Eight is enough?
With the way MLS teams have dominated their Liga MX opponents in the 2026 Leagues Cup, that might turn out not to be the case for the Los Angeles Football Club.
After every team in the tournament has played two games, MLS owns 22 wins in regulation to Liga MX’s 11.
Only one MLS team is stuck on zero points. Meanwhile, nine of the 18 Mexican clubs haven’t had any luck, including LAFC’s next opponent at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night, Querétaro FC.
The top four teams from both leagues advance in a tournament that has produced all-MLS finals three years running, highlighting a trend since the tournament expanded in 2023. MLS teams have claimed all three berths into the CONCACAF Champions Cup each of the past three years.
Leading into the last round of Phase One games in 2026, half a dozen MLS teams are riding high in the 36-team competition with a pair of victories and six points.
LAFC ranks seventh in the MLS standings, taking five points after a shootout victory over Chivas de Guadalajara and a regulation win against top-ranked Toluca FC.
Disposing of a disinterested Querétaro in 90 minutes is the only way LAFC can know if eight points out of nine will send it through to the Leagues Cup knockout stage for the third time in four years.
Doing so by three, four or five goals would improve LAFC’s odds based on the first tiebreaker – goal differential.
“The most important thing is to win the game,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said. “If you ask me if I want to win 1-0 or 5-0, you know my answer, but the first focus is we finish Wednesday with eight points and then we see what happens with the other games.”
If three of the six teams ahead of LAFC (+1 GD) – Austin (+5), Charlotte (+5), Chicago (+4), Cincinnati (+4), Columbus (+3) and Dallas (+3) – lose in regulation or in a penalty kick shootout, Dos Santos’ group is poised to leapfrog them into the quarterfinals.
Columbus, Charlotte and Cincinnati are in strong spots against eliminated Mexican teams Pumas, Pachuca and Atlas on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Dallas heads to the most challenging environment on the continent at 8,750 feet of elevation to face a Toluca team smarting from a late 1-0 defeat to LAFC last weekend.
The top teams in each league coming into this round of games meet Thursday when Austin hosts Club América.
Cruz Azul, third on the Liga MX table with six points, visits Chicago.
Having nothing to play for against an LAFC team eager to run up the score, Querétaro is admittedly prioritizing its upcoming league game against Pumas.
“It’s going to be very difficult because [LAFC] have their classification on the line and we need to be laser focused on Sunday,” Querétaro head coach Esteban González said. “That’s going to be really important and we need to be there in top shape to play the best in our league.”
Querétaro fell to Dallas, 2-0, then made nine changes to its lineup ahead of a 3-0 defeat in Seattle on Sunday that snapped the Sounders’ seven-match losing streak.
LAFC homegrown academy product Érik Dueñas, 21, received his first start for the Mexicans, playing to the final whistle at Lumen Field.
Joining Dueñas was 16-year-old Juan “Mono” Martinez, who earned his second straight selection.
“The White Roosters” are 1-7-1 in Leagues Cup contests since 2023.
The Black & Gold have won eight and tied four over 12 Leagues Cup matches at BMO Stadium, outscoring opponents 32-8, including the club’s biggest all-time win, a 7-1 rout of FC Juarez in 2023.
LAFC (10-6-5 in all competitions against Mexican opponents since 2018) is certainly familiar with trying to win league and non-league competitions at the same time.
That reality has been at the forefront of Dos Santos’ thinking since the start of the year when he took over following an MLS record three straight 50-game seasons under head coach Steve Cherundolo.
Should things break LAFC’s way, adding a Leagues Cup quarterfinal match to the schedule in August ensures the club would play nine times this month alone.
QUERÉTARO FC AT LAFC
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium
TV/Radio: Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM