Toluca and Austin FC Battle for Leagues Cup Semifinal Spot | OneFootball

Toluca faces Austin FC in the 2026 Leagues Cup quarterfinals this Wednesday, Aug. 26, at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey. The Diablos Rojos are in a generally positive stretch, while the Texas club comes in with a mixed run and is gradually regaining its form.

Below, you have all the information you need ahead of this important quarterfinal match.

Preview: Toluca vs. Austin FC

Kickoff: 8:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm PT @ Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJHow to watch live: Streaming on Apple TV

Let’s start with Toluca’s current situation in its most recent matches. Antonio Mohamed’s team comes off a 2-1 victory over Querétaro last Friday, Aug. 21, with goals from Helinho in the 65th minute and a penalty goal from Federico Viñas in the 90th minute. In that same match, Diego Barbosa was sent off in the 31st minute. 

Before that, when Liga MX action returned following the first phase of the Leagues Cup, Toluca drew 0-0 against Atlante, coached by legendary Mexican coach Miguel Herrera.

Those results put Toluca in third place in the Apertura 2026 standings with 10 points after five matches. 

Speaking specifically about the Leagues Cup, Toluca won two of three matches and lost one, 0-1 against LAFC on Aug. 8. They opened the tournament with a dominant 3-0 victory over Seattle Sounders and closed the tournament’s first phase with a 3-1 victory over FC Dallas.

As we mentioned at the beginning, Austin FC’s situation is somewhat mixed, as in their most recent match last Saturday, Aug. 22, they drew 1-1 against Philadelphia Union, with a goal from Brendan Hines-Ike in the 21st minute to equalize Philadelphia’s early lead following a goal from Cavan Sullivan in the 18th minute. 

Before that, they had defeated Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Aug. 19 and lost 2-1 to FC Dallas on Aug. 16.

David Arnaud’s side, however, had a good run in the first phase of the Leagues Cup. They began by defeating Club Tijuana 2-0 on Aug. 6 before beating Puebla 3-0 on Aug. 9.

They closed the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Liga MX giant Club América, but took the victory in the penalty shootout by a 6-5 score.

Austin FC currently sits 14th in the MLS Western Conference with 21 points after 21 matches played.

Players to Watch & Match Prediction

Now let’s talk a little about the players to keep an eye on ahead of this match.

Austin should be particularly careful with Toluca’s attack. Federico Viñas, Alexis Vega and Helinho form a quite efficient and dangerous attacking trio. In the current Liga MX season, the three have combined for five goal contributions in five matches: one goal from Vega, another from Viñas, one from Helinho, and two assists from the Brazilian.

Therefore, the most dangerous player heading into this match would be the 26-year-old winger.

Moving on to Austin FC, of course, we could talk about the attacking trio of Joseph Rosales, Cristian Ramírez, and Jon Gallagher, who have combined for 10 goal contributions in 21 MLS matches.

However, it seems to us that the biggest danger for Toluca does not come from there, but rather from the midfield. While these three players have 10 goals between them, one player has six goals this season for Austin, playing as a midfielder: the club’s No. 10, Myrto Uzuni.

The 31-year-old Albanian midfielder has had a very positive season with Austin FC in MLS, leading the team in goals and in key stats such as expected goals, expected goals per 90 minutes, expected goals on target, shots on target per 90 minutes, and shots per 90 minutes. All of this is according to SofaScore data.

Match Prediction: Toluca FC 3-2 Austin FC