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Sporting KC Hosts Toluca FC on Friday in Leagues Cup

August 3, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City will host 10-time Liga MX champions Toluca FC at 8 p.m. CT on Friday at Children's Mercy Park in the Leagues Cup Round of 32. Tickets for the match are available on SeatGeek and fans can begin accessing their seats at 6 p.m. CT with the Budweiser Brew House opening at 5:30 p.m. CT for KC Cauldron members.

The international clash will be available to watch on Apple TV in English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers (sign up for a one-month free trial) and all of the action will also be shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network, In addition, local radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app.

Leagues Cup 2023 features all 47 clubs from MLS (29 teams) and LIGA MX (18 teams) in a World Cup-style tournament with the top three teams qualifying for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. Fifteen teams were eliminated in the Group Stage, setting up a fixed bracket for the single-elimination Knockout Stage that begins with the Round of 32 and features a total of 32 matches to crown the Leagues Cup champion.

Sporting Kansas City advanced to the Round of 32 as runners-up in Group 3 of the Central Region, earning a 3-3 draw at FC Cincinnati and a 1-0 home win over Liga MX leaders Chivas Guadalajara. Club captain Johnny Russell struck for the game-winning goal against Chivas and 22-year-old goalkeeper John Pulskamp recorded the clean sheet in net. Russell now has goals in back-to-back home matches for Sporting and the Scottish striker ranks third in club history with 57 goals across all competitions.

Toluca FC emerged as the top team in Group 4 of the Central Region - and the top scoring team in Leagues Cup in the Group Stage -- after a pair of road victories in the span of five days. Toluca came from behind in a 4-3 win at Nashville SC, highlighted by a 91st-minute game-winning goal from Paraguayan international Robert Morales, before cruising to a comfortable 4-1 win in Colorado earlier this week.

Led by head coach Ignacio Ambriz, Toluca is competing in an international competition for the first time since 2019 when the team fell 5-0 on aggregate - suffering the largest loss by a Liga MX club versus an MLS team in a two-legged Concacaf series -- against Sporting Kansas City in the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Manager Peter Vermes' side won 3-0 at Children's Mercy Park in the first leg and capped off the historic triumph with a 2-0 road result in Toluca.

Toluca's eight goals in Leagues Cup 2023 have come from seven different players, including a penalty kick converted by Brazilian goalkeeper Tiago Volpi. The club's leading scorer this season with three goals from the penalty spot, Volpi has scored seven goals in 46 career appearances for Toluca across all competitions by converting all seven penalty kicks taken for the club.

The winner -- to be determined by a penalty shootout if tied after 90 minutes -- will advance to the Round of 16 from Aug. 6-8 and will travel to face Friday's winner between Columbus Crew SC and Minnesota United FC. Visit LeaguesCup.com for the tournament schedule and bracket.

Sporting Kansas City vs. Toluca FC

Leagues Cup 2023 | Round of 32

Friday, August 4 | 8 p.m. CT

Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Broadcast Schedule:

Apple TV | MLS Season Pass

English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB

Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM

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