Chivas hit another dead end in the 2026 Leagues Cup, extending international struggles dating back to 2023

Two games. That's all the 2026 Leagues Cup lasted for Chivas. A late-drama draw against LAFC, a shootout loss for the bonus point, and to close the chapter, a narrow defeat to FC Dallas. Out again, early again, with that same nagging feeling that Guadalajara just can't figure out international competition.

And this isn't an isolated case. Look back at what's happened since 2023 and it becomes clear this isn't bad luck anymore, it's a pattern. Four different coaches, three different tournaments, one identical outcome: an early exit.

Milito, two years, the same script

Gabriel Milito has now been through two straight Leagues Cup campaigns, and both ended the same way. In 2025 the club opened with a loss to New York Red Bulls, then drew 2-2 with Charlotte FC (with a bonus point up for grabs on penalties), and even though Matchday 3 brought something historic, the club's first-ever Leagues Cup win, a 2-1 victory over FC Cincinnati, it was too little too late for qualification.

In 2026 the stakes were different. Chivas had already locked up its spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and the tournament was supposed to be a showcase for the project taking shape under Milito. Instead, the draw with LAFC and the loss to FC Dallas sent the team home again in the group stage. After the elimination, Milito didn't look for excuses:

The performance wasn't good enough. I need to help these guys much more, and much better. When that doesn't happen, it falls on the coach. We're disappointed because we didn't live up to the expectations we set for ourselves. The responsibility is mine.Gabriel Milito

An unstable bench and an América that always delivers the blow

The 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup didn't offer much either. Chivas cruised past Dominican side Cibao FC, but by the time the round of 16 arrived against América, the club's bench was in disarray. Oscar Garcia Junyent was let go days before the tie, and Gerardo Espinoza took over just three days ahead of the first leg. The opening leg was a dream: a 1-0 win at Akron Stadium thanks to a Sebastian Caceres own goal. But América answered with a resounding 4-0 in the second leg that wiped out any hope.

A year earlier, with Fernando Gago in charge, the story played out much the same way. Chivas returned to the Champions Cup after a six-year absence, got past Forge FC with a goal from Javier Hernandez in his return to the club, but ran into América again in the round of 16: a 3-0 loss at Akron that not even a 3-2 comeback in the second leg could overturn. Months later, in the 2024 Leagues Cup, the team set up camp in California and again went out in the group stage, with draws against the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy slipping away in penalty shootouts, the latter including misses from Omar Govea and Gilberto Sepulveda.

Where it all started: Paunovic and 2023

All of this traces back to Veljko Paunovic, the first Chivas coach to take part in the Leagues Cup. Chivas arrived as runner-up of the 2023 Clausura, but that momentum didn't carry over into the binational tournament: a 3-1 loss to FC Cincinnati and another defeat to Sporting Kansas City left the club out in the group stage.

Will anything change with Milito in charge? For now, the trend holds steady. Since 2023, Chivas hasn't managed to establish itself among the region's contenders in any international competition, and that debt is starting to weigh heavier on Guadalajara with each passing year.