LAFC drew 1-1 against Liga MX side Querétaro F.C. on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium, then won the postmatch penalty shootout 5-3, sustaining its hopes of advancing to the Quarterfinals of Leagues Cup.
LAFC finishes Phase One of Leagues Cup unbeaten, with a 1W-0L-2D record, winning each of its penalty shootouts for a total of seven points. The club is currently in third place on the MLS side of the standings and can advance to the tournament quarterfinals if either Austin FC or the Chicago Fire lose their final Phase One matches in regulation on Thursday.
Querétaro had already been eliminated from the competition heading into tonight’s game, having lost each of its first two games; but it was the Mexican side that opened the scoring in the 12th minute. LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris saved a long range strike from Querétaro’s Bayron Duarte, but the rebound went straight to Alí Ávila, who headed the ball in from close range, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The score remained that way until the second half when Denis Bouanga, the all-time leading scorer in Leagues Cup history, equalized for LAFC. Timmy Tiilman played a short pass ahead for Ryan Raposo on the right, and his first-time cross picked out Bouanga at the back post, allowing the Gabon international to tap the ball home from close range, tying the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute.
Despite outshooting the visitors 17-11, LAFC was unable to break the deadlock and the match went to penalties. There, Bouanga, Son, Yevhen Cheberko, and Ryan Hollingshead all converted their spot kicks before Querétaro’s Daniel Parra saw his attempt crash off the crossbar, allowing Ryan Porteous to convert the winning penalty for LAFC.
The Black & Gold will return to MLS action on Saturday, August 15, when the club hosts San Diego FC at BMO Stadium. That match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on Apple TV, as well as Coupang Play and SPOTV for fans in Korea. Local radio coverage will be available on 710 AM ESPN, the ESPN LA app, KYPA 1230 AM (Korean), and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), with national coverage on SiriusXM FC 157 and SiriusXM Soccer en Español 1999.
NOTES
- LAFC is now 9W-2L-5D all-time in Leagues Cup, including an 8-0-5 mark at BMO Stadium.
- LAFC has won its last three penalty shootouts in Leagues Cup, defeating Pachuca last year before beating Chivas and Querétaro this year.
- In all competitions in 2026, LAFC is now 16-6-8. The club is 10-5-4 in MLS, went 5-1-2 in the Concacaf Champions Cup, and now has a 1-0-2 record in Leagues Cup.
- LAFC is unbeaten in its last eight games in all competitions dating back to a 1-0 win over Seattle prior to the FIFA World Cup break on May 24. In those eight games, LAFC has outscored its opponents 15-4.
- The club is now 4-1-4 all-time against Liga MX clubs in Leagues Cup.
- This was the 22nd time that LAFC has played a Liga MX club in an official competition. The club is now 10-6-6 in that time, including 8-2-5 at home.
- LAFC has converted 10 of its 11 attempts in penalty shootouts in Leagues Cup 2026.
- Denis Bouanga’s 57th minute goal was his 15th all-time in Leagues Cup. He is now the all-time leading scorer in the history of the competition.
- Bouanga now has a goal or an assist in 12 of the 15 Leagues Cup matches that he has played, tallying 15 goals and six assists in that time.
- Bouanga is LAFC’s top scorer this season, tallying 18 goals in 28 games in all competitions for the club. He now needs just two more goals to eclipse the 20-goal plateau for the fourth consecutive year.
- Alí Ávila’s first-half goal gave Querétaro a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. That was the first time that LAFC had trailed in a Leagues Cup match since the 2024 Leagues Cup Final against Columbus.
- That was also the last time that LAFC had conceded first in Leagues Cup, snapping the club’s streak of five straight games in which it scored first.
- Five LAFC players - Bouanga, Mathieu Choinière, Mark Delgado, Son Heung-Min, and Nkosi Tafari have started all three of LAFC’s Leagues Cup games this year.
- Marc Dos Santos made five changes to the team that beat Toluca 1-0 on Saturday with Ryan Porteous, Ryan Raposo, Eddie Segura, Jacob Shaffelburg, and Jude Terry coming into the lineup in place of Yevhen Cheberko, Ryan Hollingshead, Aaron Long, David Martínez, and Timothy Tillman. Of those five players, all but Long came off the bench to play in the second half.
