San Diego met Puebla on Matchday 3 of the 2026 Leagues Cup at SnapDragon Stadium, with Fernando Hernández in the middle and a place in the path to the 2026 Grand Final on the line.
The match drew attention because it was not just another group-stage fixture. San Diego and Puebla entered it needing a crucial result, and the pregame focus was on how the lineups might shape that push. Puebla’s starting eleven included Miguel Jiménez, Emanuel Gularte, Efraín Orona, José Pachuca, Brayan Angulo, Jesús Rivas, Franco Moyano, Facundo Waller, Alberto Herrera, Emiliano Gómez, Ricardo Marín and Omar González, while San Diego also showed its starters before kickoff. Apple TV+ was listed as the streaming option, and there was no television option available for viewers.
That made the referee assignment part of the story too. Hernández had the sort of match that leaves little room for drift, because the game carried direct implications for advancement and arrived with live lineup information already in view. The last meeting referenced between the sides was in the 2023 preseason, when León won 2-0 at SnapDragon Stadium and Ángel Mena scored and assisted, which is why that detail appeared alongside a San Diego versus Puebla matchup even though it pointed back to a different opponent. It was a reminder that the latest meeting stood on its own, even as the historical note reached elsewhere.
What was not yet clear from the available information was the result. The live setup told readers who started, who officiated, where the game was played and how it could be watched, but it did not settle the one thing that decides whether a Matchday 3 night changes a team’s place in the competition: who finished with the points.
