Lewandowski, Sullivan and Uzuni Star as Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One Reaches Thrilling Climax

• Robert Lewandowski sealed a 3-1 comeback win for Chicago Fire against Santos Laguna, while 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan produced a 1g/1a masterclass as Philadelphia Union beat Club Necaxa by the same scoreline.
• Myrto Uzuni struck a blistering first-half hat trick in just 34 minutes as Austin FC dismantled Puebla 3-0 to move top of the MLS standings heading into the final round of Phase One matches.
• The knockout round picture remains wide open with 12 MLS clubs still chasing four qualification spots, while a marquee Club America vs Austin FC clash and a Supporters’ Shield showdown between Nashville SC and Inter Miami headline the week ahead.

Late Drama, Young Stars and a Hat Trick to Remember Define an Electric Weekend of Leagues Cup Action

Leagues Cup 2026 is delivering exactly the kind of spectacle the tournament was designed to produce. The second round of Phase One matches across the weekend of August 8 to 10 brought late comebacks, breakout teenage performances and one of the most devastating individual displays the competition has ever seen. With one match remaining for every club, the race for the four knockout round spots from each league could not be tighter.

Austin FC, Charlotte FC, Chicago Fire FC and FC Cincinnati currently hold the top four MLS positions, with another 12 clubs behind them hoping to snatch one of those places in the final round. On the LIGA MX side, Club America, Juarez, Cruz Azul and Leon occupy the qualification spots with six points each. Six MLS teams have won both of their opening matches and will be looking to seal their passage this week.

Here is how the weekend unfolded and what is coming next.

Chicago Fire FC were staring at elimination before three late goals turned their Phase One campaign on its head. Trailing Santos Laguna 1-0 for the better part of an hour at SeatGeek Stadium after Ezequiel Bullaude’s 20th-minute opener, the Fire looked flat and disjointed. Then Gregg Berhalter’s substitutes changed everything.

Philip Zinckernagel, an MLS All-Star, came off the bench to equalize in the 72nd minute. Fellow substitute Robin Lod then knocked home what proved to be the winning goal in the 90th minute. And Robert Lewandowski, the Polish superstar who is still building fitness after his recent arrival, capped the 3-1 victory with a flying rebound finish in the 93rd minute to put the result beyond doubt.

“This is Leagues Cup soccer, right?” Berhalter said. “Intensity, passion, physicality — this game had everything. I was really disappointed with the first-half performance, and not because we were down 1-0. I thought the energy wasn’t what it needed to be. In the second half, it flipped. We brought the energy and brought speed into the game, which really helped us. We turned it up and, in the end, got a good result.”

Lod was full of praise for the collective effort that produced the turnaround. “The instruction was just to bring energy and bring your own qualities,” Lod said. “The depth is showing. If guys get tired, we have players coming from the bench who can bring energy. All five solutions did really well — and, of course, so did the 11 who started. I’m really pleased because it shows that we care and we don’t give up. There are players who push each other forward. What I love most is that we do it together. It’s not one or two guys doing something special. It was an amazing team effort.”

Lewandowski had missed his first two chances of the night before finally finding the net with that stoppage-time strike. The 37-year-old played all 97 minutes and is clearly still working his way to full sharpness. “Robert’s still in his preseason mode, and he’s a guy that didn’t want to come off the field and had to be persistent,” Berhalter said. “He had a couple chances, and he scored an amazing goal. Those are the things he can do. I’m sure he would have liked to have a couple more, but really happy for his effort and happy that he was able to last all 97 minutes.”

Lewandowski was not the only noteworthy Robert in the Chicago starting lineup. Homegrown attacking midfielder Robert Turdean, who turned 16 earlier this year, became the youngest player in club history when he was named in the starting eleven, breaking Craig Capano’s longstanding record by 94 days. The US youth international played 45 minutes and did not look out of place, creating two chances and combining well with Anton Saletros and Maren Haile-Selassie in midfield.

“I think that’s a really important milestone,” Berhalter said. “He’s a 16-year-old kid; he’s got a ton of confidence in his own ability, and he’s a guy that, when you put him in the starting XI in a game like this, he doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t get nervous, and he steps up. I thought he did a good job. We took him out just because we thought his legs wouldn’t last for much longer, but a really good job, and congratulations to him.”

Turdean admitted the speed of the game caught him off guard initially but said he settled quickly. “At first, it was a little bit fast, but after a few touches, I got used to it,” Turdean said. “After that, it was smooth, and I got myself into the game. It was about taking small touches at first to get my confidence level up, and then, after that, I could do more. I think that helped me throughout the game.”

Zinckernagel, who watched Turdean’s development up close in training, offered his own endorsement. “I see him every day,” Zinckernagel said. “He’s a big talent with a lot of quality. That’s why he got the chance today. I think he did pretty well. It’s not easy to go out there against a Mexican team, and at 16 years of age, it’s impressive. I’m very happy for him. I just told him to enjoy it.”

If Turdean’s debut was the feel-good story of the weekend, Cavan Sullivan’s performance for Philadelphia Union against Club Necaxa was the one that will have national team scouts reaching for their notebooks. The 16-year-old phenom recorded a goal and an assist in a convincing 3-1 victory at Subaru Park as the Union bounced back from their opening loss to Cruz Azul.

