Thirty-six teams across Major League Soccer and Liga MX entered the 2025 Leagues Cup last week, and the Seattle Sounders are the only club in either league that will finish Phase One with a perfect 3-0-0 record.
Following a 7-0 demolition of reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winners Cruz Azul that made headlines across the continent, the Sounders took down Santos Laguna and Club Tijuana by identical 2-1 score lines, the latter coming on Wednesday night at Lumen Field to make it nine points out of nine. Seattle joins Inter Miami as the only two qualified sides in the MLS table heading into the final Phase One matches on Thursday.
“I love the competition between Liga MX and MLS,” said Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “I don’t have any strong opinion about four out of 18 [MLS teams qualifying for the Knockout Rounds], I only understand that it’s very hard. Congratulations to that team in there, those players, on being first in both tables.”
The Sounders have scored a tournament-high 11 goals and featured eight different goalscorers. They’re spreading the love and attacking ruthlessly in the final third from all angles, making it incredibly difficult for their opponents to home in on any one singular threat.
“It takes a team to win,” said Sounders forward Osaze De Rosario, who scored his second goal of the Leagues Cup against Tijuana. “It takes a full team. It’s 11 guys on the pitch and a couple on the bench [who enter as substitutes]. We need everybody. It’s very important that everybody is sharp and ready to go.”
Fellow forward Danny Musovski, who scored the match-winner in the 87th minute on Wednesday after coming on as a late substitute, echoed De Rosario’s sentiments.
“We’re doing a good job of putting pressure on teams and creating a bunch of chances,” he said. “When you create at that magnitude that we do, I feel like we’re gonna get the goal. We’re putting ourselves in good spots, and it’s a matter of time that we’re going to get those goals.”
Though the Sounders did not register a point in their three matches in the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this summer, they faced off against some of the biggest clubs around the globe. That experience has reenergized them and lifted them to new heights, amassing a 6-0-3 unbeaten record in the nine matches since.
“The Club World Cup put us in a scenario where we were playing some really good teams,” said Musovski. “It made us raise our standard to a really high level. Now that we’re playing against teams that aren’t at those Club World Cup levels, we’re producing on offense like we’ve been doing.”
After a spectacular run to start the Leagues Cup, Seattle will need to change gears for the time being. The Sounders return to MLS play with away matches at the LA Galaxy on Sunday (7 p.m. PT; FS1, FOX Deportes, Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV) and at Minnesota United on Aug. 16 (5:30 p.m. PT; FS1, FOX Deportes, Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
Then the Sounders will return to Leagues Cup for their Quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Aug. 20, against a Liga MX team to be determined. And when Seattle re-enters Leagues Cup play, the club will be all-in on trying to capture the one title that eludes its illustrious trophy case.
“We showcased our quality and who we are at the top of the table,” said De Rosario. “We’re the only team that won three games, so the proof is in the pudding.”
Added Musovski: “The messaging would just be the same: We want to win the tournament. That’s the goal. That’s where our focus is at. The most important game was this game, and now we shift our focus [to whomever] our opponent will be now.”
