Preview: Toluca vs Columbus Crew - prediction, team news, lineups

Columbus Crew will begin their title defence in the 2025 Leagues Cup when they host Mexican champions Toluca in the opening round.

This edition of the competition will take a different format from the previous ones, with 36 teams battling for eight quarter-final slots.

Match preview

This year’s Leagues Cup brings a new format, with only 18 MLS teams taking part, those who reached the MLS Cup playoffs last season, alongside all 18 clubs from Liga MX, making it 36 teams in total.

Matches that end in a draw will go straight to penalties, with teams collecting points for wins and shootout results, and all fixtures will be played in the USA and Canada, during the ongoing league seasons.

The teams are split into MLS and Liga MX groups, and each club plays three games against teams from the other league, with the top four from each group moving on to the knockout stage.

Columbus Crew won the competition in 2024 after entering directly into the knockouts as MLS Cup champions, and they beat Sporting Kansas City, Inter Miami, New York City FC, Philadelphia Union, and LAFC to lift the trophy for the first time.

Now aiming to become the first team to defend the title, the Crew come into this clash with mixed results, having lost two of their last three matches, including a 3-1 defeat to Orlando City. They sit fourth in the MLS Eastern Conference with 44 points from 25 games.

Columbus last faced Toluca in the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League, drawing 2-2 at home and losing 3-2 away. They will be hoping for a better outcome this time.

Toluca are flying high after a strong first half of 2025 where they won the Liga MX Clausura and followed it up by lifting the Campeon de Campeones trophy, with both victories coming against Club America.

They are currently second in the Apertura with six points from three games, although they lost 4-3 to Tigres in their most recent outing.

Before that loss, Antonio Mohamed’s team had won three straight games across all competitions, scoring at least three goals in each.

Their attack has been impressive, with 13 goals in four matches, but their defence has been shaky, conceding eight goals during the same period.

Toluca Leagues Cup form:

Toluca form (all competitions):

Columbus Crew Leagues Cup form:

Columbus Crew form (all competitions):

Team News

Toluca have just one injury concern going into the match, with defender Juan Escobar being a doubt, but the rest of the squad is available for selection.

Winger Helinho will be one to watch, having already scored three goals in Liga MX this season.

Columbus Crew will be missing a few players, with Malte Amundsen out with a knee injury and is expected to return around mid-August.

Mohamed Farsi is recovering from a back problem and should be back in early August, while goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen and defender Rudy Camacho are both dealing with thigh injuries, with similar return timelines.

Toluca possible starting lineup:

Gonzalez; Cordova, Pereira, del Villar, Isais; Helinho, Herrera, Romero, Castro; Paulinho, Dominguez

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Schulte; Moreira, Zawadzki, Cheberko, Chambost, Arfsten; Chambost, Nagbe, Aliyu, Gazdag; Rossi, Russell-Rowe

We say: Toluca 2-2 Columbus Crew

Columbus Crew are struggling for consistency in recent weeks, while Toluca have been exciting in attack but poor defensively.

Both teams are strong going forward but shaky at the back, which could cancel each other out, and this clash could end in a high-scoring draw and go to penalties.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.