2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League

The 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League will be the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current format. The tournament is expected to begin in July 2012 and finish in April 2013. The winner will qualify as the CONCACAF representative at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.

Qualification

Twenty-four teams participate in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League from the North American, Central American, and Caribbean zones. Nine of the teams come from North America, twelve from Central America, and three from the Caribbean.

Teams may be disqualified and replaced by a team from a different country if the club doesn't 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

A total of nine clubs from the North American Football Union participating in the Champions League. Mexico and the United States are allocated four spots, the most of any CONCACAF nation, while Canada is granted one spot in the tournament.

In Mexico, the winners of the Mexican Primera División Apertura and Clausura tournaments earn direct berths into Group Stage of the Champions League, while the tournament runners-up earn berths into the Preliminary Round.

For the United States, three of its four spots are allocated through the Major League Soccer regular season and playoffs, while the fourth spot is allocated to whoever wins the domestic championship, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The U.S. Open Cup winner, along with the MLS Cup runner-up earn berths into the Preliminary Round of the tournament. The winner of the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup, are given byes into Group Stage.

The winner of Canada's domestic cup competition, the Nutrilite Canadian Championship earns the lone Canadian berth into the tournament, entering in the Preliminary Round.

Central America

Twelve clubs from the Central American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. If one or more clubs is precluded, it is supplanted by a club from another Central American federation. The reallocation would be based on results from previous Champions League tournaments.

For the Central American representatives that qualify via split seasons, in nations that play a playoff to determine a national champion, the winner gains the nation's top spot. In nations that don't utilize such methods, total points over both seasons, followed by other tiebreakers, determine which team gains the nation's top spot. The top teams from the leagues of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama enter the Group Stage, while their second teams enter the Preliminary Round. The two teams from the league of El Salvador and the sole representatives from the leagues of Nicaragua and Belize enter the Preliminary Round.

Caribbean

Three berths in the Champions League's Preliminary Round are allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament for clubs from nations of the Caribbean Football Union. In order for a Caribbean club to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they would need to finish as the champion (or in some cases, runner-up) in their respective nation's top league in the previous season.

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

Teams

Teams in bold qualify directly for the Group Stage.

Notes

• Number of appearances, last appearance and previous best count only those in the Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
• Key for previous best: PR-Preliminary Round, GS-Group Stage, QF-Quarterfinals, SF-Semifinals, RU-Runner-up, CH( )-Champion (number of titles)
• United States (USA): Since the Los Angeles Galaxy won both the 2011 MLS Supporters' Shield and the 2011 MLS Cup, the Seattle Sounders, the 2011 MLS Supporters' Shield runner-up, qualified directly for the Group Stage, and as they also won the 2011 U.S. Open Cup, a place in the Preliminary Round became available and went to Real Salt Lake, the 2011 MLS Supporters' Shield third place.^[1]
• Mexico (MEX): Santos Laguna has granted a berth in the Preliminary Round, however, Santos Laguna still qualify directly for the Group Stage if they win the 2012 Clausura tournament.

Format

Assuming the same format as the previous editions, the tournament is divided into three phases:

• In the Preliminary Round, 16 teams are drawn into eight two-legged home-and-away ties, with each tie containing one team from Pot A and one team from Pot B. The eight winners qualify for the Group Stage to join the eight teams which directly enter the Group Stage.
• In the Group Stage, 16 teams are drawn into four groups of four playing in a round-robin home-and-away format, with each group containing two direct entries (one team from Pot A and one team from Pot B) and two Preliminary Round winners. The top two teams from each group advance to the Quarterfinals of the Championship Round.
• In the Championship Round, the eight teams play in a knockout tournament, with each tie played in two-legged home-and-away format.

Teams from the same association (excluding "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association) may not be drawn with each other in the Preliminary Round and Group Stage, but may be drawn with each other in the Championship Round, where the only restriction is that in the quarterfinals, a group winner has to be drawn with the runner-up of another group and also host the second leg.

For the two-legged ties of the Preliminary Round and Championship Round, the away goals rule is used, but not after a tie enters extra time, and so a tie is decided by penalty shootout if the aggregate score is level after extra time.

^† Santos Laguna may still qualify directly for the Group Stage (if they win the Clausura; also possible if UANL win the Clausura).

References

External links

• CONCACAF Champions League official website