2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League

2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League
2017–18 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates August 2017 – April 2018
Teams 24 (from maximum of 13 associations)

The 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2017–18 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1][2] will be the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 53rd edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The winners of the 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League will qualify as the CONCACAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Qualification

Location of teams of the 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League
North American Zone
Central American Zone
Caribbean Zone

A total of 24 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League: nine from the North American Zone (from three associations), twelve from the Central American Zone (from at most seven associations), and three from the Caribbean Zone (from at most three associations).[3] Therefore, a maximum of 13 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations may participate in the tournament.

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 America

Nine teams from the North American Football Union (NAFU) qualify to the Champions League. The allocation to the three NAFU member associations is as follows: four berths for each of Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.

For Mexico, the winners and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments earn berths in Pot 3 of the tournament's group stage. If a team reaches both tournament finals, the vacated berth is reallocated through regular season record.

For the United States, three berths are allocated through the Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season and playoffs, to the MLS Cup winner and the regular season Eastern Conference and Western Conference winners (if U.S.-based); the fourth berth is allocated to the winner of its domestic cup competition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. All four teams are placed in Pot 3. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, the berth is reallocated to the best U.S.-based team in the Supporters' Shield table which has failed to otherwise qualify.

For Canada, the winner of the domestic cup competition, the Canadian Championship, earns the Voyageurs Cup and the lone Canadian berth into the tournament, in Pot 2.

Central America

Twelve teams from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) qualify to the Champions League. The allocation to the seven UNCAF member associations is as follows: two berths for each of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, and one berth for each of Nicaragua and Belize. The teams from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and the first team from Panama are placed in Pot 2, and the second team from Panama and the teams from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Belize are placed in Pot 1.

All of these leagues employ a split season with two tournaments in one year, so both tournament champions qualify if there are two available berths (if the same team wins both tournaments, the runner-up with the better aggregate record also qualifies), or the champion with the better aggregate record qualifies if there is only one available berth.

If one or more clubs is precluded, it is supplanted by a club from another Central American association. The reallocation is based on results from previous Champions League tournaments.

Caribbean

Three teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualify to the Champions League. The three berths, in Pot 1, are allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament open to clubs from the 31 CFU member associations. In order for a team to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they usually need to finish as the champion or runner-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams may also be selected by their associations if they play in the league of another country.

If any Caribbean club is precluded, it is supplanted by the fourth-place finisher from the CFU Club Championship.

Teams

The following 24 teams (from at most 13 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).

Association Team Pot Qualifying method App Last App Previous Best
North America (9 teams)
Mexico Mexico
4 berths
3 2016 Apertura champions
2016 Apertura runners-up
2017 Clausura champions
2017 Clausura runners-up
United States United States
4 berths
2016 MLS Cup champions[Note USA]
FC Dallas 2016 MLS Supporters' Shield champions
2016 U.S. Open Cup champions
3rd 2016–17 Quarterfinals
(2016–17)
New York Red Bulls 2016 MLS Eastern Conference regular season champions 4th 2016–17 Quarterfinals
(2016–17)
Colorado Rapids 2016 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up[Note USA] 2nd 2011–12 Group stage
(2011–12)
Canada Canada
1 berth
Toronto FC 2 2016 Canadian Championship champions 5th 2012–13 Semifinals
(2011–12)
Central America (12 teams)
Costa Rica Costa Rica
2 berths
2 2016 Invierno champions
2017 Verano champions
Honduras Honduras
2 berths
2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions
Guatemala Guatemala[Note GUA]
2 berths
2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions
Panama Panama
2 berths
Árabe Unido 1 or 2 2016 Apertura champions 6th 2016–17 Quarterfinals
(3 times)
2017 Clausura champions
El Salvador El Salvador
2 berths
1 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions
Nicaragua Nicaragua
1 berth
Champions with better aggregate record in 2016–17 season
Belize Belize
1 berth
Champions with better aggregate record in 2016–17 season
Caribbean (3 teams)
TBD 1 2017 CFU Club Championship champions
TBD 2017 CFU Club Championship runners-up
TBD 2017 CFU Club Championship third place
Notes
  1. ^ Guatemala (GUA): On October 28, 2016, FIFA suspended the National Football Federation of Guatemala for political interference by the Government of Guatemala. Until the suspension is lifted, Guatemalan teams are not permitted to participate in international competitions.[4] CONCACAF has set the deadline of May 1, 2017 for the suspension to be lifted, otherwise by rule, Guatemala's entrants in the 2017–18 CONCACAF Champions League would be disqualified and replaced by teams from other Central American associations.[5]
  2. ^ United States (USA): Since FC Dallas won both the Supporters' Shield and the U.S. Open Cup, one of these berths passed to the next best American team in the Supporters' Shield table, the Colorado Rapids.[6] Should Seattle win MLS Cup they would qualify. If Toronto FC win, then New York City FC would advance as the next highest placed team in the Supporters' Shield table.

Draw

The 24 teams are drawn into eight groups of three, with each group containing one team from each of the three pots. Teams from the same association (excluding "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association) cannot be drawn with each other in the group stage, and teams from Mexico and the United States have to be drawn into separate groups.[3]

The allocation of teams to each pot, as of the 2016–17 edition, are as follows:

Pot 1
Panama Panama 2
(Árabe Unido or TBD)
El Salvador El Salvador 1 El Salvador El Salvador 2 Nicaragua Nicaragua 1
Belize Belize 1 Caribbean 1 Caribbean 2 Caribbean 3
Pot 2
Costa Rica Costa Rica 1 Costa Rica Costa Rica 2 Honduras Honduras 1 Honduras Honduras 2
Guatemala Guatemala 1 Guatemala Guatemala 2 Panama Panama 1
(Árabe Unido or TBD)
Canada Toronto FC
Pot 3
Mexico Mexico 1 Mexico Mexico 2 Mexico Mexico 3 Mexico Mexico 4
United States USA 1 United States FC Dallas United States New York Red Bulls United States Colorado Rapids

See also

References

External links

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