Liga MX Reschedules Four Matchday 7 Games in Apertura 2026 Due to Leagues Cup Semifinals

Four Mexican clubs are staying in the United States for the entire week, and that forces some rearranging on the calendar. Liga MX confirmed that the Matchday 7 games of the Apertura 2026 involving Leagues Cup semifinalists will be rescheduled, so if you had America vs Tijuana or Pumas vs Leon marked on your calendar, you can erase that date and wait.

The four affected matchups are America vs Tijuana, Puebla vs Toluca, Queretaro vs Monterrey and Pumas vs Leon. None of the games are being canceled, they're simply being moved. According to sources consulted by ESPN, the decision had already been on the table since the league's last General Assembly of owners. There, it was agreed that clubs with teams reaching the Leagues Cup semifinals would get this kind of calendar relief, a benefit that now directly applies to America, Toluca, Monterrey and Leon.

The reasoning behind it? The binational tournament is heading into its final stretch and there's no letup. This Wednesday brings the semifinals: Toluca faces Leon in Houston, and America takes on Monterrey in Los Angeles. These are no ordinary matches, a spot in the final is on the line, along with the physical and logistical toll of shuttling entire rosters between countries in the middle of a league week.

A Full Week Away From Home

What comes next doesn't offer much of a break either. The teams that lose on Wednesday will play the third-place consolation final on Sunday, while the winners advance straight to the championship match, set for that same day, September 6, with the venue still to be confirmed. That means America, Monterrey, Toluca and Leon will essentially be camped out on US soil the entire week, with no time to head back to Mexico and, after that, prepare for a league match.

Liga MX will make these adjustments official on its calendar this Monday, though there's still no confirmed dates for making up the four pending matches. The logical assumption points to a FIFA date or a gap between matchdays later in the tournament, but that will become clear once the new schedule is published.

It's worth asking how often this kind of thing will happen if the Leagues Cup keeps growing in importance within the Mexican calendar. For now, the priority is clear: support the clubs representing Mexican soccer in an international final, even if that means reshuffling an entire league matchday on the fly.