América and Cruz Azul were both knocked out of the Concacaf Champions Cup 2026 on a night that handed MLS two more semifinal spots and left Liga MX with a thinner path forward. Nashville beat América 1-0 at Estadio Banorte to win their quarterfinal series, while LAFC held Cruz Azul to a 1-1 draw in Puebla and advanced 4-1 on aggregate.
Hany Mukhtar scored in the 51st minute to decide the América tie after the teams had played out a 0-0 first leg in the United States. At Estadio Banorte, Nashville protected the lead and completed a 1-0 series win, sending it on to face the winner of Tigres UANL and Seattle Sounders in the semifinals. Cruz Azul, meanwhile, needed a near-perfect night after losing 3-0 in the first leg, and Gabriel Fernández’s 18th-minute penalty gave it hope before Denis Bouanga converted from the spot in the 90+7th minute to seal LAFC’s place in the last four.
The late sequence in Puebla told the story of Cruz Azul’s elimination. Willer Ditta committed the penalty that allowed LAFC to equalize deep into stoppage time, and Gonzalo Piovi was sent off in the 90+2nd minute, leaving the Mexican club to finish the game short-handed. Cruz Azul ended up eliminated 4-1 on aggregate, and LAFC moved on to meet the winner of Toluca and LA Galaxy.
The quarterfinal round had paired four Liga MX teams with four MLS teams, and the results have already pushed the bracket toward another cross-border semifinal. Toluca and Tigres were still scheduled to try to finish their own second legs as visitors the following day, with the rest of the draw now set to decide which clubs can keep chasing the title.
For América, the loss was especially costly because the tie was there to be won after the scoreless opener, but Nashville found the one chance it needed and defended it to the end. For Cruz Azul, the margin from the first leg proved too much to erase, even with an early penalty and a late push that ended with Bouanga’s decisive spot kick.
