FC Cincinnati plays its final group game of the 2026 Leagues Cup at 8 p.m. Aug. 11, hosting Liga MX foe Atlas FC at TQL Stadium.
Cincinnati (2-0 in the competition) has defeated Pachuca 3-1 and Pumas 2-0. Atlas (0-2) is eliminated from the tournament after losing 3-1 to Charlotte and 2-0 to Columbus.
Cincinnati has a chance to advance to the knockout quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup for the first time in club history but does not control its destiny.
How does FC Cincinnati stand in the Leagues Cup?
Despite winning its first two group-stage games by multiple goals, FC Cincinnati is still in a precarious position for securing one of four spots for Major League Soccer teams in the knockout quarterfinals.
Cincinnati is one of six MLS teams with
six points. The first tiebreaker is goal differential (GD), followed by regulation wins, most goals scored/conceded, then fewest disciplinary points (red/yellow cards).
Austin and Charlotte have plus-five GD (5-0). Cincinnati and Chicago are tied for third at plus-four and 5-1 aggregate, but Chicago has two yellow cards to four for Cincinnati. Columbus and Dallas are plus-three, and Columbus (5-2) owns the tiebreaker over Dallas (3-0) with five goals.
LAFC is in seventh with five points, and Salt Lake has fou. Eight teams have three points. Nashville is plus-two GD while four others are plus-one.
Columbus (vs. Pumas) and Charlotte (vs. Pachuca) also play Aug. 11. The Orange and Blue will clinch a quarterfinal spot that night if they beat Atlas in regulation and finish above both Columbus and Charlotte in the standings through points or tiebreakers.
The best route for Cincinnati to advance is to win by multiple goals to make it harder for Columbus and Dallas to catch them. A win in PKs for two points makes Cincy vulnerable to LAFC as well, and a loss in PKs (one point) adds Salt Lake to the group of teams that could finish ahead of Cincy. A loss in regulation likely eliminates Cincinnati because of all the other teams with three points or more.
There are six games Aug. 11, seven Aug. 12 and five Aug. 13, so Cincinnati may not know its fate until Thursday night, Aug. 13.
“I think it is playing out a little bit like we maybe anticipated prior to the Pumas game where nine points potentially isn't getting a team through,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “So our focus, and what I said to the guys, was it doesn’t matter outside of what we do. We have to be ready to perform and position ourselves with three points. And if we're able to do that, we'll see.”
A look at FC Cincinnati’s opponent, Atlas FC
Atlas, from Guadalajara, has struggled in the Leagues Cup but is off to a good start in the current Liga MX season with two wins and a loss.
Atlas is already eliminated from the tournament. And like Cincinnati, it has a league match Aug. 15, so Noonan expects to see some rotation in its lineup. He said they’re strong and aggressive on defense and have shown several different looks and structure on the attack.
Atlas’s most famous player is goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, 37, who was Colombia’s starter in the World Cup. He allowed one goal in five games, shutting out Portugal in group play and then posting clean sheets against Ghana and Switzerland in the knockout rounds. Switzerland eliminated Colombia in penalty kicks in the round of 16 after a scoreless draw.
Noonan said Atlas’s No. 10, Luis Esteves, is a creative playmaker, and that Duk, a 26-year forward from Cape Verde and former member of its national team, is “as dynamic as they come” in the attack.
“Those were names that we highlighted but not to take away from the others, I could go through the whole group because they're sitting in a good place outside of Leagues Cup because of the strength of these players,” Noonan said. “We know the circumstances that they're eliminated from the competition. And on the back end of it, like us, they have an important league match. So that just brings uncertainty to what we might see. But similar to the the Pumas game, we anticipated something and it's all something different. I think the guys did a good job of adjusting, and we need to do our best to prepare them for the same.”
Why has MLS done so well in the Leagues Cup so far?
MLS has dominated the first two rounds of the competition. Teams are 22-11 against Liga MX head-to-head with three draws which went to penalty kicks for an extra point. Sixteen of the 18 MLS teams in the tournament have won at least one game. Minnesota and West-leading Vancouver are the exceptions.
It’s a stark contrast to the Concacaf Champions Cup. In this year’s edition in the spring, MLS teams went 3-7 against Liga MX squads in two-game, home-and-home matches. Mexican team Toluca won the championship.
Traditionally, MLS teams struggle to win in Mexico. Cincinnati has found that out firsthand the last three years in that tournament, going 0-3 in Mexico including a 5-1 loss at Tigres in March.
Most of the teams in Liga MX play in high elevation of at least a mile similar to Denver, which affects player stamina and performance. Also, during the Champions Cup, Mexican teams are in the middle of a season while MLS teams are getting ready for a new season, with the players in preseason form adjusting to new rosters.
In the Leagues Cup, the vast majority of the group-stage games are in MLS stadiums, with a few exceptions. Some games have had a lot of fans for the visiting Mexican side.
The two leagues are in equal footing in fitness during the Leagues Cup. Liga just began a new season in late July, while MLS restarted its season after the two-month World Cup break. However, Liga MX teams are adjusting to new rosters due to player movement between seasons while, except for some high-profile transfers, MLS teams stayed largely intact over the summer.
“I think the last three or four years working together and having opportunities in the Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, has helped our guys to understand what these games are going to look and feel like, and we've had some successful ones and we've had some disappointing ones,” Noonan said after Cincy’s win over Pumas on Aug. 7. “And it's always, for me, going to be an advantage when you're playing at home over playing on the road. These are strong teams with a history of success, and it's great for our guys and our club to continue these competitions, play against the best teams in the region and win games.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A look at FC Cincinnati's matchup, stakes against Atlas FC
