Wednesday, May 6 | 6:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Estadio Nemesio Díez - Toluca, Mexico
🖥 | FS1, TUDN, ConcacafGO, Coupang Play (Korea)
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
LAFC travels to central Mexico for the second time in four weeks as it takes on Toluca in the second and decisive leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinal.
LAFC holds a 2-1 aggregate-goals lead in the two-game series on the strength of its 2-1 victory at BMO Stadium in LA last week. If the Black & Gold ties Wednesday’s second leg, or wins by any score, it will advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup Final on May 30, to face the winner of the other Semifinal between Nashville SC and Tigres.
WHAT’S THE SCENARIO
Away goals—goals scored in the opponents’ stadium—are the tiebreaker in this competition if aggregate goals are even after two legs.
If Toluca is leading 2-1 at the end of full time on Wednesday night, the two teams would be tied on aggregate goals (3-3) and away goals (1-1). In that instance, two 15-minute periods of extra time would be played, followed by a penalty shootout if needed.
If Toluca is leading 3-2 at the end of full time on Wednesday night, the teams would be tied on aggregate goals (4-4) but LAFC would advance based on its 2-1 edge in away goals.
If LAFC trails at the full-time whistle by any score other than 3-2 or 2-1, Toluca advances.
RECORD ROAD STREAK
LAFC has scored in ten consecutive away matches in Concacaf Champions Cup, the longest such streak by an MLS club in the modern era (since 2008).
BOUANGA’S BACK
LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, the top scorer in the competition over the last four years (2023-2026), sat out last week’s 2-1 win over Toluca in Los Angeles due to yellow-card suspension.
In Leg 2 of LAFC's Quarterfinal win over Cruz Azul, Bouanga scored his fifth goal in this year’s competition, and his 15th overall in Concacaf Champions Cup. No other player has scored more than nine goals in the tournament since Bouanga made his CCC debut in 2023.
BY THE NUMBERS
1-2
LAFC and Toluca are ranked first and second, respectively, in the most recent Concacaf rankings, out of hundreds of clubs across 41 member associations.
24
LAFC's Hugo Lloris leads all goalkeepers in this year’s competition in saves (24).
7
Son Heung-Min leads all players in assists (7).
LAFC's first-leg win over Toluca last week extended its unbeaten run in the competition to seven matches (5W-0L-2D). The Black & Gold is the only remaining undefeated team in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
3
LAFC is seeking to reach the final for a third time after finishing as Champions Cup runners-up in 2020 and 2023.
6
Toluca seeks to advance to its sixth Champions Cup final and claim its third title.
4
LAFC is unbeaten in its four previous Champions Cup Semifinal matches, with a record of 3W-0L-1D (9 goals scored, 3 goals allowed).
18
LAFC has an all-time record of 9W-5L-4D in 18 matches against Liga MX clubs in official competition (Concacaf Champions Cup, Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup Play-In match).
9
The Black & Gold is unbeaten in regulation time against Liga MX clubs over its last nine meetings (5W-0L-4D).
LAFC |
16 goals scored (1st among semifinal teams) |
SON HEUNG-MIN |
7 assists (1st among all players) |
HUGO LLORIS |
24 saves (1st) |
DENIS BOUANGA |
5 goals (3rd) |
DAVID MARTÍNEZ |
4 goals (T-4th) |
SCOUTING TOLUCA
Toluca played courageously against LAFC in LA last Wednesday, earning a valuable away goal on a strike by midfielder Jesús Ricardo Angulo in the 73rd minute. Angulo’s goal tied the match 1-1 before LAFC defender Nkosi Tafari headed home a corner kick from Son in second-half stoppage time to secure LAFC’s 2-1 win.
LAFC played without its all-time leading scorer (Bouanga) and its longest-tenured player (defender Eddie Segura) in that match due to yellow-card accumulation. In Leg Two, it appears Toluca will have to do without an elite attacker and defender. Captain and star forward Alexis Vega has been called into camp with the Mexican national team along with left back Jesús Gallardo. Vega came on for the final ten minutes in Leg One against LAFC. Gallardo started the match and played all 90 minutes.
Toluca striker Paulinho (João Paulo Dias Fernandes) leads all players with six goals scored in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
JAM-PACKED
Both clubs are enduring congested calendars.
LAFC is in the middle of a stretch of 13 matches in 44 days, while Toluca finds itself playing its four most important matches of 2026 in a span of just two weeks.
On Sunday night, May 3, Los Diablos Rojos lost the first leg of its Liga MX Liguilla Quarterfinals series to Pachuca, 1-0, at home at Estadio Nemesio Díez. Those two sides will reconvene for Leg 2 in Pachuca on Friday, May 10, to see who moves on to the league semis.
ABOUT ESTADIO NEMESIO DÍEZ
Located in the Colonia Francisco Murguía neighborhood in the heart of downtown Toluca, Mexico (metro population 2.2 million), Estadio Nemesio Díez opened in 1954 and is one of the oldest top-flight football venues in the country. Initially known as Estadio Héctor Barraza and later Luis Gutiérrez Dosal, it was renamed in 2000 to honor Nemesio Díez Riega, president and then owner of the club, who had died earlier that year.
Nicknamed La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box), El Infierno (The Hell), or La Casa del Diablo (The Devil's House), the stadium has hosted matches during the 1970 FIFA World Cup—including a quarterfinal between Mexico and Italy—and the 1986 FIFA World Cup 1986 group stage, and multiple matches involving the Mexican national team. A renovation from 2015 to 2017 modernized the venue, adding upper tiers and a roof. Today, the stadium holds 30,000 spectators.
WHAT IS CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP?
The region’s most prestigious club competition, Concacaf Champions Cup is a 27-team continental tournament that takes place from February through May and features the top 27 teams in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the Champions Cup Final on May 30 earns a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
Its recent rotations pay off, and its defense holds. In Saturday’s 2-2 draw in San Diego in league play, manager Marc Dos Santos made nine changes to the starting eleven that had begun last week’s first-leg win over Toluca.
Two of those resting starters—defenders Ryan Porteous and Sergi Palencia (above)—did not come on as substitutes against San Diego. Fully refreshed, Palencia and Porteous will be on the field at kickoff on Wednesday night, in the 8,750-foot elevation of Toluca, where a scoreless draw or any kind of win would push LAFC to its third Champions Cup Final. If LAFC concedes more than one goal, its control of its own fate decreases.
TOLUCA WILL WIN IF
The cauldron of supporters and the thin air in the Nemesio Díez inspire the Red Devils’ attack. A one-nil Toluca win won’t cut it. A 2-1 Toluca win means extra time.
If Toluca scores three, their chances of moving on skyrocket.
