Leagues Cup Final 2024: Columbus Crew to Host LAFC in Rematch of 2023 MLS Cup

The Leagues Cup will reach a crescendo this weekend, with the 2024 champions set to be decided in a single-legged final on Sunday, August 25.

For a second year in a row MLS teams have dominated the pan-continental competition. Not a single Liga MX side made it to the final four. Wednesday’s semi-finals saw Columbus Crew take on Philadelphia Union and LAFC host Colorado Rapids.

RECAP: LAFC - Colorado Rapids | Leagues Cup semi-final

Morning, sunshine 🤩🏆#LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/h1Phc4GXEY

Ahead of Wednesday’s games each of the four semi-finalists was given a hosting priority based on their Leagues Cup ranking. The priority order was 1. Columbus Crew, 2. Philadelphia Union, 3. LAFC, 4. Colorado Rapids. After winning their respective semi-finals, the Columbus Crew will host LAFC in the 2024 Leagues Cup final at Lower.com Field.

Throughout the tournament venues for games have been decided using the Leagues Cup ranking. The team with the highest ranking in each game has been given hosting duties, offering them a considerable advantage.

LEAGUES CUP

NWSL

The ranking is based on the team’s performances across their last 34 regular season games. As such, 2023 MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew are the highest-ranked team left in this year’s Leagues Cup.

Columbus’ Lower.com Field has a strong recent history of high-profile matches. It was the venue for last year’s MLS Cup final, where the Crew beat LAFC to claim their third championship. It was also the venue used for this summer’s All-Star Game, when the MLS side was beaten 4-1 by a select XI of Liga MX players.

About the author

William Gittins

A journalist, soccer fanatic and Shrewsbury Town fan, Will’s love for the game has withstood countless playoff final losses. After graduating from the University of Liverpool he wrote for a number of British publications before joining AS USA in 2020. His work focuses on the Premier League, LaLiga, MLS, Liga MX and the global game.

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It will be the Columbus Crew vs. LAFC for another piece of silverware when they meet again in the 2024 Leagues Cup final on Sunday, August 25. This latest title showdown comes a little over eight months since the Crew downed LAFC in MLS Cup 2023.

Columbus and LAFC are the last two teams standing after the month-long Leagues Cup tournament. The competition featured 47 clubs from

                            MLS
                
                 and Liga MX doing battle across 77 matches to determine the best team from the two biggest leagues in North America.

Both the Crew and LAFC benefited from a healthy number of home games during this year's edition of Leagues Cup. As defending MLS champions, Columbus not only received a bye from the group stage, but they also gained the right to play all their knockout matches on their home turf at Lower.com Field. LAFC were involved in the tournament from the start and played five of their six Leagues Cup matches in their friendly confines of BMO Stadium.

Road to Leagues Cup Final 2024

Columbus

Stage

LAFC

BYE

Group

LAFC 3-0 Tijuana

BYE

Group

LAFC 2-2 Vancouver (Vancouver win 4-2 on PKs)

Columbus 4-0 Sporting KC

Round of 32

LAFC 2-0 Austin FC

Columbus 3-2 Inter Miami

Round of 16

LAFC 4-1 San Jose

Columbus 1-1 NYCFC (Crew win 4-3 on PKs)

Quarterfinal

Seattle 0-3 LAFC

Columbus 3-1 Philadelphia

Semifinal

LAFC 4-0 Colorado

LAFC and Columbus are currently the 4th- and 6th-best teams in MLS in 2024 as of the Leagues Cup break, and two of the highest-scoring teams in the league. With 10 regular season matches remaining for LAFC and 11 for Columbus, these powers also project to factor in the race for the Supporters' Shield title, which is awarded to the team with the best regular season record.

Based on how they've been playing, there's a decent chance that they could see each other yet again at the end of the 2024 playoffs for another MLS Cup trophy on December 7.

The Columbus Crew continue to show that their 2023 MLS Cup triumph was no fluke (photo above).

In 2024, they have already reached the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, where a stomach bug meant they were far from their best in a crushing 3-0 road loss to Pachuca on June 1.

Next, they get another chance to raise an international trophy on Sunday, August 25, in front of their home fans.

If there is a draw after regulation, there will be 30 minutes of extra time played before a penalty-kick shootout is used to decide a winner.

The winner of the 2024 final will be the second champion in the brief history of Leagues Cup. Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the title in the 2023 inaugural edition. It was also an MLS vs. MLS matchup in 2023 with Inter Miami needing a penalty shootout to get past Nashville SC following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Since Leagues Cup awards the top three finishers of the tournament with a berth in next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup, a third-place finisher needs to be decided.

The semifinal losers — the Philadelphia Union and the Colorado Rapids — will face off for that final Champions Cup berth, since the two finalists (LAFC and Columbus) claimed the other two tickets to the 2025 Champions Cup.

The Union will host the third-place match given they had a better record than the Rapids during the 2023 regular season, per tournament regulations.

Clinching third-place would be a nice boost for the Rapids, who are enjoying a resurgence under new manager Chris Armas. The club has only played in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on three occasions (2011, 2018, 2022), never making it past the Round of 16.

Philadelphia would also welcome qualifying for another CONCACAF Champions Cup after reaching the semifinals of the continental competition in two of the last four editions (2021 and 2023). The Union won the 2023 Leagues Cup third-place match at home to Mexican side Monterrey, qualifying for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, where they were eliminated in the Round of 16.

Since LAFC began play as an expansion team in 2018, these two teams have met on five previous occasions. It was all LAFC to start, with three straight shutout victories over Columbus, including two in Ohio. But the tide changed at MLS Cup 2023.

Columbus beat LAFC in the 2023 final with goals from Cucho Hernandez and Yaw Yeboah, and then followed that up with a statement victory in LA during the 2024 regular season. The Crew handed LAFC their most lopsided home loss, 5-1, in a match played a little over a month ago (highlights below).

Columbus vs. LAFC all-time history

Date

Competition

Result

Stadium

June 23, 2018

MLS Regular Season

LAFC 2-0 Columbus

BMO Stadium

May 11, 2019

MLS Regular Season

Columbus 0-3 LAFC