CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean).

Prior to 2008, the competition was known as the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, though it was frequently cited as simply the Champions' Cup. The tournament was originally a chain of round robin series, culminated by a final stage, in which four to six clubs would compete in a double round robin series to determine the continental champion. Throughout a majority of the tournament's existence, the competition varied in formats before 2008, when the tournament uses its current format.

Today, the tournament mirrors a format much like its sister tournament, the UEFA Champions League. The Champions League begins in late July with a two-legged preliminary round, played between 16 different teams. The eight surviving teams join the eight seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are four groups consisting of four teams each. The four group winners and four runners-up enter the Championship Round, which either begins in late February or early March. The Championship Round begins with a two-legged quarterfinals and semifinals, which culminates with a two-legged final, held in late April. Since the Champions League era began in 2008, the competition has been heavily dominated by Mexican Primera Division teams, who have won every Champions League to date. Until 2011, when Major League Soccer team Real Salt Lake reached the finals, each CONCACAF Champions League final had been an all-Mexican affair. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup.

The title has been won by 27 different clubs, 11 of which have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Cruz Azul and América, who have won the competition five times each. Mexico's Primera División is, by far, the most successful league, amassing 27 wins in the tournament. The Mexican Primera División also holds the record for most appearances in the final of both the Champions Cup and Champions League as well as the highest number of winning clubs.

In the Champions' Cup era, the second most successful league has been Costa Rica's Primera División, while in the Champions League era, the second most successful league has been the United States and Canada's Major League Soccer.

History

Champions' Cup era (1962-2008)

The competition's former format, a knockout tournament called the Champions' Cup, had eight teams competing – four from the North American zone (two from Mexico, two from the United States/Canada), 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.

Champions League era (2008-present)

The CONCACAF Executive Committee at their 2006 November meeting decided to "act upon" a proposal 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 November 14, 2007 some of the details.^[1] The previous Champions' Cup format was used as planned in the Spring of 2008. Then, a newly expanded Champions League tournament was conducted starting in August 2008 and concluding in May 2009. The setup involves 24 teams initially and features a Preliminary Round contested by some of the teams to reduce the field to 16 teams, which are separated into 4 groups of four teams.^[1][2] After the Group Stage, the Championship Round are held from the Quarterfinal Round onward.

Qualifying

The new format will feature 24 teams in total.

From the North American Zone:

4 clubs from Mexico

4 clubs from the United States

1 club from Canada

From the Central American Zone:

2 clubs from Costa Rica

2 clubs from El Salvador

2 clubs from Guatemala

2 clubs from Honduras

2 clubs from Panama

1 club from Nicaragua

1 club from Belize

From the Caribbean Zone:

3 clubs, qualifying via the CFU Club Championship.^[3]

The four teams qualifying from the United States are the two MLS Cup finalists, the winner of the MLS Supporters' Shield (awarded to the team with the best regular season record), and the winner of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Should the same team qualify multiple times and/or should a Canadian team occupy one or more of the MLS qualifying places, then the American MLS team(s) with the best regular season records not otherwise qualified will be entered.

The team qualifying from Canada is the winner of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

Stadium standards

If a club fails to meet the standards for its home stadium, this club must find a suitable stadium in its own country. If said club fails to provide the adequate facilities, it will run the risk of being replaced.^[4]

• Central America: If one or more of the twelve Central American clubs is precluded, it will be supplanted by a club from the best Central American league, based on results from the current Champions League.

• Caribbean: If any Caribbean club is precluded, it will be supplanted by the club who finished 4th in the CFU Club Championship.

Format

There will be a two-legged Preliminary Round for 16 clubs, with the eight winners advancing to the Group Stage. The other eight teams (two from the United States, two from Mexico, and one each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) will be seeded directly into the Group Stage. The winners of the Preliminary Round and the seeded clubs will play in the Group Stage in four groups of four, with each team playing the others in its group twice, both home and away. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Championship Round, which will consist of home-and-away elimination. The Final Round, in late April, will also be two-legged, home-and-away. In contrast to the Champions' Cup, the away goals rule will be used in the Champions League, but will not apply after a tie has gone into extra time.

Finals

¹ No final match was held; the championship was decided by a final round.

² Championship won due to withdrawal and/or disqualification of all other teams.

³ Universidad de Guadalajara, Comunicaciones and Defence Force were all declared joint winners after the final tournament was cancelled due to administrative problems and disagreements on match dates.

Records and statistics

Top-ten clubs

Top-ten nations

See also

• Interamerican Cup
• CONCACAF Giants Cup
• CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup
• North American SuperLiga

References

• CONCACAF Club competitions of rsssf

External links

• CONCACAF Official Site