It didn’t take long for history to be made in the 2025 Leagues Cup.
On Thursday night, the Seattle Sounders demolished the reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winners, Cruz Azul, 7–0, taking no mercy in their tournament-opening performance, with shell-shocking moments until the final whistle.
Six different players hit the scoresheet, all tallying in the second half after the match was scoreless at halftime against the same opponent that the Sounders had fallen to in the Champions Cup last16 earlier in the season.
Yet, while Yeimar, Obed Vargas, Jesús Ferreira, Osaze De Rosario, Nouhou and Pedro De La Vega will remember their moments, none stood out as much as De La Vega’s perfectly hit volley, which could contend for the FIFA Puskas Award for the world’s best goal in 2025.
OMG PEDRO DE LA VEGA #LeaguesCup2025 pic.twitter.com/T3iow4fAu7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 1, 2025
At the same time, the seven-goal margin broke the record for the largest ever victory by an MLS club over a Liga MX side in any competition. It also marked the widest winning margin in any competition for the Sounders since joining MLS in 2009.
The result also brought MLS to 10 wins in 18 matches in the 2025 Leagues Cup, and has the American first division outscoring its Mexican counterpart 40-30 in those combined contests.
“We knew that this was going to be a rematch from Concacaf. They were a very good team; they’re a team that eliminated us,” Ferreira said. “We wanted revenge...we came in with the mentality that we are a good team."
Seattle’s Stellar Form Since FIFA Club World Cup
While the Rave Green cruised over La Maquina, who beat Vancouver Whitecaps FC 5–0 in the Concacaf Champions Cup final, it was just the continuation of their stellar form since competing in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Since falling out of the group stage against Atlético Madrid, Botafogo and Paris Saint-Germain, the Sounders have gone undefeated through seven games in MLS. Now, they are in a prime position to advance from Phase One in the Leagues Cup.
“I didn’t actually know what I was going to say to them in the locker room because it was such a tremendous win for the club,” said Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer after the match. “In this club’s history, it ranks right up there with all of the big wins that we’ve had. It’s not a championship match, so I would probably temper it with that, but it certainly was a hell of a performance.”
Meanwhile, the continued form of De La Vega is an inspiring sign, after the young Designated Player struggled to find his consistency since joining the Sounders in 2024. In recent weeks, though, he has been one of the club’s best players and is up to seven goals and three assists, with Thursday’s strike the latest showcase of his abilities.
“The execution, the technical ability, the ball that Alex [Roldan] plays. I mean, it’s way up,” Schmetzer said of the goal and assist from Alex Roldan. “That was an unbelievably technically challenging finish, and he made it look easy.”
With the win, the Sounders can look ahead to their next matches against Santos Laguna and Club Tijuana, as they hope to qualify for the tournament’s quarterfinals.
“[The players] are driving us,” added Schmetzer. “That group in there is completely together, motivated. They know they’re a good team.” Cruz Azul will also be painfully aware of that fact.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Revenge’ Inspires Seattle Sounders to Record-Breaking Leagues Cup Demolition.
