Champions Cup Quarterfinals Game-Changers: Paulinho | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals saw Deportivo Toluca FC advance to the Semifinals with stellar performances from its Game-Changer Paulinho. 

The Portuguese striker was in top form for the reigning Liga MX champions, who defeated LA Galaxy 7-2 on aggregate, moving them a step closer to claiming a Concacaf title they haven’t won since 2003.

Paulinho set the tone in the First Leg in Mexico, netting a hat trick in the 4-2 win that gave Toluca the upper hand in the series. He became the fifth player in tournament history to score a hat-trick in the Quarterfinals, and the first European to achieve the feat.

To Toluca star followed up with a brace in the Second Leg, on the road, to help punch a ticket to the next round. Toluca became the first Mexican club to win 3-nil as a visitor in a second-leg match against a U.S. opponent in any round of the competition.

The striker now has six goals in the tournament and is tied with LA Galaxy’s Gabriel Pec for the Top Scorer Award of this year’s edition. 

Paulinho is quickly climbing Toluca’s all-time scorers rankings in the competition, as he surpassed players like Sinha, Juan Cuevas, Carlos Esquivel and Vicente Sánchez. He is now four away from tying Raúl Nava (10) among the all-time scorers for Toluca in Champions Cup.

The Mexican side returns to the semifinals for the first time since the 2013/14 edition and prepares to face Los Angeles FC for a shot at advancing to the Final.