2020 CONCACAF Champions League

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2020 CONCACAF Champions League
2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
275px
Exploria Stadium in Orlando will host the final
Tournament details
Dates 18 February – 22 December 2020
Teams 16 (from 8 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 19
Goals scored 58 (3.05 per match)
2019
2021
All statistics correct as of 11 March 2020.

The 2020 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) is the 12th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 55th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[1]

Starting from this season, only 10 of the 16 teams directly qualified for the tournament, with the other six berths allocated through the CONCACAF League, where previously only the winners would have qualified.[2]

The winners of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League will qualify for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Monterrey are the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and are unable to defend their title.

On 12 March 2020, CONCACAF suspended the tournament with immediate effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] On 13 March 2020, CONCACAF suspended all upcoming competitions scheduled to take place over the next 30 days, with the new dates of the matches to be confirmed later.[4] On 7 August 2020, they provided an update on the remaining 11 matches of the tournament, including different options such as centralizing the remaining ties in one city.[5]

In October 2020, it was reported that CONCACAF would resume the tournament at a neutral location either in Mexico or in the U.S. states of California, Florida, or Texas during the third or fourth week of December over the span of the week.[6] On 2 November 2020 it was announced that the tournament would resume at a centralized location in the United States from 15 to 22 December 2020, with the remaining quarter-finals, single-leg semi-finals and final.[7] On 10 November, Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida was designated as the host for the remainder of the tournament.[8]

Qualification

A total of 16 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League:

  • Ten teams which directly qualified for the tournament:
  • Six teams qualify through the CONCACAF League (from between two and six associations)

Therefore, teams from between 6 and 10 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.

North America

The nine direct berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU), which consists of three member associations, were allocated as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.

For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla (playoff) tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.

For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, three through the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and one through its domestic cup competition:

If there was any team which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, or conference regular season, the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record not yet qualified.

For Canada, the champions of the 2019 Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awards the Voyageurs Cup, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. While some Canada-based teams compete in MLS, they cannot qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. Moreover, a team from the Canadian Premier League qualified for the CONCACAF League, meaning a second team from Canada (and a tenth team from North America) could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Central America

Teams from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consists of seven member associations, must qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the CONCACAF League. A total of 18 teams from Central America qualify for the CONCACAF League through their domestic leagues. As all but four teams in the CONCACAF League are from Central America, between two and six teams from Central America may qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Caribbean

Teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consists of 31 member associations, qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League either as champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament, or through the CONCACAF League. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship is open to teams from professional leagues, where they can qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season.[9]

Another three teams from the Caribbean qualify for the CONCACAF League, which are the runners-up and third-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament which is open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they can qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season. Therefore, between one and four teams from the Caribbean may qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

CONCACAF League

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Besides the 10 direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 22 teams (1 from North America, 18 from Central America, and 3 from the Caribbean) qualify for the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from July to November prior to the CONCACAF Champions League.[10] The top six teams of the CONCACAF League, i.e., champions, runners-up, both losing semi-finalists, and best two losing quarter-finalists, qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Teams

The following 16 teams (from eight associations) qualified for the tournament.

In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).

Direct entrants (10 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method Last appearance Previous Best (Last)
 Mexico (4 berths) América 2018 Apertura champions 5th (2018) Champions (2015–16)
UANL 2019 Clausura champions 6th (2019) Runners-up (2019)
Cruz Azul 2018 Apertura runners-up 6th (2014–15) Champions (2013–14)
León 2019 Clausura runners-up 2nd (2014–15) Group stage (2014–15)
 United States (4 berths) Seattle Sounders FC 2019 MLS Cup champions 6th (2018) Semi-finals (2012–13)
Los Angeles FC 2019 MLS Supporters' Shield champions 1st Debut
New York City FC 2019 MLS Eastern Conference regular season champions 1st Debut
Atlanta United FC 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions 2nd (2019) Quarter-finals (2019)
 Canada (1 berth) Montreal Impact 2019 Canadian Championship champions 4th[Note MTL] (2014–15) Runners-up (2014–15)
 Jamaica (CFU berth) Portmore United 2019 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions 1st Debut
Qualified teams from CONCACAF League (6 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method Last appearance Previous Best (Last)
 Costa Rica Saprissa 2019 CONCACAF League champions (1st overall) 9th (2019) Semi-finals (2010–11)
San Carlos 2019 CONCACAF League best ranked losing quarter-finalists (5th overall) 1st Debut
 El Salvador Alianza 2019 CONCACAF League worse ranked losing semi-finalists (4th overall) 4th (2019) Round of 16 (2019)
 Guatemala Comunicaciones 2019 CONCACAF League 2nd best ranked losing quarter-finalists (6th overall) 6th (2015–16) Quarter-finals (2009–10)
 Honduras Motagua 2019 CONCACAF League runners-up (2nd overall) 5th (2018) Round of 16 (2018)
Olimpia 2019 CONCACAF League better ranked losing semi-finalists (3rd overall) 11th (2018) Quarter-finals (2014–15)
Notes
  1. ^ Montreal Impact: Montreal Impact's first appearance in 2008–09 was made by an earlier incarnation of the franchise with the same name, which played in the USL First Division. The current MLS club began play in 2012, and has made three appearances since then.

