On Tuesday night at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC knocked off its second Liga MX giant in the last five days, beating CF Monterrey 2-0 behind goals from Jáder Obrian and Dani Pereira. That result, coupled with last Friday's 3-2 win over Pumas UNAM, means Austin is guaranteed to finish in first place in Leagues Cup West Group 1 regardless of what happens in the group's final match between Pumas and Rayados (9 pm CT on Saturday at Q2 Stadium).
Guaranteed of a spot in the Leagues Cup Round of 32, Austin now waits to find out the location and opponent for its first knockout match on Wednesday, August 7. The Verde & Black will face the runners-up from West Group 7, which could be any of Los Angeles FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, or Club Tijuana depending on what happens when Vancouver and Tijuana play each other this Saturday night (9 pm CT, free on Apple TV).
Vancouver vs. Tijuana Result (8/3/24) | Austin FC Round of 32 Match |
Vancouver wins in regulation | Austin FC at LAFC |
Regulation draw + Vancouver wins PK shootout | Austin FC at LAFC |
Regulation draw + Tijuana wins PK shootout | Austin FC at Vancouver |
Tijuana wins in regulation | Tijuana at Austin FC |
The primary tiebreaker in Leagues Cup groups is head-to-head result rather than goal differential. In the event Vancouver wins in penalties vs. Tijuana, both the Whitecaps and LAFC would finish group play on four points, but Vancouver would own the tiebreaker by virtue of their shootout win over LAFC on Tuesday night.
Under Leagues Cup rules, hosting priority for knockout round matches between MLS teams is determined by the Leagues Cup rankings, where all teams are ranked by the number of points they accrued in the previous 34 regular season league matches. Because both LAFC and Vancouver are ranked above Austin, either would have hosting rights in a potential knockout round match against the Verde & Black.
For full details on Leagues Cup's competition rules and format, click here.
