The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club
football competition organized by
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
. The tournament is contested by clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League automatically qualifies for the quarter-finals of the
FIFA Club World Cup.
The tournament currently uses a
knockout format; it had a group stage prior to the
2018 competition. Unlike its European and South American counterparts, the winner of the CONCACAF Champions League does not automatically qualify for the following season's competition.
When it was first organized in 1962, the competition was called the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The title has been won by 28 clubs, 13 of which have won the title more than once. Mexican clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, with 36 titles in total. The second most successful league has been Costa Rica's
Primera División, with six titles in total. Mexican side
Club América are the most successful club in the competition's history, with seven titles, followed by fellow Mexican side
Cruz Azul
Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...
with six titles. The most successful non-Mexican club is
Saprissa
Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...
of Costa Rica, with three titles. The only four teams to successfully defend the trophy are all Mexican: América, Cruz Azul,
Pachuca
Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...
and
Monterrey. The current champions of the competition are
Seattle Sounders FC, who defeated
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...
in the
2022 final.
Competition format
The tournament employs a 16-team knockout format and is played between February and May. Ten teams qualify automatically based on domestic performance, along with the top six teams (champion, runner-up, two losing semi-finalists, and two best losing quarter-finalists) of the
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
, played at the end of the previous calendar year.
Each round of competition consists of a two-leg home-and-away series with the winner determined by aggregate goals over both legs. If aggregate goals are equal, the
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...
is applied. If away goals are also equal, the game is decided by an immediate
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
; there are no
overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
periods.
Prior to 2018, the tournament had two parts: a group stage held from August to October, and a knockout phase held from March to May of the following year. The group stage consisted of 24 teams playing in eight groups of three teams each, with each team playing the other two teams in its group twice. United States and Mexican sides could not be drawn into the same group. The winners of each of the eight groups advanced to the quarterfinals. Each phase of the knockout rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, finals) consisted of a two-leg home-and-away series with the winner determined by aggregate goal differential. Seeding in the knockout phase was determined by performance during the group stage.
Prior to the 2012–13 season, the competition had involved four groups of four, with one Mexican team and one U.S. team in each group. A preliminary round was used to reduce the number of teams from 24 to 16.
History
![Copa Campeón Concacaf 1972 CD Olimpia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Copa_Campe%C3%B3n_Concacaf_1972_CD_Olimpia.png)
The competition was initially created as a possible measure to enter the South American
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
, a competition organized by
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
.
Prior to 2008, the tournament was officially called the "CONCACAF Champions' Cup", but was usually referred to simply as the "Champions' Cup". The competition has had several different formats over its lifetime. From 1962 until 1995, the finalists, or clubs participating in a final round, would be decided by clubs who qualify via two separate brackets: a Caribbean Island qualifier and a Northern/Central American qualification competition. Initially, only the champions of the North American leagues participated. In 1971, the runners-up of a few North American leagues began to join and the tournament began to be expanded, incorporating round-robin group phases and more teams. After the creation of the United States'
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, the competition became a straight knockout competition from 1997 until it was revamped into a tournament with a group stage in 2008.
Champions' Cup Era (1962–2008)
The competition's first edition, a
knockout tournament
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
called the Champions' Cup, was played under a variety of formats. The last format, used from 2004 to 2008, had eight teams competing – four from the ''
North American zone'' (two from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, two from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
), three from the ''
Central American zone'', and one from the ''
Caribbean zone''. Since 2005, the champion of the competition also gained entry into the
FIFA Club World Cup, giving clubs an added incentive for a strong participation and greater interest from fans. Also, the Champions' Cup Runner-up would be one of the three CONCACAF invitees to the
Copa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...
.
Champions League Era (2008–2017)
The CONCACAF Executive Committee at their 2006 November meeting decided to "act upon" a proposal—first delineated in 2003 by then Head of Special Projects Mel Brennan—at their next meeting by the CONCACAF Secretariat to develop the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup into a larger "Champions League" style event. The CONCACAF Executive Committee reported on 14 November 2007 some of the details.
The previous Champions' Cup format was used as planned in March and April 2008. Then, a newly expanded Champions League tournament was conducted starting in August 2008 and concluding in May 2009. The initial setup involved 24 teams and featured a Preliminary Round contested by 16 teams to reduce the field to 16 teams, which were separated into four groups of four teams.
After the Group Stage, the Championship Round are held from the Quarterfinal Round onward.
Since 2012, the 24 teams have been divided into eight groups of three teams. The first placed teams qualify for the quarter finals. The quarter finals, semi finals and final are played over two legs.
