| Campeones Cup | |
| Founded: | 2018 |
| Region: | NAFU (Canada, Mexico, United States) |
| Number Of Teams: | 2 |
| Broadcasters: | United States MLS Season Pass (English, also available worldwide) Univision (Spanish) Canada TSN (English) TVA Sports (French) Mexico Televisa (Spanish) TUDN (Spanish) |
| Current: | 2023 Campeones Cup |
| American: | yes |
The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by the two leagues in 2018.
The Campeones Cup is contested by the winner of the MLS Cup, held annually in November or December, to decide the winner of the Major League Soccer season, and the Campeón de Campeones, held annually in July between the winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments in Liga MX. If a Liga MX team wins both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, then the team automatically wins the Campeón de Campeones and compete in the Campeones Cup. The Major League Soccer team, based in either Canada or the United States, hosts the match, at the end of the summer.[1] Its format is similar to the J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship, which is always hosted by the Japanese team.
The two leagues had previously fielded teams in the SuperLiga, which ran from 2007 to 2010, and currently compete in the CONCACAF Champions League.[2] The inter-league partnership was spurred in part by the joint North American bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a desire to improve the level of play in CONCACAF.[3] The inaugural edition was hosted by Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto on September 19, 2018, and won by Tigres UANL.[2] Atlanta United FC became the first MLS team to win, defeating Club América 3–2 in 2019.[4]
The 2020 edition, which would have been hosted by Seattle Sounders FC, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] MLS and Liga MX announced that the game would return in 2021.[6] The return of Campeones Cup ended in a 2–0 Columbus Crew win over Cruz Azul at Lower.com Field in Columbus on September 29, 2021.
| width=9% | Year | MLS club | Result | Liga MX club | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Toronto FC | 1–3 | UANL | BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario | 14,823 | |
| 2019 | Atlanta United FC | 3–2 | América | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia | 40,128 | |
| Seattle Sounders FC | — | CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington | — | |||
| 2021 | Columbus Crew | 2–0 | Cruz Azul | Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio | 18,026 | |
| 2022 | New York City FC | 2–0 | Atlas | Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York | 24,823 | |
| 2023 | Los Angeles FC | 0–0 | UANL | BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California | 20,605 | |
| 2024 | Columbus Crew | América | Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio |
As of the 2023 season, a total of nine teams have qualified for the cup. In the table below, teams are ordered first by the number of appearances, then by the number of wins, and finally by alphabetical order. In the "Years of Appearance" column, bold years indicate a winning Campeones Cup appearance.
| Club | Wins | Losses | Years of Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UANL | 2 | 0 | 2018, 2023 | |
| Atlanta United FC | 1 | 0 | 2019 | |
| Columbus Crew | 1 | 0 | 2021 | |
| New York City FC | 1 | 0 | 2022 | |
| Toronto FC | 0 | 1 | 2018 | |
| América | 0 | 1 | 2019 | |
| Cruz Azul | 0 | 1 | 2021 | |
| Atlas | 0 | 1 | 2022 | |
| Los Angeles FC | 0 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nation | Times won | Times runner-up | Winning clubs | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | Atlanta United FC (1) Columbus Crew (1) New York City FC (1) | Los Angeles FC (1) | ||
| 2 | 3 | UANL (2) | América (1) Cruz Azul (1) Atlas (1) | ||
| 0 | 1 | Toronto FC (1) |