Philadelphia Union, Columbus, LAFC, Colorado reach Leagues Cup semis

MIAMI, Florida – The 2024 Leagues Cup is now down to its final four following the results of Saturday’s quarterfinals, with teams from Major League Soccer all advancing to the semifinals.

The top three finishers in Leagues Cup qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, meaning that all three qualifiers in next year’s Champions Cup from Leagues Cup will belong to USA-based MLS teams.

2024 Champions Cup finalists Columbus Crew are one win away from a Champions Cup return after edging New York City FC 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.

NYCFC struck in the first minute of play courtesy of Alonso Martinez, but Columbus rebounded nicely and got back on level terms through Cucho Hernandez. Columbus GK Patrick Schulte made a key save in penalties to help secure his team’s passage.

There was also penalty drama between the Philadelphia Union and Liga MX side Mazatlan, as the Union collected a 4-3 win in spot kicks following a 1-1 draw between the sides.

Mikael Uhre’s late first half goal was canceled out by Alonso Escoboza just shy of the hour mark, so matters were settled from the spot. Union GK and 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Glove winner Andre Blake then made two diving saves in the shootout to send Philadelphia to the next round.

2020 and 2023 Champions Cup finalists Los Angeles FC powered their way into the final four with a commanding 3-0 victory against the Seattle Sounders. Ryan Hollingshead and Kei Kamara landed goals in the first half against the 2022 Champions Cup winners, before Denis Bouanga completed the convincing scoreline with an early second half score.

There were plenty of thrills in the final match of the evening, as the Colorado Rapids slipped past seven-time Concacaf champions Club America of Mexico 9-8 in a penalty shootout after the two teams had battled to a 0-0 draw.

The Liga MX giants were poised to win the shootout on their fifth kick, only to see Colorado GK Zack Steffen make a diving stop to deny Igor Lichnovsky. The two teams would then go on to convert their next four kicks each, before Steffen scored his penalty and counterpart Luis Malagon missed his wide, resulting in the penalty shootout triumph for the Rapids.