Leagues Cup 2023: what happens in case of a tie in the knockout stages? Is there extra time?

The knockout stages of the Leagues Cup get underway on Wednesday, with Inter Miami and Lionel Messi (you knew he’d signed for them right?) taking on Orlando City in a Florida ‘derby’, and 2022 MLS Cup winners LAFC making their first appearance in the competition against Juárez.

20 MLS sides and 12 Liga MX clubs will face off to be crowned champions of the Concacaf region’s “newest” competition, with 31 ties remaining - which will all take place in the United States or Canada - until the winner is discovered on 19 August.

Leagues Cup group stage tiebreakers

If you were paying close attention during the group stages, then you’ll have noticed that matches that were tied at the end of 90 minutes were effectively “decided” by a penalty shootout, with the team winning from the spot earning a bonus point to add to the one gained for drawing the match, as is usually the case. If you’ve got an hour or so to kill, why not go back and watch León’s incredible 16-15 shootout victory over Vancouver Whitecaps?

While it’s not exactly commonplace to have such tiebreakers in group stage soccer, it is, of course, necessary in knockout games. A number of those 31 matches will inevitably end all square after 90 minutes and we need to find a way to decide who goes on and who goes home.

Will there be extra time in the Leagues Cup knockout rounds?

As was the case in the group stage, any knockout match which finishes level after 90 minutes will go straight to a penalty shootout, which means there will be no extra time.

In the shootout, both teams will take five penalties alternately, with the one who scores the most declared the winner. If the teams score the same number of their initial five spot-kicks, sudden death will come into play until one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks.