2017–18 in CONCACAF club competitions

2017–18 CONCACAF club competitions
Tournament details
Dates CONCACAF League:
1 August – October 2017
CONCACAF Champions League:
February – April 2018
Teams CONCACAF League: 16
CONCACAF Champions League: 16
Total: 31 (from 12 associations)

The 2017–18 season of CONCACAF club competitions will be overall the 53rd season of the football club competitions organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and the 10th season since the name of the premier tournament was changed to its current name, CONCACAF Champions League.

Starting from this season, the overall CONCACAF club competition platform consists of two tournaments, the newly created CONCACAF League and the CONCACAF Champions League:[1][2][3]

Therefore, a total of 31 teams will compete during the season (an increase from the previous 24 teams), with the 2017 CONCACAF League being held from August to October 2017, and the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League being held from February to May 2018, both of home-and-away two-legged single-elimination format.

The winners of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League will qualify as the CONCACAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Pachuca are the Champions League title holders, but did not qualify for this season and will not be able to defend their title.

New format

In December 2016, Manuel Quintanilla, president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, spoke of a possible new format for the competition,[5] a statement that was later corroborated by Garth Lagerwey, the general manager of Seattle Sounders FC.[6] On 23 January 2017, CONCACAF confirmed the new format, eliminating the group stage which had been employed since the re-branding of the competition to the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008.[1]

Qualification

A total of 31 teams participate in either the CONCACAF League or Champions League:[1][2]

Therefore, a maximum of 13 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations may participate in the two tournaments.

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

The nine berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU) are allocated to the three NAFU member associations as follows: four berths for each of Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada. All nine teams enter the Champions League.

For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments earn berths into the tournament. If a team reaches both tournament finals, the vacated berth is reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensures that two teams qualify via each tournament.

For the United States, three berths are allocated through the Major League Soccer (MLS) season: one to the champions of the MLS Cup, the championship match of the MLS Cup play-offs; one to the champions of the Supporters' Shield, i.e., the team with the best regular season record; and one to the regular season champions of either the Eastern Conference or Western Conference which are not the Supporters' Shield champions. The fourth berth is allocated to the champions of its domestic cup competition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, the vacated berth is reallocated to the best U.S.-based team in the MLS regular season which has not yet qualified.

For Canada, the champions of its domestic cup competition, the Canadian Championship, earn the Voyageurs Cup and the lone Canadian berth into the tournament. While some teams from Canada compete in the MLS, they cannot qualify through either the MLS regular season or play-offs. In line with the launch of the new Champions League format, which places the Canadian representative directly in the Champions League beginning in early 2018, the Canadian Soccer Association announced in March 2017 that a special one-match Canadian play-off between the 2016 champions Toronto FC and the 2017 champions would be played on 9 August 2017 in Toronto to determine who would qualify for the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League, unless in the case that Toronto FC won the 2017 edition, the play-off would be unnecessary and Toronto FC would qualify automatically.[7]

Central America

The 18 berths for the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) are allocated to the seven UNCAF member associations as follows: three berths for each of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, two berths for Nicaragua, and one berth for Belize. Of those, five teams enter the Champions League which are the champions with the better aggregate record from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, while the remaining 13 teams enter the CONCACAF League.

All of the leagues of Central America employ a split season with two tournaments in one season, so the following teams qualify:

If a team qualifies through multiple berths, the vacated berth is reallocated to another team from the same association based on play-offs and/or aggregate records. If teams from any Central American associations are excluded, they are replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous Champions League tournaments. For this season, teams from Guatemala were excluded due to the suspension of their federation by FIFA and were replaced by additional teams from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama.[3]

Caribbean

The four berths for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) are allocated to the 31 CFU member associations via the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament open to the clubs of all CFU member associations. The top four teams of the CFU Club Championship qualify, where the champions enter the Champions League, and the remaining three teams enter the CONCACAF League. In order for a team to be able to enter the CFU Club Championship, they usually need to finish as the champions or runners-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 teams are excluded, they are replaced by the next best teams from the CFU Club Championship.

Teams

The following 31 teams (from 12 associations) qualified for this season.

