Preview: Nashville SC vs Tigres UANL (Concacaf Champions Cup)

On Tuesday night, Nashville SC will take on Mexican powerhouse Tigres UNAL in the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals.

After taking down Club América, the first MLS team ever to win at Estadio Azteca, Nashville are three wins away from lifting the most elusive trophy available to an MLS club.

They'll host the first leg tonight at Geodis Park, travelling to Monterrey for the second leg on May 5. The next two matches are truly two of the biggest games Nashville SC have ever played.

Let's dive in.

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Match info

Teams: Nashville SC vs Tigres UNAL
Odds: NSH (+105), Draw (+220), TIG (+250)
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Time: 7:30 pm CT
Venue: Geodis Park, Nashville, TN, United States
TV: FS1, TUDN , ConcacafGO, OneSoccer
Forecast: 80º/62º. 72º at kickoff. Stormy, strong to severe storms possible. 5-12 mph winds, gusts up to 27 mph. 65% chance of rain during match. 73% humidity.

Head-to-head

Tigres

The numbers

Tigres snapshot

Tigres UANL were founded in 1960 on the campus of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Monterrey. Initially they weren't a wildly successful team, often finishing mid-table in Liga MX and winning two titles before being relegated in 1995. They were promoted back to Liga MX in 1997, and have remained there ever since.

Since 2010, they've established themselves as one of Mexico's top teams. They've won six Liga MX titles since 2010, finishing as runners up another four times. They also won the 2020 Concacaf Champions Cup against Los Angeles FC, and fell 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final of the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.

Tigres are littered with talent. 40-year-old former France international André-Pierre Gignac is slowing down as a goal-scorer, with just three goals since the start of the 2025-26 season. He's still a high-end hold-up No. 9, though, and he's a valuable pressure release valve for Los Auriazules.

Underneath him, Argentine midfielder Ángel Correa pulls the strings in attack. The dimminutive playmaker has 22 goals and 12 assists in 49 matches since joining Tigres this summer from Atlético Madrid, and is one of the most in-form players on the continent. He bagged a stunning four assists and one goal on Saturday in a 5-1 win over Mazatlán.

Mexico international Diego Lainez is a name many will be familiar with. Cutting inside onto his preferred left foot from the right wing, he's a lethal 1-v-1 attacker, who has developed into a versatile attacker. He's set to play for Mexico at the World Cup, while fellow winger Marcelo Flores on the opposite flank just filed a one-time switch to represent Canada.

Tigres's head coach is Guido Pizarro. The Argentine midfielder is a club legend, playing 400 matches for Tigres in two separate stints, and wearing the captain's armband. In the 2025 Clausura, he abruptly retired less than 24 hours after playing a match and took over the head coaching job after Veljko Paunović was sacked, despite a strong start to the season.

Under Pizarro, Tigres are a pragmatic and organized team. They're capable of playing attractive soccer in bursts, but clearly are focused on results instead of aesthetics. They're comfortable playing without the ball and absorbing pressure for long stretches of the game.

Their greatest strength is probably their ability to quickly change the tempo of a game when needed – they can speed up play to take advantage of a disorganized defense, or slow things down to reset and find their shape again. In many ways, they mirror how Nashville play.

Tigres are through to the Semifinals after a narrow win over the Seattle Sounders in the Quarterfinals. A 2-0 win at home in the first leg put them in the driver's seat, but they barely survived the return leg. In Seattle, the lost 3-1, narrowly squeezing through on away goals with just 31% possession and conceding 20 shots. This is a Tigres side who can grind out results with the best of them.

The timing of this series is fascinating. While Nashville are juggling MLS play during their Concacaf run, Tigres have been balancing a late push for the playoffs. They finished in seventh place in the Clausura table, just two points above the playoff line, and play the first leg of their playoff series against Chivas on Saturday.

For a Tigres side who haven't won a Liga MX title since 2023, and fell to Toluca in the final last year, they're under pressure to get a result domestically. How they balance a Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal during the most important series of their season will be fascinating.

Predicted XI

Nashville SC

The numbers

Nashville SC snapshot

Nashville SC come into this Semifinal series in elite form. Only one MLS team in the modern era of the tournament has reached the Semifinals while in first place in their conference – the Vancouver Whitecaps last year, who eventually fell in the final.

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Head coach BJ Callaghan has consistently played a full-strength team in MLS play, avoiding the drop in league play typically seen from teams making a deep run.

Tigres will pose a similar test to Club América, with similar quality in attack and identical records in Liga MX. Gignac is a different type of threat to any striker Nashville have faced so far this season, though. While he's less of a goal threat, he's the focal point of the Tigres attack, and is incredibly savvy in his movement and ability to involve his fellow attackers. Defenders Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi will need to be at their best to neutralize the threat.

Nashville have been elite at home this season in MLS play, and while they've created plenty of chances in their home matches against Miami and América, they failed to capitalize on their chances in either match, needing a result in the away leg to advance. That's really difficult to do three rounds in a row, especially going to El Volcán for the second leg, one of the most intimidating atmospheres on the continent.

For Nashville to advance, they'll need to come out of the gates quickly and aggressively, pinning Tigres back and creating their usual quality of chances. This time, though, they have to finish. At this stage of the competition, missed chances are a killer blow.

Predicted XI

Staff predictions

Ben Wright

Score: NSH 3-1 TIG
Scorers: Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Jeisson Palacios
MOTM: Hany Mukhtar
Bold prediction: Nashville come out of the gates with a similar performance to the first 20 minutes against Charlotte, and get a crucial home win to set up an eventual trip to the final.

Jeff Remlinger

Score: NSH 2-0 TIG
Scorers: Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar
MOTM: Cristian Espinoza
Bold prediction: At some point the luck in the home leg has to flip for Nashville, right?

Ronan Briscoe

Score: NSH 1–o TIG
Scorers: Sam Surridge
MOTM: Maxwell Woledzi
Bold prediction: Nashville take a lead into next week's second leg, and they don't concede a crucial away goal, but the gap isn't big enough to feel any comfort whatsoever.

Valair Shabilla

Score: NSH 3-0 TIG
Scorers: Sam Surridge (x2), Ahmed Qasem
MOTM: Sam Surridge
Bold prediction: Total dominance. Nashville win with ease.

Pre-match media