Previewing FC Dallas’ Leagues Cup Opponents
After three straight road games with mixed results, Dallas will take a couple of weeks off of MLS play for their Leagues Cup slate, where they’ll host Querétaro in Mansfield, travel to San Jose to play Chivas, and finally go down to Mexico to play the mighty Toluca.
Let’s preview all three of the Burn’s Leagues Cup matchups.
Querétaro FC
Los Gallos Blancos haven’t had much recent success in Liga MX and have never won the league; their best-ever finish was runner-up in the 2015 Clausura. They are, however, a very historic club, having been founded in 1950, and their stadium, the Estadio Corregidora, hosted games in the 1986 World Cup. Querétaro is, unfortunately, most notable in recent memory for the riots that took place during a league match against Atlas in 2022, which resulted in at least 22 injured fans and a year-long ban for Querétaro’s fans.
Most recently, though, things have improved for Querétaro with a 12th-place finish in the Apertura, just missing out on the play-in games for the playoffs by a single point. They’ve started strongly in the Clausura as well; they narrowly lost to Club América on opening day but then pulled off a big upset away to Pachuca before beating Tigres at home ahead of their trip to Mansfield to face FCD.
They’ve been led by youth so far, with young striker Ali Avila already on 3 goals for the season. They picked up a lot of hype just before the season when they signed 16-year-old Mono Martinez from LA Galaxy‘s academy to a first-team contract. Martinez has only played sparingly thus far but should feature more heavily during Leagues Cup.
When the Leagues Cup schedule dropped, Querétaro appeared to be FCD’s “easy” matchup, but they are looking to be far more challenging than initial impressions. They will be a real test for Dallas in their first-ever competitive match in Mansfield.
Chivas de Guadalajara
Chivas don’t need much introduction. Based in Guadalajara, they are one of the biggest clubs in Mexico. Founded in 1906, they were one of the founding members of Liga MX and have won the league title 12 times and the CONCACAF Champions Cup twice. They are perhaps most famous for only signing Mexican players. Their fanbase in Mexico and the United States is rivaled only by Club America. Their gorgeous new stadium, Estadio Akron, hosted games in the 2026 World Cup.
However, for all their recent success, Chivas have largely struggled since the turn of the century. They’ve only won the league title twice since then, most recently in 2017, and have struggled to keep up with the other big clubs in Mexico. Their policy of only signing Mexican players has been somewhat relaxed, with that now being extended to players of Mexican descent. In recent years, they’ve signed a number of Mexican-Americans, including former FC Dallas homegrown Alex Zendejas.
But Chivas do seem to be back in the ascendancy as of late. They finished 6th in the Apertura but lost in the quarter-finals to fellow giant Cruz Azul. They have returned to their days of supplying the Mexican national team with players, with the likes of Piojo Alvarado, Armando “Hormiga” Gonzalez, Luis Romo and Raul Rangel all featuring. Chivas now also features a number of former MLS players with Efrain Alvarez, Brian Gutierrez, Jonathan Perez, Ritchie Ledezma and Daniel Aguirre all coming from MLS.
Dallas will play Chivas in their second game, with Chivas electing to host the game in San Jose with Toyota Stadium unavailable. Make no mistake, this will be a home away from home for Chivas, and they’ll be dealing with much less travel ahead of their match with FCD as they play LAFC in their first match. This will be a big test for Dallas in a game with a ton of eyeballs; they’ll have a real chance to make a statement if they can pull off a big upset win.
Toluca FC
There’s a good argument to be made that Dallas has the toughest Leagues Cup schedule of any MLS team. With the current format, each MLS team basically plays one “bad” Liga MX team, one mid-pack Liga MX team and one top Liga MX team. Querétaro, especially this season, are likely the best of the “bad” group; Chivas are among the best of the mid-pack teams, especially when they’ll basically play a home game in terms of fan support; and Toluca are, almost without question, the best team in recent history in Liga MX. And on top of that, Dallas will travel down to Mexico to play Toluca (who will play all three of their first-round games at home) at altitude.
Toluca are yet another very historic club in Mexico, having been founded in 1917. They play in the Estadio Nemesio Diez, a stadium built in 1954 that houses one of the best atmospheres in Mexico. Los Diablos Rojos have been virtually unstoppable in recent years. They won both the Clausura and Apertura in 2025 and won the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this year. Their squad includes Mexican national team standouts such as Alexis Vega, Marcel Ruiz, and Jesus Gallardo, and Portuguese forward Paulinho has scored 48 goals in 73 appearances since joining the club in 2024.
The start of their current season has been a bit shaky. They beat Chivas on opening day in Guadalajara but lost to Pumas in their home opener and then lost the Campeón de Campeones in Los Angeles to Cruz Azul. They did round out their pre-Leagues Cup with a resounding victory at home against Necaxa, and they won’t be going anywhere any time soon, as they’ll host all three of their first-round Leagues Cup games at home, with Seattle and LAFC coming to town before Dallas.
Between the travel, the fixture congestion, the quality of opponent, and the altitude, this truly may be one of the most challenging competitive games in FC Dallas history. Any sort of result in this game would truly be a monumental achievement.
What are your predictions for FC Dallas in Leagues Cup?
Do they have any shot of being one of the 4 best MLS teams and progressing to the quarterfinals?
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