Who won more head-to-head Leagues Cup 2023 group games, MLS or Liga MX?

Which is the better league? MLS or Liga MX? A question that many have been asking themselves for the last little while but one which has always been incredibly difficult to answer. While still not being able to give us a definitive response, the new Leagues Cup has, however, given us the chance to go at least some way to assessing which is the stronger of the two competitions.

With the group stage now over, the round of 32 will get underway on Wednesday, with Inter Miami and Lionel Messi (who else?) headlining the first night of knockout action against Orlando City, while 2022 MLS Cup winners LAFC will finally join the Leagues Cup party when they host Juárez.

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How many MLS and Liga MX teams qualified for Leagues Cup round of 32?

There are 20 MLS teams left in the competition (a 71.4% progression rate from 27 clubs) compared to 12 from Liga MX (70.6% from 17). Teams from south of the border made up only 37.8% of all group stage participants (17 of 45) but accounted for 47.7% of group winners (seven of 15), which may well please fans of the Mexican top flight.

MLS vs Liga MX head-to-head record in

But perhaps the most interesting statistics come from head-to-head matches between teams from the two leagues. 13 of the 15 groups contained two MLS sides and one from Liga MX, while the reverse was true for the remaining two.

A total of 30 inter-league matches were played, which resulted in 13 wins for Liga MX clubs, 12 for MLS teams and five draws (for the purpose of this exercise, we’re not counting penalty shootouts as victories). So, all in all, there was very little to choose between them.

Tigres, Monterrey, Toluca and Atlas all posted two victories against American opposition, while Columbus Crew, Inter Miami and Philadelphia Union won both of their fixtures against Mexican adversaries.

What was the biggest winning margin?

The biggest winning margin was by four goals, with the Union and New England Revolution respectively thrashing Querétaro and Atlético San Luis 5-1, while Minnesota United resoundingly defeated Puebla 4-0. Club América were the only Mexican team to win by such a difference, scoring four without reply in a win over St. Louis City.

How much should we read into these figures? The knockout stage, which gets underway in a matter of hours, will give us an even bigger sample size, with 10 more MLS-Liga MX matchups scheduled in the round of 32 alone.