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 Tournament Qualifying method App Last App Previous Best
North America (9 teams)
Mexico Mexico
4 berths		 UANL Champions League 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura runners-up		 4th 2016–17 Runners-up
(2 times)
América 2016 Apertura runners-up 4th 2015–16 Champions
(2 times)
Guadalajara 2017 Clausura champions 2nd 2012–13 Group stage
(2012–13)
Tijuana Non-finalists with best regular season record in 2017 Clausura[Note MEX] 2nd 2013–14 Semifinals
(2013–14)
United States United States
4 berths		 Seattle Sounders FC 2016 MLS Cup champions 5th 2015–16 Semifinals
(2012–13)
FC Dallas 2016 MLS Supporters' Shield champions
2016 U.S. Open Cup champions		 3rd 2016–17 Semifinals
(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 2016 Canadian Championship champions
2017 Canadian Championship champions[Note CAN]		 5th 2012–13 Semifinals
(2011–12)
Central America (18 teams)
Costa Rica Costa Rica
3 + 1 berths[Note GUA]		 Saprissa Champions League 2016 Invierno champions
(Champions with better aggregate record in 2016–17 season)		 7th 2016–17 Semifinals
(2010–11)
Herediano 2017 Verano champions 8th 2016–17 Semifinals
(2014–15)
Alajuelense CONCACAF League Non-champions with best aggregate record in 2016–17 season 6th 2014–15 Semifinals
(2 times)
Santos de Guápiles Non-champions with 2nd best aggregate record in 2016–17 season[Note CRC] 1st N/A N/A
Honduras Honduras
3 + 1 berths[Note GUA]		 Motagua Champions League 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions		 4th 2015–16 Group stage
(2 times)
Honduras Progreso CONCACAF League 2017 Clausura runners-up 2nd 2016–17 Group stage
(2016–17)
Platense 2016 Apertura runners-up 1st N/A N/A
Olimpia Semifinalists with best aggregate record in 2016–17 season[Note HON] 10th 2016–17 Quarterfinals
(2 times)
Panama Panama
3 + 1 berths[Note GUA]		 Tauro Champions League 2017 Clausura champions
(Champions with better aggregate record in 2016–17 season)		 6th 2016–17 Group stage
(4 times)
Árabe Unido CONCACAF League 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura runners-up		 6th 2016–17 Quarterfinals
(3 times)
Plaza Amador 2016 Apertura runners-up 2nd 2016–17 Group stage
(2016–17)
Chorrillo Semifinalists with best aggregate record in 2016–17 season[Note PAN] 3rd 2014–15 Group stage
(2 times)
El Salvador El Salvador
3 berths		 Santa Tecla Champions League 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions		 2nd 2015–16 Group stage
(2015–16)
Alianza CONCACAF League 2016 Apertura runners-up
2017 Clausura runners-up		 3rd 2016–17 Group stage
(2016–17)
Águila Semifinalists with best aggregate record in 2016–17 season[Note SLV] 2nd 2012–13 Group stage
(2012–13)
Nicaragua Nicaragua
2 berths		 Real Estelí 2016 Apertura champions
2017 Clausura champions		 7th 2016–17 Group stage
(4 times)
Walter Ferretti 2016 Apertura runners-up
2017 Clausura runners-up[Note NCA] 		2nd 2015–16 Group stage
(2015–16)
Belize Belize
1 berth		 Belmopan Bandits 2016 Opening Season champions
2017 Closing Season champions		 1st N/A N/A
Caribbean (4 teams)
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
1 team		 Cibao Champions League 2017 CFU Club Championship champions 1st N/A N/A
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
2 teams		 San Juan Jabloteh CONCACAF League 2017 CFU Club Championship runners-up 3rd 2010–11 Group stage
(2009–10)
Central 2017 CFU Club Championship fourth place 3rd 2016–17 Group stage
(2 times)
Jamaica Jamaica
1 team		 Portmore United 2017 CFU Club Championship third place 1st N/A N/A
Notes
  1. ^ Canada (CAN): Due to the Champions League's restructuring, Canada would be represented in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League by the winners of a play-off match between the 2016 Canadian Championship champions and the 2017 Canadian Championship champions. However, since Toronto FC won both tournaments, no play-off match was necessary and they qualified for the Champions League. This arrangement was used for this season only.[7]
  2. ^ Costa Rica (CRC): The "wild card" berth reallocated from Guatemala to Costa Rica passed to the non-champions with the second best aggregate record, Santos de Guápiles.[8]
  3. ^ El Salvador (SLV): Santa Tecla and Alianza reached the finals of both the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura, so one of their berths passed to the semifinalists with the best aggregate record, Águila.[9]
  4. ^ Guatemala (GUA): On 28 October 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.[10] CONCACAF set the deadline of 1 May 2017 for the suspension to be lifted in order for Guatemala's teams to participate in this season's tournaments,[11] and expelled all Guatemalan teams on 5 May 2017 after the federation failed to be reinstated by FIFA.[12] The three Guatemalan teams which would have qualified this season were: They were replaced by teams from Costa Rica (Santos de Guápiles), Honduras (Olimpia), and Panama (Chorrillo), all entering the CONCACAF League as "wild card" teams, based on the performance of the Central American associations in the last five years, giving these associations four total berths each.[13][14] To replace Municipal in the Champions League, Herediano, which qualified for the second Costa Rican berth, were moved from the CONCACAF League to the Champions League, giving Costa Rica two direct qualifiers to each tournament.[15]
  5. ^ Honduras (HON): Motagua were champions of both the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura, so one of their berths, the "wild card" berth reallocated from Guatemala to Honduras, passed to the semifinalists with the best aggregate record, Olimpia.[16]
  6. ^ Mexico (MEX): Since UANL qualified for both the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura finals, the berth that they earned through the Clausura passed to the non-finalists with the best regular season record in the 2017 Clausura, Tijuana.[17]
  7. ^ Nicaragua (NCA): Real Estelí were champions of both the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura, so one of their berths passed to the runners-up of both tournaments, Walter Ferretti.[18]
  8. ^ Panama (PAN): Árabe Unido reached the finals of both the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura, so one of their berths, the "wild card" berth reallocated from Guatemala to Panama, passed to the semifinalists with the best aggregate record, Chorrillo.[19]
  9. ^ United States (USA): FC Dallas won both the Supporters' Shield and the U.S. Open Cup, so one of these berths passed to the next best American team in the Supporters' Shield table, the Colorado Rapids.[20]

