In recent hours, fueled by the rivalry between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, we have seen a fierce debate on social media over whether the Campeones Cup, recently won by Lionel Messi, should be considered an official or friendly competition.
The Campeones Cup is a tournament co-organized by two official leagues: Major League Soccer (MLS) of the United States and Liga MX of Mexico. MLS operates under the direct umbrella of the United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association, while Liga MX has an autonomous status with respect to the Mexican Football Federation.
Its organization is fully comparable to that of the Leagues Cup, with one important distinction: the Campeones Cup does not provide access to any higher-level CONCACAF competition, whereas the Leagues Cup awards places in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In this context, it is difficult to argue that a tournament co-organized by two official leagues could be considered a friendly competition. There is no known case anywhere in the world in which an official federation or association organizes a tournament, awards a trophy to the winner, and that competition is classified as a friendly.
In the CONCACAF statutes, the equivalent of UEFA for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, Article 60.1 (Competitions) states:
“Concacaf shall have full jurisdiction to organize and authorize international competitions in North America, Central America and the Caribbean in which Member Associations and/or their Clubs participate.”
Article 60.2 adds:
“The Concacaf Council may delegate to Member Associations the authority to organize competitions.”
This confirms that CONCACAF authorizes its member associations—in this case MLS and Liga MX—to organize tournaments independently (bilaterally, in this particular case), without the direct involvement of CONCACAF itself.
The FIFA statutes do not apply here because:
- These are not national-team competitions.
- This is not a competition involving clubs from different international confederations; both are CONCACAF clubs.
The applicable regulations are therefore those of the international confederation to which the participating clubs belong, which in this case is CONCACAF.
CONCACAF itself has explicitly recognized the Campeones Cup by announcing its advertising partnership with beer brand Michelob ULTRA.
To further clarify the situation, the Campeones Cup appears on the official websites of Tigres, Columbus Crew, Club América and Atlanta United as part of their lists of official international titles.
To provide further context, during the pre-match coverage, the official MLS broadcast on Apple TV stated that the match could result in Leo Messi’s 49th title, implicitly recognizing the previous 48 as official titles—and the Campeones Cup itself as the potential 49th.
After the match, the broadcast referred to it as Inter Miami’s fifth trophy since 2023.
- Leagues Cup 2023
- Supporters Shield 2024
- Conference Cup 2025
- MLS Cup 2025
- Campeones Cup 2026
In summary, there is no serious reason to consider the Campeones Cup a friendly competition, other than the wishful thinking of some Lionel Messi haters. These are the same people who categorically claim that the Arab Club Champions Cup is an official tournament, even though it is not organized by any national or international federation recognized by any official governing body.