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Report: MLS, Liga MX aim to inaugurate 8-team cup competition in 2019

Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A cup competition between teams from Liga MX and Major League Soccer could begin as early as this year.

The tournament would comprise of four teams from each league and should be contested around the second half of the upcoming MLS campaign and the next Apertura stage of Mexico's top tier. However, it's understood that a name and format are yet to be decided upon by the relevant bodies, sources told ESPN's Tom Marshall.

The two leagues previously locked horns in the SuperLiga, which saw three winners hail from Mexico (Pachuca, Tigres, and Morelia) and one from north of the Rio Grande (New England Revolution) before it was officially dissolved in 2011 after four editions. MLS commissioner Don Garber has previously described the tournament as being ahead of its time.

Another collaboration already exists in the Campeones Cup. The inaugural meeting saw Toronto FC and Tigres meet at the former's BMO Field in September 2018, with the Monterrey side prevailing with a 3-1 victory. Atlanta United are poised to host the second matchup in August of this year.

The only remaining opportunity for Liga MX and MLS outfits to meet is in the CONCACAF Champions League, with teams from the respective domestic leagues joining the tournament at the round-of-16 stage. That knockout phase begins in February and sees just one scuffle between the leagues as Sporting Kansas City spar with Toluca.

"I'd love to be able find a way to organize a tournament between Liga MX and MLS. It'd be very good for our fans and our leagues," Garber told Univision in May 2016, with translation from ESPN. "We could sell the games all over the world. I think there would be a lot of interest in them."

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