Four MLS teams take the field tonight (and it’s not about the playoffs) | OneFootball

Four teams from Major League Soccer are in action on Wednesday night with each squad trying to make the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. However, neither match that is scheduled will have any bearing on the MLS Eastern or Western Conference race.

Instead, these teams will be vying for the 2025 Leagues Cup championship. A battle of Florida ensues with Inter Miami and Orlando City SC squaring off while the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders do battle out West. All four MLS teams in the quarterfinals moved on after eliminating their Mexican La Liga opponent.

The winner of each game will face each other in the Leagues Cup Finals on Saturday, August 30 and the two teams that lose will play in the Third-Place Match on that same day. Winning the title automatically gives the winning team a bid in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament next year. It could also give either of the four MLS teams the momentum it needs to finish the 2025 regular season strong.

Here are a look at the two matches slated for Wednesday night's Leagues Cup schedule.

Inter Miami and Orlando City SC turn up the heat against one another

One of the sport's biggest stars will take the field with his team to face another MLS Eastern Conference team in Orlando City SC. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami look to advance to the Finals of the 2025 Leagues Cup.

Messi has played in just 19 MLS regular season games for Miami. However, he is averaging a goal a match as he has 19 on the year so far. In addition, the soccer star has recorded 11 assists, tied for the team high with Luis Suarez.

Miami has a pair of goalkeepers from Argentine in Oscar Ustari and Rocco Rios Novo. In 26 combined games, the two have made 71 saves and allowed just 34 goals in 2025 during MLS play.

Orlando City SC needs to be up for the challenge against Miami if they wish to be in the League Cup Finals. Their best player this season hasbeen Martin Ojeda. The 26-year-old midfielder has 27 goal contributions (14 scores and 13 assists) in MLS this year.

Ojeda was clutch for Orlando in Phase One of the Leagues Cup tournament. He tallied an assist in each of the three group play matches and combined for three goals, as well.

The match between the two Florida-based MLS teams starts at 6:30 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday night.

The LA Galaxy host the Seattle Sounders.

This is not only a rematch of the 2024 MLS Western Conference Finals, but this is also another chapter in a storied rivalry between a pair of powerhouses in the league.

In last season's playoff run, the Los Angeles Galaxy bested Seattle, 1-0, to advance to a record 10th MLS Cup Finals appearance. The Galaxy made good on it and added a sixth title. The Sounders had to watch from home as their last Finals appearance was in 2020.

Seattle was a regular in the title game a decade ago, and the LA Galaxy were the decade before that. The last time these two teams played was earlier in the month at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The defending MLS Cup champions lost 4-0 at home.

The Sounders handed the LA Galaxy one of their 16 losses this season. A mark that has now doubled their entire loss total from a season ago.

Marco Reus, Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec, and Matheus Nascimento have all been clutch for the LA Galaxy during Leagues Cup play. They will need to continue scoring to give their goalie, Novak Micovic, all the support he can get against a well-balanced team in the Sounders.

Seattle will be without their leading scorer Daniel Musovski. He was suspended one game for an altercation in the Sounders' Knockout Round match in which the foward made contact with an official on the field.