Draw

Location of teams of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League
Red pog.svg North American Zone Green pog.svg Central American Zone Blue pog.svg Caribbean Zone

The draw for the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 9 December 2019, 21:00 EST (local time 20:00 CST), at the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana in Mexico City.[11][12]

The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" (Pot A and Pot B) contained the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 were assigned a bracket position from Pot A and the teams from Pot 2 were assigned a bracket position from Pot B. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replaced a team from another association.[13]

The seeding of teams was based on the CONCACAF Club Index.[14] The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, was based on the on-field performance of the teams that had occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:

Points per Participation Win Draw Stage advanced Champions
4 3 1 1 2

The slots were assigned by the following rules:[15]

  • For teams from North America, nine teams qualified based on criteria set by their association (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., MEX1, MEX2) for each team. If a team from Canada qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked within their association, resulting in an assigned slot (i.e., CAN2) for them.
  • For teams from Central America, they qualified through the CONCACAF League, and were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., CRC1, CRC2) for each team.
  • For teams from the Caribbean, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions were assigned the Caribbean champion slot (i.e., CCC1). If teams from the Caribbean qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., JAM1, SUR1) for each team.

The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:[16][17]

Pot Rank Slot 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2018 2019 Total Team
Pot 1 1 MEX3 32 23 15 17 26 113 Mexico Cruz Azul
2 MEX2 16 20 30 25 21 112 Mexico UANL
3 MEX1 11 33 27 12 20 103 Mexico América
4 CAN1 23 8 22 21 5 79 Canada Montreal Impact
5 USA3 13 16 20 17 11 77 United States New York City FC
6 USA4 20 16 8 5 11 60 United States Atlanta United FC
7 USA2 9 13 14 7 15 58 United States Los Angeles FC
8 USA1 11 14 11 11 11 58 United States Seattle Sounders FC
Pot 2 9 CRC2 18 9 14 5 7 53 Costa Rica San Carlos
10 MEX4 9 18 10 9 4 50 Mexico León
11 HON1 15 10 11 5 4 45 Honduras Motagua
12 CRC1 12 10 8 5 7 42 Costa Rica Saprissa
13 HON2 8 11 11 5 0 35 Honduras Olimpia
14 SLV1 4 7 9 7 5 32 El Salvador Alianza
15 GUA1 11 8 9 0 4 32 Guatemala Comunicaciones
16 CCC1 4 8 5 4 4 25 Jamaica Portmore United

Format

In the CONCACAF Champions League, the 16 teams play a single-elimination tournament. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.

  • In the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, the away goals rule is applied if the aggregate score is tied after the second leg. If still tied, a penalty shoot-out is used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.7).[1]
  • In the finals, the away goals rule is not applied, and extra time is played if the aggregate score is tied after the second leg. If the aggregate score is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.8).[1]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.

Round First leg Second leg
Round of 16 18–20 February 25–27 February
Quarter-finals 10–11 March 15–16 December (originally 17–19 March)
Semi-finals 19 December (first leg originally 7–9 April, second leg originally 14–16 April)
Final 22 December (first leg originally 28–30 April, second leg originally 5–7 May)

Times are Eastern Time, as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses):[18]

Bracket

 
Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
 
                                           
 
 
 
 
Costa Rica Saprissa 2 0 2
 
 
 
Canada Montreal Impact (a) 2 0 2
 
Canada Montreal Impact 1    
 
 
 
Honduras Olimpia 2
 
Honduras Olimpia (p) 2 2 4 (4)
 
 
 
United States Seattle Sounders FC 2 2 4 (2)
 
Winner QF4  
 
 
 
Winner QF3
 
Costa Rica San Carlos 3 0 3
 
 
 
United States New York City FC 5 1 6
 
United States New York City FC 0    
 
 
 
Mexico UANL 1
 
El Salvador Alianza 2 2 4
 
 
 
Mexico UANL 1 4 5
 
Winner SF2  
 
 
 
Winner SF1
 
Mexico León 2 0 2
 
 
 
United States Los Angeles FC 0 3 3
 
United States Los Angeles FC  
 
 
 
Mexico Cruz Azul
 
Jamaica Portmore United 1 0 1
 
 
 
Mexico Cruz Azul 2 4 6
 
Winner QF2  
 
 
 
Winner QF1
 
Guatemala Comunicaciones 1 1 2 (3)
 
 
 
Mexico América (p) 1 1 2 (5)
 
Mexico América 3    
 
 
 