Tournament restructuring (2018–2023)
In December 2016, Manuel Quintanilla, president of the
Nicaraguan Football Federation
The Nicaraguan Football Federation (FENIFUT; es, Federación Nicaragüense de Fútbol) is the official governing body of association football in Nicaragua.
FENIFUT comprises 19 departmental and 153 municipal federations. It oversees all national ...
, spoke of a possible new format for the competition, a statement that was later corroborated by
Garth Lagerwey
Garth Lagerwey (born December 12, 1972) is a retired American soccer player who played five seasons in Major League Soccer as a goalkeeper. He became the general manager of Real Salt Lake in 2007 and stayed with the club before departing in 201 ...
, the general manager of
Seattle Sounders FC. On 23 January 2017, CONCACAF confirmed the new format beginning with the 2018 edition, eliminating the group stage which had been employed since the re-branding of the competition to the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008.
Under the new CONCACAF competition platform, 31 clubs compete in CONCACAF competitions. 22 teams compete in a new tournament played from August to December, called the
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
. The CONCACAF League features 18 teams from Central America, three teams from the Caribbean and one team from North America. The champions and next best five clubs advance to the CONCACAF Champions League, played between February and May of the next calendar year, joining nine teams from North America and one team from the Caribbean (the champions of the Caribbean Club Championship).
Expansion (from 2024)
In February 2021, CONCACAF announced a major overhaul of the tournament which would have included 50 teams and a regional group stage. Twenty teams from North America, twenty teams from Central America, and ten teams from the Caribbean would have been divided into groups of five teams where a total of 16 teams would advance to the knockout stage. This format was abandoned and was never used.
In September of that year, CONCACAF announced an expansion of the tournament to begin in
2024. Under the new format, twenty-seven teams would take part in the Champions League; twenty-two teams would enter the first round, with the winners to be joined by five teams in the round of 16. Teams may qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through their domestic leagues or cups, or through their regional cup competitions: the
Leagues Cup
The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminati ...
for teams from
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, the
Central American Cup for teams from
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, and a Caribbean Cup for teams from the
Caribbean.
Additionally, the final will be no longer be over two legs, and instead be a one-off game played at a neutral site.
Qualification
A total of sixteen teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League: at least nine from the
North American Zone (from three associations), and at least one team from the
Caribbean Zone (the champions of the Caribbean Club Championship).
The remaining six berths goes to the top-six placed teams in the
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
, played between eighteen teams from the
Central American Zone, three from the Caribbean Zone and one from the North American Zone. At least two Central American Zone teams will qualify through the CONCACAF League.
Nine from the ''
North American Zone'':
:Four clubs from
:Four clubs from the
:One club from
One club from the ''
Caribbean Zone'':
:One club, qualifying via the
Caribbean Club Championship
The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). T ...
Six clubs from the ''
Central American
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Cen ...
'', ''Caribbean'', or ''North American'' Zones.
:6 clubs, qualifying via the
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
Clubs may be disqualified and replaced by a club from another association if the club does not have an available stadium that meets CONCACAF regulations for safety. If a club's own stadium fails to meet the set standards then it may find a suitable replacement stadium within its own country. However, if it is still determined that the club cannot provide the adequate facilities then it runs the risk of being replaced.
North American Zone
Nine teams from the
North American Football Union
The North American Football Union (NAFU; french: Union Nord-Américaine de Football; es, Unión Norteamericana de Fútbol) is a regional grouping under CONCACAF of national football organizations in the ''North American Zone''. The NAFU has no o ...
qualify to the Champions League. Mexico and the United States are each allocated four berths, the most of any of CONCACAF's member associations, while Canada is granted one berth in the tournament.
For Mexico, the winners and runners-up of the
Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify for the Champions League.
For the United States, three berths are allocated through the
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS) regular season and playoffs (the
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...
winner, the
Supporters' Shield winner, and the other regular season conference winner); the fourth berth is allocated to the winner of its
domestic
Domestic may refer to:
In the home
* Anything relating to the human home or family
** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication
** A domestic appliance, or home appliance
** A domestic partnership
** Domestic science, sometimes c ...
cup competition, the
U.S. Open Cup. If a Canada-based team occupies any MLS-allocated berth, or any U.S-based team qualifies for the Champions League by more than one method, the Champions League place is allocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record which has failed to otherwise qualify.
The lone Canadian berth is awarded to the winner of the
Canadian Championship, Canada's domestic cup competition. When Canada hosted the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Canadian Championship was moved from April–May to April–August (with no matches occurring between May and August), overlapping with the start of the Champions League. For the 2015–16 tournament only, the Canadian berth into the tournament was given to the best Canadian team in the MLS regular season.
