KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Leagues Cup is back for yet another year, and once again, Orlando City SC will play host to three sides from Liga MX.
The Lions open the 2026 edition of the tournament Wednesday night against CF Monterrey, a team that finished eighth in last year's aggregate table in Liga MX. With the Lions fresh off last year's run in Leagues Cup, where they made it to the third-place match, they will look to lean on that experience heading into this year's tournament.
Captain Robin Jansson has been through every Leagues Cup run with the Lions since the tournament began. He knows exactly how much getting off to a good start matters in the context of the group stage format.
"The first game is very important to get a good start, and then be up there in a good spot heading into the last two games," he said at Orlando Health Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park on Wednesday. "Tomorrow's game is super important, and I hope that we can bounce back and have a good game and enjoy it with our fans with a win."
Last year, the Lions fell one win short of Concacaf Champions Cup qualification, something the team will look to rectify with a good performance in this year's competition.
"We're not going into this tournament just to play it out. We want to win it like everyone else does," Jansson said. "Being able to qualify for Concacaf would be great and huge for the club. We see this as a tournament where you have a small amount of games to a trophy. So why not take that chance?"
Interim Head Coach Martín Perelman was on the Lions staff the past two Leagues Cup runs, serving as an assistant coach. He knows the level of competition that each of these group stage matches will bring and will look to make sure his team is prepared for each of them.
"Since I've been here, we've played both in Concacaf Champions and Leagues Cup many times against Liga MX teams. In the last year, we were able to finish fourth," he said. "The previous experiences always help. It's always useful."
Monterrey arrive with two recent signings joining the team from MLS in Diego Rossi from Columbus Crew and Golden Boot leader Hugo Cuypers from Chicago Fire. Jansson acknowledged that familiarity with some of their players can help with the preparation.
"We played against some of them before, so you know a little bit of their profile," he said. "We know what they're good at and where we maybe can expose them, which we hope for tomorrow."
After a first half of the season that saw Orlando play eight of their first 15 games away from home, once again having all three group stage matches at Inter.co Stadium feels significant.
"We love playing at home, we love playing here," Perelman said. "We want to win for our people, for our families, for us, for the club. Being at home is something very, very, very important for us."
Kickoff against C.F. Monterrey at Inter.co Stadium is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the match streaming live on Apple TV.
