New York City FC finally knows its next opponent in Leagues Cup, as a Round of 32 meeting with the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA on Friday, August 9 is officially confirmed. The match is scheduled to kick off at or around 7:30 pm EST.
The brutal 4-2 loss vs. FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium in the group stage finale confirmed a second-place finish in East 1 for New York City. New England's regulation draw vs. Nashville SC clinched East 5 for Caleb Porter's team—they needed a regulation win or a draw to win the group and got the draw.
The inability to hold onto a 2-0 lead held as late as the 78th minute means New York City now faces a tougher Leagues Cup knockout path. The late collapse vs. FC Cincy means traveling north and coping with turf at Gillette Stadium while on short rest.
Holding onto the 2-0 lead held as of the 78th minute in Cincinnati would have guaranteed a "home" match at Red Bull Arena against Liga MX's Santos Laguna, which might be a tougher opponent than current-version New England, but one that would have been playing in its third different part of the East Coast as part of the away-games-only life of a Mexican team in Leagues Cup.
The squandered win would have also meant that in the event of a home win over Santos Laguna, New York City would have faced the winner of Philadelphia Union-CF Montréal, a meeting of the 10th and 11th placed teams in the MLS Eastern Conference.
The winner of New England-NYCFC is instead lined up to face the winner of Tigres UANL-C.F. Pachuca, two of the tougher Liga MX teams in the East half of the bracket.
Round of 32 🔒
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 7, 2024
The @LeaguesCup knockout round kicks off tomorrow. #LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/XrHuh9hC3Q
The Revs will host this meeting with New York City not because they're group winners, but because they are the higher Leagues Cup seed, 10th to NYCFC's 31st—all part of the tournament's new format in its second year which has introduced a ranking of all 47 participating clubs based on their results during their previous regular seasons in MLS or Liga MX.
New York City has already beaten the Revolution twice this MLS regular season, first a 2-0 at Yankee Stadium in April, then in a late 1-0 road victory thanks to a Keaton Parks headed goal on Matchday 15 in late May.
The Revs are, historically, a familiar knockout-round foe for New York City: The teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, then in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Lamar US Open Cup. Both those past knockout matches were won by New York City, each requiring extra time (and in 2021, including a memorable penalty shootout win).
It could be a tight one at Gillette, with the winner earning a meeting with a tough Liga MX team in the Round of 16. New England made it that far in 2023 Leagues Cup, eliminating Atlas FC in the Round of 32 before losing to Querétaro, while New York City will be looking for a first-ever Leagues Cup knockout-round win.
