It's New York City FC's first group stage match of the 2024 Leagues Cup, and Querétaro FC from Liga MX are in town to battle it out at Yankee Soccer Stadium. Here is your New York City vs Querétaro preview.
This will be Nick Cushing's 90th match as head coach (interim and otherwise) of New York City in all competitions, equalling the club record set by Patrick Vieira in 2018.
• Leagues Cup group stage: New York City FC vs Querétaro FC
• Date and Time: Sunday, July 28, 8:00 pm ET
• Venue: Yankee Soccer Stadium
• Forecast: Pleasant, warm but with a slight breeze, 80F/26C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, FS1, TUDN, Univision NOW, fuboTV
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
Querétaro FC travels to New York City from Santiago de Querétaro, a city of one million souls in the mountains north of Mexico City.
They are the first non-Atlas FC team from Liga MX to face off against New York City since Pumas UNAM came to Yankee Soccer Stadium for a quarterfinal match in a wholly different version of Leagues Cup in August 2021, a knockout game that NYCFC lost on penalties.
Querétaro arrives hoping to reverse their early league form. The Mexican club is off to a horrid start in Liga MX's Apertura, losing their opening four games of the season while leading for zero of their 360 league minutes played, sitting in 18th, rock bottom of the league table.
The first game in Leagues Cup group play carries significance. In 2023, 93% of the teams who won their Leagues Cup opener—14 out of 15 teams—progressed to the knockout round, with 10 going on to win their groups outright.
New York City will be looking to avoid a repeat of their 2023 Leagues Cup opener, a frustrating defeat to Atlas FC at Citi Field that saw a late equalizer from Justin Haak disallowed under dubious circumstances, prompting Atlas's social media team to bust out the Joseph Goebbels references.
New York City vs Querétaro H2H
The two sides have never faced each other previously. History will be written tonight.
New York City FC
• Player Availability: Malachi Jones (leg) and Andrés Perea (leg) remain out with their injuries.
• How different will the Leagues Cup lineup look for Cushing? He rotated his squad heavily during the team's recent four-match road swing and now has both fullbacks Kevin O'Toole and Tayvon Gray back available after overcoming their injuries.
• Might a little-used backup, like goalkeeper Luis Barraza, get a start?
• Maximo Carrizo didn't travel with NYCFC II yesterday, and the 16-year-old midfielder is expected to be in the matchday squad vs. Querétaro. Could another teenaged Homegrown make his debut with the First Team?
• Home games have been kind to New York City this season, with the team collecting 25 of its 38 league points inside the five boroughs while scoring 25 of their 36 MLS goals at either Yankee or Citi, with a +11 home goal differential through 12 matches played.
• What will the home crowd in the Bronx be like for this Leagues Cup opener? Many supporters' groups around MLS have been staging protests or putting out strongly-worded statements criticizing this tournament due to how MLS handled this year's US Open Cup. Fans have been, shall we say, sparse in places like Orlando and Atlanta, but the atmosphere could be different as a Liga MX team makes a rare trip to New York City.
• The Third Rail President Andrew Tucker announced in an email sent out earlier this month that he will not attend Leagues Cup games because of "how MLS and NYCFC disrespected the US Open Cup by not fully participating," but the organization stops short of calling for a boycott.
Michael Battista
Querétaro FC
• Player Availability: Striker Rubio Rubin is doubtful.
• Querétaro ranked near the bottom in several attacking categories during the last completed Liga MX season. During the 2023-2024 campaign, Querétaro was next-to-last in goals scored, next-to-last in shots, last in shots on target, and had the worst pass completion percentage in the league.
• If there's one player to watch it's Pablo Barrera, the 37-year-old Mexican midfielder who led Querétaro in both goals (seven) and assists (nine) one season ago.
• This is a physical side, as head coach Mauro Gerk's men led Liga MX in yellow cards earned, seeing 100 in their 36 games last season, as well as in fouls committed, whistled for infractions 13.9 times per 90 minutes a season ago.
• Interested in learning more about Querétaro? Read our first Leagues Cup installment of Oppo Research, which features ESPN's Eric Gomez providing insights on the state of a Los Gallos Blancos team in flux, while also discussing why their defense is the X-factor against NYCFC.
Matthew Mangam
