Whitecaps toppled 5-4 in penalties by Tigres, exit Leagues Cup without a win

SAN NICOLÁS DE LOS GARZA — The Vancouver Whitecaps made it to the MLS Cup final last year before losing 3-1 to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami crew in Florida.

This year they are tied for first in the Western Conference with Los Angeles F-C, and pursuing a record fifth straight Voyageurs Cup, awarded annually to the Canada’s soccer champions.

But this year’s Leagues Cup has not been one of the team’s many success stories.

But despite losing the first two games of Group A at home — 3-1 to Juarez and 1-0 to Atlante — the Whitecaps refused to quit in their third and final game on Tuesday against the host Tigres UANL, but lost 5-4 in penalties to the Mexican pro football club that competes in Liga MX.

Rodrigo Aguirre opened the scoring in the 19th minute for the Tigres. Vancouver’s Emmanuel Sabbi netted the equalizer in the 80th minute, and the Whitecaps couldn’t capitalize on late red cards to Tigres Diego Lainez and Nahuel Guzman.

The hosts outshot the Whitecaps 10-5 (5-3 on target), but the visitors controlled 55 per cent of possession. The Tigres took 14 of the match’s 25 fouls, two of four yellow cards and the only two red cards issued in the game.

The Whitecaps took five corners, while the Tigres had two.

Juan Brunetta, Fernando Gorriaran, Romulo Zwarg, Diego Sanchez and Joaquim Henrique scored penalties for the Tigres, while Ryan Gauld, Sabbi, Oliver Larraz and Edier Ocampo scored from the spot for the Whitecaps.

After the ‘Caps took a 4-3 lead in penalties, Mathias Laborda, Ralph Priso and Rayan Elloumi all missed consecutive shots for the visitors.

The Leagues Cup features all 18 Liga MX teams and 18 top-performing or playoff qualified MLS sides.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2026.