Sporting Kansas City continues club’s Leagues Cup 2024 campaign early next week when the club hosts Liga MX side Toluca FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Monday night. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and will be available to stream for free on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, while the match will also be nationally televised on FS1 (English) and UniMas (Spanish). The match will be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. VYING FOR TOP SPOT
Sporting Kansas City is set to continue the club’s Leagues Cup 2024 journey this Monday night with a home match against Liga MX side Toluca FC at Children’s Mercy Park in West Region Group 4 action. Both Sporting and Toluca have already clinched their spots in the knockout stages, but will vie for top spot in the group on Monday night.
Sporting can now face a host of permutations in the next round depending on the team’s result on Monday against Toluca.
- If Sporting Kansas City wins (in regulation or on penalty kicks)…
- Sporting KC will play the Group 8 winner on Aug. 9
- Possibilities: home vs. Atlas, at Real Salt Lake, at Houston
- Sporting KC will play the Group 8 winner on Aug. 9
- If Sporting Kansas City loses (in regulation or on penalty kicks)…
- Sporting KC will play at Columbus on Aug. 9
In last season’s edition of the tournament, Sporting advanced out of their group following a 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati and a 1-0 victory over Chivas Guadalajara before falling to Toluca FC in the Round of 32.
2. TOLUCA REMATCH
Sporting Kansas City continues the club’s Leagues Cup group play this Monday with a home match against Liga MX side Toluca FC at Children’s Mercy Park. Both teams have already advanced to the knockout stage, so Monday’s match will determine who finishes atop Group 4 in the West Region.
The game will be a rematch of the 2023 Leagues Cup Round of 32, where Toluca cruised to a 4-1 victory over Sporting on Aug. 4, 2023 at Children’s Mercy Park. The visitors scored the first four goals of the match before Willy Agada, returning from three months out following knee surgery, scored a late consolation for Sporting.
The two sides famously met in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16, where Sporting cruised past Toluca 5-0 on aggregate, including a 3-0 victory at Children’s Mercy Park in the first leg on Feb. 21, 2019. Krisztian Nemeth, Gerso Fernandes and Ilie Sanchez each tallied that night before Gerso and Nemeth tallied again in the second leg at Estadio Nemesio Diez a week later.
Sporting has faced off against Mexican opposition on 17 occasions, going 5-10-2 overall and 4-5-2 at home.
Toluca have started the 2024 Apertura season in fine form - going an unbeaten 2-0-2 through their first four matches with both wins coming at home and both draws on the road. The Mexicans began their Leagues Cup 2024 journey on Thursday night, coming back from an early deficit to comfortably dispatch Chicago Fire FC 3-1 following a weather delay at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.
3. AGADA ON FIRE
Sporting Kansas City forward Willy Agada cannot be denied in front of goal at the moment, scoring yet again in the club’s 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire FC in the team’s Leagues Cup opener last Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park
Agada has been in torrid form lately, scoring six goals in his last five starts for the club across all competitions. The 24-year-old leads the team with nine goals in the regular season and 11 goals across all competitions. Agada has now scored in each of Sporting’s last two Leagues Cup matches, including SKC’s loss to Toluca in the 2023 Round of 32.
The Nigerian frontman has flourished at home, scoring 20 goals while starting just 20 matches at Children’s Mercy Park across all competitions - while 10 of his 11 goals across all competitions in 2024 have come at home.
4. CASTELLANOS RISES HIGH
Sporting Kansas City defender Robert Castellanos got himself on the scoresheet during the club’s 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire FC at Children’s Mercy Park last Sunday in the team’s opening match of Leagues Cup action.
Castellanos towered over Chicago midfielder Kellyn Acosta to head home at the far post off Remi Walter’s free kick delivery to make the score 1-1 late in the first half after Chicago had taken the lead against the run of play.
The goal was Castellanos’ third career goal for Sporting in all competitions, his second goal of the season, and his first career goal in Leagues Cup. Castellanos, who has made 29 appearances in all competitions for the club since joining Sporting ahead of the 2023 campaign, opened his 2024 scoring account in a 4-2 loss at LA Galaxy on June 15. Sunday’s goal was his second at Children’s Mercy Park, having scored in Sporting’s 4-1 home win over Austin on June 10, 2023.
5. AFRIFA SHINES, NAMED PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa enjoyed a fine outing in the club’s 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire FC at Children’s Mercy Park in the team’s Leagues Cup opener last Sunday, tallying the game-winning assist on his way to being named the Player of the Match.
In the 76th minute, Afrifa received a pass from Erik Thommy on the right wing before curling a sumptuous cross into the path of Willy Agada who dove to head home off the post and give Sporting the 2-1 lead late on.
The assist was Afrifa’s second of the season in all competitions, having recorded his first assist for the club in Sporting’s 4-0 Open Cup win over FC Tulsa on May 21. The Canadian - Sporting’s first-round pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft - is enjoying a breakout season and now has four goals and two assists in just 575 minutes across all competitions this season, tallying a goal contribution every 96 minutes.
