The LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders FC fell against LIGA MX opposition on Wednesday night in their 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal openers.
Seattle lost 2-0 at Tigres before LA suffered an eventful 4-2 defeat at back-to-back LIGA MX champions Toluca.
Toluca CF 4, LA Galaxy 2
Toluca quickly put themselves in the driver's seat, with Nicolás Castro opening the score early and Paulinho doubling the hosts' Leg 1 lead shortly before halftime following a swift counterattack.
The Galaxy would not go down quietly, however, as Gabriel Pec extended his lead atop the CCC top scorer charts (six goals) from a tight angle before being pegged back by Paulinho netting his second in the 73rd minute.
Four minutes later, LA cut the deficit in half again through Marco Reus bundling in a second away goal. Still, it would not be enough to snatch a result at Estadio Nemesio Díez as Paulinho shut the door by completing his hat trick in the 85th minute.
The series now heads to Los Angeles for a decisive Leg 2. With two away goals, the Galaxy will dream of upsetting the team they fell against in Campeones Cup 2025.
Goals
Tigres UANL 2, Seattle Sounders FC 0
Seattle lost 2-0 at the Estadio Universitario in their quarterfinal opener, with an Oziel Herrera strike and a Jackson Ragen own goal giving Tigres the Leg 1 advantage.
The Sounders could've had an even steeper deficit to overcome, but Ángel Correa sent a penalty kick well over the crossbar on the verge of halftime.
Now, the series returns to Seattle for Leg 2. The 2022 CCC champions face an uphill climb, but are not out.
