Toluca defeated Club Leon 2-0 on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, in the semifinals of the 2026 Leagues Cup at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas, to reach the tournament final.
Federico Pereira and Federico Vinas emerged as the decisive figures for Toluca, driving the squad past their domestic rivals to secure the first berth in the championship match.
The result validated Toluca's standing as tournament favorites following a dominant campaign, while eliminating Leon from title contention. The 2026 edition of the Leagues Cup, an annual knockout tournament featuring clubs from Mexico's Liga MX and North America's Major League Soccer, marks the first time that four Mexican teams reached the semifinal stage. The opposite side of the bracket features an all-Liga MX semifinal between Club America and Monterrey.
Leagues Cup Semifinal History and Match Details
The semifinal encounter kicked off at 8:00 p.m. local time at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, corresponding to 7:00 p.m. in central Mexico. Toluca entered the fixture with a strong record in recent matchups against Leon across domestic competitions.
In their previous six meetings, Toluca earned four victories, including a 4-1 win in Clausura 2026 and a 4-2 triumph in Apertura 2025. The teams recorded a 3-3 draw in Clausura 2025 and a 2-2 draw in Apertura 2024, following another 4-1 Toluca victory in Clausura 2024. Leon's single victory during this stretch came in Apertura 2023 with a 1-0 result.
Television and Digital Streaming Outlets
Mexican viewers accessed live coverage of the semifinal match through Imagen TV, which held exclusive free-to-air television rights in Mexico. Digital streaming was accessible globally via Apple TV, alongside official Imagen TV mobile and smart television applications available on the Apple App Store and Google Play for mobile phones, tablets, personal computers, and connected televisions.
Subscribers to Mexican pay-television services tuned into the broadcast across several major cable providers. Dish offered the match on channels 103 and 603 HD, while Sky carried the coverage on channels 103 and 1103. Megacable broadcast the fixture on channels 103 and 1103, and Izzi transmitted the game on channels 118 and 703.
Regional Mexican Television Affiliates
Imagen TV broadcast the semifinal nationwide across free digital terrestrial television signals, operating primarily on virtual channel 3.1. Main metropolitan areas were served by key stations, including XHCTMX-TDT in Mexico City and Tultepec, XHCTTO-TDT in Toluca, XHCTLE-TDT in Leon, Silao, and Lagos de Moreno, and XHCTGD-TDT in Guadalajara.
Territorial coverage on virtual channel 3.1 extended across Mexican states through specific local affiliate call signs:
- Aguascalientes and Zacatecas: XHCTAG-TDT serving Aguascalientes and Nochistlan de Mejia.
- Baja California: XHCTEN-TDT in Ensenada, XHCTME-TDT in Mexicali, and XHCTTI-TDT in Tijuana.
- Baja California Sur: XHCTLP-TDT in La Paz.
- Campeche: XHCTCA-TDT in Campeche.
- Chiapas: XHCTTH-TDT in Tapachula and XHCTCR-TDT in Tuxtla Gutierrez.
- Chihuahua: XHCTCJ-TDT in Ciudad Juarez and XHCTCH-TDT in Chihuahua.
- Coahuila and Durango: XHCTSA-TDT in Saltillo, XHCTTR-TDT in Torreon, Gomez Palacio, and Lerdo, and XHCTDG-TDT in Durango.
- Colima: XHCTCO-TDT in Colima.
- Guanajuato and Queretaro: XHCTCY-TDT serving Celaya, Irapuato, Salamanca, and Queretaro.
- Guerrero: XHCTAC-TDT in Acapulco and XHCTCP-TDT in Chilpancingo.
- Hidalgo: XHCTIX-TDT in Pachuca.
- Michoacan: XHCTMO-TDT in Morelia and XHCTUR-TDT in Uruapan.
- Morelos: XHCTCU-TDT in Cuernavaca.
- Nayarit: XHCTNY-TDT in Tepic.
- Nuevo Leon: XHCTMY-TDT in Monterrey and XHCTSH-TDT in Sabinas Hidalgo and Agualeguas.
- Oaxaca: XHCTHL-TDT in Huajuapan de Leon and XHCTOX-TDT in Oaxaca.
- Puebla and Tlaxcala: XHCTPU-TDT serving Puebla and Tlaxcala.
- Quintana Roo: XHCTCN-TDT in Cancun.
- San Luis Potosi: XHCTSL-TDT in San Luis Potosi and XHCTRV-TDT in Rio Verde.
- Sinaloa: XHCTCI-TDT in Culiacan, XHCTLM-TDT in Los Mochis and Guasave, and XHCTMZ-TDT in Mazatlan.
- Sonora: XHCTOB-TDT in Ciudad Obregon, Huatabampo, and Navojoa, and XHCTHE-TDT in Hermosillo.
- Tabasco: XHCTVL-TDT in Villahermosa and surrounding municipalities.
- Tamaulipas: XHCTNL-TDT in Nuevo Laredo, XHCTTA-TDT in Tampico, and XHCTVI-TDT in Ciudad Victoria. Viewers in Reynosa received the broadcast on virtual channel 13.1 under call sign XHCTRM-TDT.
- Veracruz: XHCTCZ-TDT in Cerro Azul, XHCTLV-TDT in Coatzacoalcos, XHCTJA-TDT in Xalapa, and XHCTVE-TDT in Veracruz and Boca del Rio.
- Yucatan: XHCTMD-TDT in Merida and Ticul.
- Zacatecas: XHCTZA-TDT serving Zacatecas, Guadalupe, and Fresnillo.
Global Kickoff Times and Viewing Schedule
The semifinal match was scheduled for simultaneous international broadcast on Wednesday, September 2, timed for viewers across multiple continents and time zones.
In the United States and Canada, kickoff aligned across regional time zones at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Seattle; 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time in Denver; 8:00 p.m. Central Time in Houston, Dallas, and Chicago; and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time in New York, Miami, Washington, Toronto, and Montreal.
In Latin America, coverage began at 7:00 p.m. local time across central Mexico, Lima, Bogota, Quito, Guayaquil, Panama City, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The match started at 8:00 p.m. in Caracas, La Paz, and Santa Cruz, followed by a 9:00 p.m. start in Santo Domingo, San Juan, and Asuncion. Southern Cone audiences in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro tuned in at 10:00 p.m.
European broadcasts took place in the early hours of Thursday, September 3, airing at 2:00 a.m. in the Canary Islands and 3:00 a.m. in peninsular Spain.