Sullivan has thrived since Ryan Richter took over as interim manager, seeing significantly more playing time than he did under former coach Bradley Carnell. The Union have posted a 4-1-0 record under Richter across all competitions, and Sullivan has been central to that improvement. Against Necaxa, he featured for 60 minutes and made his presence felt from the opening whistle, assisting Nathan Harriel’s third-minute opener before scoring his fourth career Union goal in the 53rd minute, finishing a cross from Indiana Vassilev after some tidy touches inside the box.

Sullivan and Gil Mora became the youngest goalscorers in Leagues Cup history on the same night.

“He has been dangerous every game and he has been in positions where he is getting his opportunities… but it was really important for him today to get that goal and I was most proud about the type of goal that it was,” Richter said. “It wasn’t the special one where you beat three players and curl the ball into the top corner. It was to get to the right spot at the right time and put the ball in the back of the net. He has the special goal in him, but this is how he is going to score a lot of goals at this level.”

The question hovering over Sullivan’s rise is whether Mauricio Pochettino will hand him a US men’s national team call-up in the upcoming international window. Richter was careful not to overstep but could not hide his belief in the player’s trajectory. “That’s not my job, to pick that team,” Richter said. “But I think that he is getting better every game and challenging him to do the good things he is doing and then, on top of that, be productive with goals and assists… this is a big step for him. Whatever comes in the next window, or the next one after that, that part is the job of U.S. Soccer, and our job is to keep pushing Cavan to raise his level so that he is considered for that.”

“I’m really happy for him, proud of him,” Richter added. “Hopefully he takes confidence from it.”

Sullivan and Philadelphia will host Santos Laguna on Thursday in their Phase One finale, another opportunity for the rising star to strengthen his case as one of the sport’s most exciting young talents and keep himself on Pochettino’s radar as the 2030 World Cup cycle kicks off this fall.

The most emphatic result of the weekend belonged to Austin FC, who demolished Puebla 3-0 at Q2 Stadium on the back of a devastating first-half hat trick from Myrto Uzuni. The Albanian Designated Player needed just 34 minutes to dismantle the LIGA MX visitors in what was only the seventh hat trick in Leagues Cup history.

Uzuni got the party started in the fourth minute, bending a perfectly placed free kick from outside the area beyond the reach of Puebla goalkeeper Jesus Rodriguez. Three minutes later he had his second, finishing a clever backheel pass from Christian Ramirez inside the box. The hat trick was completed in the 34th minute with a clinical volley that left Rodriguez with no chance.

It was Uzuni’s first multi-goal game for Austin and a reminder of the quality that convinced the club to bring him in ahead of the 2025 season from Spanish side Granada CF, where he was the club’s all-time leading scorer with 49 goals in 106 appearances. The 31-year-old has become a central figure in Austin’s attack, and his three-goal burst put the Verde and Black in prime position to advance to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.

Austin’s win followed Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Club Tijuana, and they now sit top of the MLS standings heading into what shapes up to be the marquee match of the final round: Club America vs Austin FC on Thursday evening. Both teams currently lead their respective Leagues Cup tables, and the clash promises to be an electric occasion with a quarterfinal berth potentially on the line for both sides.

Beyond Thursday, the final days of Phase One are packed with compelling fixtures. Saturday night brings one of the games of the MLS season when Nashville SC host Inter Miami CF in a clash between the top two teams in the Supporters’ Shield standings. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs since Nashville knocked Miami out of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, and the rivalry has produced tight contests ever since Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami in the summer of 2023. More than 60 percent of the meetings between the two sides have been decided by one goal or fewer. The star power on the pitch will match the occasion, with Messi, Casemiro, Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez on one side and Nashville’s four MLS All-Star selections, Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Andy Najar and Brian Schwake, on the other.

Earlier on Saturday, FC Cincinnati take on Antoine Griezmann and Orlando City SC in what should be another high-scoring affair. Cincinnati’s Evander has been the most in-form player in MLS, producing 19 goals and assists in his last eight league matches after a slow start to the season. The Brazilian leads all MLS players in goal contributions (22), assists (11) and key passes (54), and his case for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award is becoming difficult to argue against. He has carried that form into the Leagues Cup with dominant displays against Pachuca and Pumas.

Sunday rounds out the schedule with a Western Conference doubleheader. Austin FC host FC Dallas at Q2 Stadium in a Texas derby before Seattle Sounders welcome Vancouver Whitecaps in a Cascadia Cup rivalry match. Both home teams need victories to shore up their playoff positions. Austin’s regular-season struggles have largely come away from home and they will take confidence from their recent Q2 form, but Petar Musa and Dallas will be looking to spoil the party. In the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver have not won at Lumen Field since April 2024 but will take heart from captain Ryan Gauld’s return to the starting lineup, while Seattle’s growing injury list means teenagers Stu Hawkins and Snyder Brunell will be called upon to flip the script.

Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One has already delivered late winners, breakout performances from 16-year-old debutants, hat tricks, superstar arrivals finding their feet and a standings battle that remains wide open heading into the final round. The knockout stage promises to be just as dramatic.