the Central 2 group, which includes the Chicago Fire, Minnesota United and Puebla. The second-place team will play the winner of the Central 2 group.
The Leagues Cup winner, as well as the second- and third-place teams, will earn berths in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The last time the Crew played a Liga MX team, they beat Cruz Azul 2-0 in the 2021 Campeones Cup, the annual game between the MLS champion and the Liga MX champion.
When the Crew host Club América this summer, it will be a matchup against one of the most prominent teams in Liga MX. It is one of two teams to never be relegated from the top division and has won a league-record 13 titles, most recently in 2018. Club América has also won the CONCACAF Champions League seven times, most recently in 2015-16.
Tickets for the Club América match will be included for 2023 full-season ticket memberships and 10-match ticket plans. For the match against St. Louis City, tickets are included with partial plans and will be available as single-match tickets. Full-season ticket members will be auto-enrolled into tickets at their season-ticket location for the St. Louis City game but will have the option to opt out.
As a new team in MLS, St. Louis City was placed in the Western Conference, and it is not one of the Crew's crossover opponents for 2023. The group-stage match will be the only time the two teams meet in 2023.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew host Club America, St. Louis City for Leagues Cup
