NEW YORK CITY AND MEXICO CITY (Sunday, August 25, 2024) – In front of a sold-out crowd of 20,190 at Lower.com Field, the Columbus Crew defeated the Los Angeles Football Club 3-1 in a rematch of the 2023 MLS Cup presented by Audi thanks to two electrifying goals in second-half stoppage time. Crew star striker Cucho Hernández, who was named the 2024 Leagues Cup Player of the Year, played the role of hero for the home team as he scored the club’s first two goals of the match and provided an assist on the decisive third goal of the night.

For the Crew, the 2024 Leagues Cup title is the second major trophy they have won at Lower.com Field in the last 260 days. They also defeated LAFC 2-1 to win the MLS Cup in December 2023.

Columbus beat 46 teams from LIGA MX and MLS to win the Leagues Cup and automatically advance to the round of 16 of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. LAFC, runner-up in the tournament, and Colorado Rapids, winners of Sunday’s third-place match against Philadelphia Union, both qualified for the first round of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.

In the final minutes of the first half, the home team struck first when a sensational lob from Mohamed Farsi found the sprinting Hernández, who got over an LAFC defender and headed the ball into the net to make it 1-0 (watch here). The goal was Hernández’s third in the 2024 Leagues Cup and marked the third consecutive game against LAFC in which the Colombian scored.

LAFC responded in the 57th minute when a corner kick from Mateusz Bogusz found the head of Olivier Giroud, the French national team’s all-time leading scorer and World Cup winner, to score Giroud’s first goal in black and gold since moving to MLS this summer (watch here).

Hernández proved to be the Crew’s hero again when a powerful right-foot shot sailed past teammate Jacen Russell-Rowe and put LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris out of reach in the 92nd minute for the game-winning goal that sent the fans at Lower.com Field into a frenzy (watch here). And to top it all off, just two minutes later, Hernández found Russell-Rowe for the club’s third and final goal en route to the 2024 Leagues Cup title (watch here).

The individual winners of the 2024 Leagues Cup are listed below:

• Best player: Cucho Hernández, Columbus crew
• Top scorer: Tai Baribo, Philadelphia Union (seven goals)
• Best goalkeeper: Zack Steffen, Colorado Rapids

More than 1.31 million fans attended the 2024 Leagues Cup matches, with a record average of 17,131 fans per game.

Earlier, Zack Steffen became the first goalkeeper in Leagues Cup history to win three different penalty shootouts in a single edition of the tournament as the Colorado Rapids beat Philadelphia Union 2-2 (3-1) in the third-place match. The Rapids, who secured a place in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup with the win, scored goals from Calvin Harris and Oliver Larraz, while both goals for Philadelphia were scored by 2024 Leagues Cup top scorer Tai Baribo (seven goals in total).

The Leagues Cup, an official Concacaf tournament, pits all 47 top-division clubs from Canada, Mexico and the United States against each other in a World Cup-style club competition, with the champion and the runners-up and third-place teams qualifying for the Concacaf Champions Cup. A total of 77 matches were played in the United States and Canada during the months of July and August and were available in over 100 countries and regions around the world through the MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app. Inter Miami CF won the first edition of this tournament in 2023.

In addition to the remarkable action on the field, Leagues Cup is proud to announce that it has exceeded its goal of donating 4.5 million meals between the 2023 and 2024 editions. 4.6 million were reached, reinforcing its commitment to making a positive impact in all 47 local communities represented by participating clubs. As part of the United Against Hunger initiative, MLS and LIGA MX have joined forces to alleviate food insecurity in Canada, Mexico and the United States. For every ticket sold to a Leagues Cup match, two meals were donated to those in need, demonstrating the power of sport to create positive impact and provide critical support to vulnerable populations.

For more information about United Against Hunger, visit https://www.leaguescup.com/unitedagainsthunger/.

Leagues Cup Content Hub and Media Resources
The Leagues Cup Content Hub is free and contains exclusive content from all 47 clubs. To access the Leagues Cup 2024 Content Hub please register here.

Leagues Cup Communications provides access to press conferences, media accreditations, match notes, tournament guidelines and press releases, all available at Leagues Cup Media Resources.

About the Leagues Cup
The Leagues Cup represents a monumental new chapter for North American soccer. Since 2023, Major League Soccer and LIGA MX have suspended their regular seasons each summer so that all 47 top-division professional clubs from both leagues can participate in the official, Concacaf-sanctioned, World Cup-style tournament, with the top three finishers qualifying for the Concacaf Champions Cup. In 2023, MLS’ Inter Miami CF became the first Leagues Cup winners.

The 2024 Leagues Cup featured 77 matches in stadiums across the U.S. and Canada. Fans in over 100 countries and regions were able to watch the Leagues Cup using the MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app. The MLS Season Pass is available through the Apple TV app on billions of devices across Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and game consoles, and on the web at tv.apple.com. Fans can also access the MLS Season Pass through the Apple TV app on Apple Vision Pro, where they can watch matches alongside other apps in their physical space; in an environment so the screen appears 100 feet wide; and in Spatial Audio for an even more immersive viewing experience. Additionally, TelevisaUnivision, FOX Sports, TSN and RDS were the linear broadcast locations for select Leagues Cup matches.