New York City FC defeated New England on penalties at Gillette Stadium, and that confirmed a Leagues Cup Round of 16 meeting with Liga MX powers Tigres UANL.
The knockout game will be held on Tuesday, August 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, with a kickoff scheduled for 8 pm ET.
The Liga MX side, based in Monterrey suburb San Nicolás de los Garza, beat C.F. Pachuca 1-0 in a Round of 32 meeting in Austin, TX on Thursday night. Tigres entered Leagues Cup as one of the tournament's top seeds, under the new rankings system deployed by the tournament organizers ahead of the second edition of the MLS-Liga MX competition.
As the tournament's No 8 seed, Tigres had hosting privileges throughout the group stage, with all their Leagues Cup games to date played in the state of Texas, including that first knockout match against Pachuca.
Now Tigres will bring its seven-match unbeaten streak, with wins in five consecutive games, to New York New Jersey. New York City FC hasn't won a game not decided by a penalty shootout since July 3 vs. CF Montréal, a seven-game winless streak that has featured five draws.
Tigres are familiar with both NYCFC and the soccer-specific stadium over in industrial New Jersey. These teams met in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League, with New York City's "home" leg of the tie played in Harrison on March 11, 2020, one of the last games of its kind held in the Tri-State Area before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down pro sports leagues and fan-attended games.
Corey Clayton
The winner of this game would then meet the winner of Inter Miami CF-Columbus Crew SC, so the road to a potential Leagues Cup trophy won't be an easy one for whichever team advances at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday night. The Leagues Cup Final draws that much closer, with it now taking just four more victories to lift a trophy.
