"Concacaf may not have the world's most hallowed Champions League. The confederation is so aware of that fact that it rebranded the competition as a Champions Cup two years ago. Nonetheless, winning the continental competition is the ultimate aim for MLS's most ambitious clubs, even though (or perhaps because) only one of its last 25 installments has seen an MLS team crowned as Concacaf's best."
"One justification for MLS's underperformance in the CCC is its timing. The competition kicks off in early February and wraps up in May. For MLS, a spring-to-winter joint since 1996, CCC qualifiers report to preseason earlier than their domestic rivals to sneak in two weeks of practice before the first round. For Liga MX, the tournament begins a month into the Torneo Clausura, the back half of its split schedule."
"Inter Miami have rapidly changed their stature since Lionel Messi's arrival, first through winning the inaugural Leagues Cup in 2023. The following year, their MLS single-season points record secured the Supporters' Shield. 2025 brought the league's ultimate prize, as they beat the Vancouver Whitecaps to bring the Philip F Anschutz trophy to Fort Lauderdale. Only the Champions Cup remains."
Concacaf's Champions Cup remains dominated by Liga MX, which has won 21 titles since 2001 compared to only one MLS victory in the last 25 editions. Inter Miami, despite achieving unprecedented success including winning the MLS Cup in 2025 and the Supporters' Shield, exited the Champions Cup early in 2026 after losing to Nashville SC. While MLS clubs face structural disadvantages due to the competition's February-May timing conflicting with their spring-to-winter schedule, Miami's early elimination cannot be attributed to this timing issue alone, as they lost to a domestic rival rather than a Liga MX team.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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