Dates sets for Sounders’ League Cup matches

The Seattle Sounders will open the 2023 Leagues Cup at Real Salt Lake on July 22 and host Liga MX’s CF Monterrey on July 30, it was announced on Thursday. The newly expanded tournament will feature every MLS and Liga MX team — 47 total — and take place from July 21-Aug. 19.

The teams are broken up into three-team groups and seeded by region and record. The Sounders are in West 2, with the top two teams advancing. The winners of each group will host their Round of 32 match, but the hosting in subsequent rounds will be determined by the 2022 regular-season standings. With the Sounders being the 20th-seeded team among MLS teams, there’s a good chance they’ll need to win their group in order to host any other matches.

Winning their group would match the Sounders against the second-place finisher in West 1, a group that includes Tigres UANL (No. 2 Liga MX), Portland Timbers (No. 14 MLS) and San Jose Earthquakes (No. 25 MLS). If the Sounders finish second in their group, they’d be paired with the winner of West 3, which includes LA Galaxy (No. 7 MLS), Club Leon (No. 9 Liga MX) and Vancouver Whitecaps (No. 16 MLS). Finishing second would also put them on a collision course with LAFC in the Round of 16. LAFC received a bye into the knockout stage after winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield last year.

The Sounders-Monterrey match is part of the 2023 season-ticket package and all matches will be available on AppleTV’s MLS Season Pass.