United States Atlanta United FC 0
 
Honduras Motagua 1 0 1
 
 
United States Atlanta United FC 1 3 4
 

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the matchups were decided by draw: R16-1 through R16-8. The teams from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played on 18–20 February, and the second legs were played on 25–27 February 2020.[19]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Motagua Honduras 1–4 United States Atlanta United FC 1–1 0–3
Comunicaciones Guatemala 2–2 (3–5 p) Mexico América 1–1 1–1
Portmore United Jamaica 1–6 Mexico Cruz Azul 1–2 0–4
León Mexico 2–3 United States Los Angeles FC 2–0 0–3
Alianza El Salvador 4–5 Mexico UANL 2–1 2–4
San Carlos Costa Rica 3–6 United States New York City FC 3–5 0–1
Olimpia Honduras 4–4 (4–2 p) United States Seattle Sounders FC 2–2 2–2
Saprissa Costa Rica 2–2 (a) Canada Montreal Impact 2–2 0–0

Matches

Atlanta United FC won 4–1 on aggregate.


Tied 2–2 on aggregate. América won 5–3 on penalties.


Cruz Azul won 6–1 on aggregate.


Los Angeles FC won 3–2 on aggregate.


UANL won 5–4 on aggregate.


New York City FC won 6–3 on aggregate.


Tied 4–4 on aggregate. Olimpia won 4–2 on penalties.


Tied 2–2 on aggregate. Montreal Impact won on away goals.

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:

  • QF1: Winner R16-1 vs. Winner R16-2
  • QF2: Winner R16-3 vs. Winner R16-4
  • QF3: Winner R16-5 vs. Winner R16-6
  • QF4: Winner R16-7 vs. Winner R16-8

The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5 and 7 host the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played on 10–11 March, with the final match originally scheduled to be played on 12 March, and the second legs were originally scheduled to be played on 17–18 March 2020.[21] After resumption of the tournament, the second legs will be played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando on 15–16 December 2020.[7][22] The two-leg match between Los Angeles FC and Cruz Azul was changed to a single-leg match as a result.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
América Mexico QF1 United States Atlanta United FC 3–0 16 Dec
Los Angeles FC United States QF2 16 Dec Mexico Cruz Azul
New York City FC United States QF3 Mexico UANL 0–1 15 Dec
Montreal Impact Canada QF4 Honduras Olimpia 1–2 15 Dec

Matches




Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the matchups are determined as follows:

  • SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
  • SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4

Summary

The first legs were originally scheduled to be played on 7–9 April, the second legs were originally scheduled to be played on 14–16 April 2020. After resumption of the tournament, the semi-finals will be played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando on 19 December 2020 as single-leg matches.[7][22]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Winner QF4 SF1 19 Dec Winner QF3
Winner QF1 SF2 19 Dec Winner QF2

Matches

19 December 2020 (2020-12-19)
20:00
Winner QF4 v Winner QF3
https://www.concacafchampionsleague.com/en/champions-league/game-detail/510692
Exploria Stadium, Orlando
Attendance: 0

19 December 2020 (2020-12-19)
22:30
Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
https://www.concacafchampionsleague.com/en/champions-league/game-detail/510693
Exploria Stadium, Orlando
Attendance: 0

Final

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The first leg was originally scheduled to be played on 28–30 April, the second leg was originally scheduled to be played on 5–7 May 2020. After resumption of the tournament, the final will be played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando on 22 December 2020 as a single-leg match.[7][22]

22 December 2020 (2020-12-22)
22:00
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
https://www.concacafchampionsleague.com/en/champions-league/game-detail/510696
Exploria Stadium, Orlando
Attendance: 0

Top goalscorers

As of 11 March 2020
  Team eliminated for/did not play in this round.
Rank Player Club By round Total
goals
1R1 1R2 QF1 QF2 SF F
1 Brazil Héber United States New York City FC 3 3
2 Argentina Gonzalo Martínez United States Atlanta United FC 2 2
Argentina Lucas Passerini Mexico Cruz Azul 1 1
Brazil João Paulo United States Seattle Sounders FC 1 1
Colombia Justin Arboleda Honduras Olimpia 2
El Salvador Juan Carlos Portillo El Salvador Alianza 2
France André-Pierre Gignac Mexico UANL 2
Mexico Carlos Vela United States Los Angeles FC 2
Peru Alexander Callens United States New York City FC 1 1
Venezuela Josef Martínez United States Atlanta United FC 1 1

Source: CONCACAF[23]

See also

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 New York City FC played their round of 16 and quarter-final home matches at Red Bull Arena, Harrison instead of their regular home stadium Yankee Stadium and backup stadium Citi Field, both in New York City, since both stadiums were undergoing unavoidable winterization procedures.[20]
  2. This match was originally scheduled to take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on March 18.
  3. This series was originally scheduled as a two-leg match to take place at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California on March 12 and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on March 18.
  4. This match was originally scheduled to take place at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza on March 17.
  5. This match was originally scheduled to take place at Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa on March 17.

References

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External links