Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX, the top-flight leagues in North America and Mexico respectively, have announced a new cross-league, annual cup competition that will debut this July, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

The Leagues Cup will feature four teams from MLS and four from Liga MX. Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake will represent the MLS whilst Club America, Cruz Azul, Tigres and Club Tijuana will take part from Liga MX.

In the future, sporting criteria will determine the participants from both leagues. However, for the inaugural edition, the four MLS clubs were invited to compete and the Liga MX clubs were selected based on results in recent domestic competitions.

The tournament will be played in a knockout format, with all four quarter-final fixtures taking place at MLS stadiums, with the final also due to be played at a venue in the US.

Don Garber, MLS commissioner, said: "We are excited to take our partnership with Liga MX to the next level with Leagues Cup.

"We have an intense rivalry between our national teams, and Leagues Cup provides a terrific opportunity to increase the growing rivalry between MLS and Liga MX clubs."