Real Salt Lake Will Participate in a Trio of North American Cup Competitions in 2025.
Major League Soccer announced today the qualification criteria for MLS clubs in the official North American cup competitions during the 2025 and 2026 seasons. It also defined the participants for 2025, which include Real Salt Lake and its affiliate Real Monarchs (MLS NEXT Pro), for the next two seasons.
The four tournaments – CONCACAF Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and the Canadian Championship – provide important opportunities for clubs to compete for titles outside of the MLS league.
After a historic 2024 season, Real Salt Lake has qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the fourth time in its history, with a record of 11 wins, 5 losses, and 6 draws in continental competitions. The 2025 campaign also marks the third consecutive season in which RSL will participate in the Leagues Cup against powerhouses of LIGA MX, along with other MLS competitors.
The Claret-and-Cobalt pyramid also returns to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2025, represented by the Real Monarchs, the club’s MLS NEXT Pro (USSF Division III) team.
Last year, Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s team finished sixth in the overall standings among the 29 MLS teams, reaching third place in the Western Conference with a total of 59 points in 2024, the highest figure in the club’s 20-year history.
RSL now joins six other MLS teams – Seattle, Miami, LAFC, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Sporting KC – to participate in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the U.S. Open Cup, and this year’s Leagues Cup tournaments, in addition to competing for the prestigious Supporters Shield and supremacy in the MLS Cup 2025.
In addition to these North American competitions, Seattle Sounders FC and Inter Miami CF will also represent MLS in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, joining other elite teams from around the world this summer.
SUMMARY OF CLASSIFICATION FOR THE CUPS
The framework for MLS clubs’ participation in North American cup competitions rewards club performance, manages player workload, and ensures that each MLS club has the opportunity to compete in at least one, but no more than two, North American competitions that take place simultaneously with the MLS league season.
This classification structure will be in effect for the 2025 and 2026 MLS seasons, providing guidance for the classification parameters during this exceptional time, as the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be held in North America. This process will be re-evaluated for 2027 as the competition landscape continues to evolve. The qualification for each competition was determined as follows:
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