What happens if there is a tie in the Leagues Cup? Tie-breakers, penalty shootout rules

The 2024 Leagues Cup gets underway on Friday evening, kick-starting a month of action between teams from MLS and Liga MX. The 47-team tournament will be played across 31 host cities, with spots in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup up for grabs.

The Leagues Cup was successfully revamped in 2023 to include all top flight teams in the United States and Mexico. Organisers also opted to introduce penalty shootouts to decide a winner in any tied game throughout the competition.

Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets is among the players in favour of the unusual rule, which ensures that teams are not required to play an additional 30-minute period of extra time after gruelling summer fixtures.

“It’s a different format, but very necessary. Penalties make it more exciting... playing lots of games in a limited amount of time for players on a physical level is difficult. With the calendar full of games, it’s good to have that format,” the former Barcelona midfielder explained.

He was not the only one supporting the penalty shootout format. Club León veteran Andrés Guardado added: “For the public it’s very entertaining for the Game to be decided by penalties after 90 minutes. It’s attractive for the public, but for the players it’s welcome from a physical aspect to be able to play Games at a great level in a short amount of time. It’s a plus for the tournament.”

How do penalty shootouts work in Leagues Cup?

In the 45-team group stage, teams are placed in 15 groups of three. Each team will play one game against both group stage opponents, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the knockout stage. The two seeded teams - Columbus Crew and Club América - will then enter the tournament at this stage, setting up a 32-team first knockout round.

With only three games played in each of the groups, organisers introduced a penalty shoot-out tie-breaker to help separate teams. Any game that finishes level will go straight to a penalties, with the shoot-out winner taking two points and the losing team just one. If the game is won within the 90 minutes, the winning team will get three points and the loser will receive none.

Last year’s Leagues Cup final was decided by a penalty shoot-out, Inter Miami defeating Nashville SC to lift their first piece of silverware. Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a stunning solo goal before Fafa Picault levelled things with a header from a corner. The Game went to a shoot-out and Miami held their nerve, winning 10-9 on spot kicks.