Liga MX teams found out which teams they will be facing as the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup draw was held on Tuesday. Five of the Six Liga MX teams found out their opposition in the Round One while highest seeded Toluca was placed in the Round of 16. The Round One action will take place in the month of February with the dates still not released.
The Round One draw was made with 11 Home and Away series being played while five teams were placed in the Round of 16, having a bye from Round One. The 11 series were the following:
UNAM Pumas vs San Diego FC
LA Galaxy vs San Miguelito FC
Cruz Azul vs Vancouver FC
Monterrey vs Xelaju
LAFC vs Real España
Nashville vs Atletico Ottawa
Club America vs Olimpia FC
Philadelphia vs Defense Force FC
Tigres vs Forge FC
FC Cincinnati vs O&M FC
Vancouver Whitecaps vs Cartagines
The five teams that were seeded in the Round of 16 were Toluca, Mount Pleasant, Alajuelense, Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders. Toluca will be facing the winner of the Pumas vs San Diego FC series.
As expected, Mexican teams got very good draws except for Pumas. Liga MX would have been favored in every series against any rival from Pot 2 (all Liga MX teams were in Pot 1) except for San Diego FC, which Pumas got drawn with. While the series should be very even, they will be as favored as the MLS team although they have the benefit of closing at home as every Liga MX team will be doing so. The most notable is the amount of Round of 16 series as they are two possible Liga MX matchups if Liga MX teams go thru. If Pumas goes thru they will be facing off against Toluca and if Cruz Azul and Monterrey win their series, they will face each other in the Round of 16. On the other sides, America could potentially face off in the Quarterfinals against Inter Miami if they win two series and Inter Miami wins their Round of 16 series against the winner of the Nashville vs Atletico Ottawa.
Liga MX has won 19 of the last 20 CONCACAF Club Championships. They will be favored once again although this edition will be overshadowed by the preparations for the 2026 World Cup that will be hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada. The draw was beneficial to Liga MX teams, who all will close out their series at home and face teams that would be in Pre season for the most part (MLS and Canadian teams). Liga MX teams should still be favored even with the club congestion in the schedule although later rounds will prove to be more difficult this time.