Caribbean Zone
One team from the
Caribbean Football Union qualifies directly to the Champions League. This berth goes to the winners of the
Caribbean Club Championship
The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). T ...
.
If the Caribbean qualifier is precluded, they are supplanted by the runners-up of the Caribbean Club Championship.
CONCACAF League
The final six berths are awarded to the top-six placed teams in
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
. Twenty two teams participate in this tournament, eighteen from the Central American Zone (three berths each from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, and El Salvador; two from Nicaragua; and one from Belize), three from the Caribbean Zone (the runners-up and third place team from the Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-place team and the
Caribbean Club Shield
The Caribbean Club Shield, also known as the CFU Club Shield, was an annual Caribbean football competition for clubs that were members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). It was a second-tier competition to the Caribbean Club Championship, and ...
winners), and one from Canada (the
Canadian Premier League
The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league compe ...
representative).
Stadium standards
If a club fails to meet the standards for its home
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
, the club must find a suitable stadium in its own country, and if the club fails to provide the adequate facilities, it runs the risk of being replaced by another team.
Real Esteli of Nicaragua failed stadium requirements and was replaced by another team for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.
Estadio Independencia
Estadio Independencia is a multi-use stadium in Estelí, Nicaragua. It is currently used for football matches and is the home stadium to Real Estelí.
The stadium holds 5,000 people, and has been renovated and equipped with synthetic turf i ...
in Nicaragua has since been renovated, including upgrades to stadium lighting, and Nicaraguan teams now participate. The qualifying team from Belize failed stadium requirements and was replaced by another team in each season from 2009–10 through 2014–15.
On 8 April 2015, Mexican side
Club América broke the all time CONCACAF Champions League match attendance record when a reported 66,208 spectators gathered at the
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...
in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
to watch
América play
Costa Rican
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the n ...
club
C.S. Herediano
Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...
in the second leg of the semifinals of the
2015 edition of the tournament. This was surpassed by the
Seattle Sounders FC on 4 May 2022, at
Lumen Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...
in the final against
Pumas UNAM
Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...
with an announced attendance of 68,741.
Sponsorship
The CONCACAF Champions League has several corporate sponsors:
Scotiabank (which has been a title sponsor of the Champions League since 2014–15),
Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch' ...
,
MoneyGram
MoneyGram International, Inc. is an American cross-border P2P payments and money transfer company based in the United States with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. It has an operations center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and regional and local of ...
,
Maxxis Tires, and
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
.
The sponsors' names appear on the boards around the perimeter of the field, and boards for pre-game and post-game interviews and press conferences.
Nike is also the official provider of game balls and referee uniforms.
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
was the title sponsor for the Champions' Cup in the 1990s.
Broadcasters
The CONCACAF Champions League broadcast is also available in South America in all languages on
ESPN (Star+) and globally in English through Concacaf GO.
Finals
Since the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, the finals have only ever been contested by clubs from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
or
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The first 14 were won by Mexican clubs. The
most recent final was contested by
Seattle Sounders FC and
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...
, won by the former 5–2 on aggregate. The second leg at Seattle's
Lumen Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...
was played in front of a tournament record crowd of 68,741.
Records and statistics
Champions League
Champions' Cup
† – Title shared.
†† – Includes one title shared.
* When sorted by years won or lost, the table is sorted by the year of each team's most recent inaugural win or loss.
See also
*
FIFA Club World Cup
*
CONCACAF Champions League U13
The CONCACAF Champions League U13 is an annual youth continental club football invitational competition organized by CONCACAF. The goal of the competition is to develop the sport and talent of football within the CONCACAF region, which includes N ...
*
CONCACAF Cup Winners' Cup
The CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup was an international association football club competition held from 1991 to 1998.
The cup was between the winners of their nation's domestic cup competitions, which posed a problem as some participating countries did ...
*
CONCACAF Giants Cup
The CONCACAF Giants Cup was an international association football club competition held in 2001 to replace CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup. The cup was for CONCACAF teams with the highest attendance in their national league, and was won by Mexico's Club ...
*
CONCACAF League
The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017.
The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...
*
Continental football championships
This page is a list of the continental championships for clubs and national teams in association football.
The championships are organised by the respective FIFA-affiliated continental confederations: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (Nor ...
*
Interamerican Cup
The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...
*
Leagues Cup
The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminati ...
*
North American SuperLiga
The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by C ...
*
List of association football competitions
This is a list of the association football competitions past and present for international teams and for club football, in individual countries and internationally. Confirmed future competitions are also included.
The competitions are grouped b ...
References
External links
*
CONCACAF Club competitions of rsssf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concacaf Champions League
Champions League
Multi-national association football leagues in North America
Sports leagues established in 1962
1962 establishments in North America