Summary by tournament

Pot 1
Costa Rica Alajuelense Panama Árabe Unido Panama Plaza Amador Honduras Honduras Progreso
El Salvador Alianza Nicaragua Real Estelí Belize Belmopan Bandits Trinidad and Tobago San Juan Jabloteh
Pot 2
Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles Panama Chorrillo Honduras Platense Honduras Olimpia
El Salvador Águila Nicaragua Walter Ferretti Jamaica Portmore United Trinidad and Tobago Central

Seeding TBA
Mexico UANL Mexico Guadalajara Mexico América Mexico Tijuana
United States Seattle Sounders FC United States FC Dallas United States New York Red Bulls United States Colorado Rapids
Canada Toronto FC Costa Rica Saprissa Costa Rica Herediano Panama Tauro
Honduras Motagua El Salvador Santa Tecla Dominican Republic Cibao TBD (CONCACAF League winners)

Schedule

The schedule of the season is as follows.

Tournament Draw date Round First leg Second leg
CONCACAF League 31 May 2017
(Miami, United States)[21]		 Round of 16[22] 1–3 August 2017 8–10 August 2017
Quarterfinals 15–17 August 2017 22–24 August 2017
Semifinals TBA 2017 TBA 2017
Finals TBA 2017 October 2017
Champions League TBA Round of 16 February 2018 TBA 2018
Quarterfinals TBA 2018 TBA 2018
Semifinals TBA 2018 TBA 2018
Finals TBA 2018 May 2018

CONCACAF League

Location of teams of the 2017 CONCACAF League
Central American Zone
Caribbean Zone

The draw for the 2017 CONCACAF League was held on 31 May 2017, 19:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel, in Miami.[23][24]

The 16 teams play a single-elimination tournament. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule is used if the aggregate score is level after the second leg, and if still level, extra time is not played, and the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (Regulations, II. D. Tie-Breaker Procedures).[4]

Bracket

  Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals
 
Finals
                                             
Trinidad and Tobago San Juan Jabloteh 2 1 3  
Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles 6 2 8  
  Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles  
  Panama Chorrillo  
Honduras Honduras Progreso 0 0 0
Panama Chorrillo 1 1 2  
   
   
Panama Árabe Unido 2 3 5  
Trinidad and Tobago Central 1 0 1  
  Panama Árabe Unido
  El Salvador Águila  
Nicaragua Real Estelí 0 1 1 (3)
El Salvador Águila (p) 1 0 1 (4)  
 
 
Costa Rica Alajuelense 0 0 0  
Honduras Olimpia 2 1 3  
  Honduras Olimpia
  El Salvador Alianza  
El Salvador Alianza 2 2 4
Honduras Platense 1 1 2  
 
   
Panama Plaza Amador (p) 0 1 1 (5)  
Jamaica Portmore United 1 0 1 (4)  
  Panama Plaza Amador
  Nicaragua Walter Ferretti  
Belize Belmopan Bandits 1 0 1
Nicaragua Walter Ferretti 4 1 5  

All times are Eastern Time Zone (ET) (UTC−4)

Round of 16

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Santos de Guápiles Costa Rica 8–3 Trinidad and Tobago San Juan Jabloteh 6–2 2–1
Chorrillo Panama 2–0 Honduras Honduras Progreso 1–0 1–0
Central Trinidad and Tobago 1–5 Panama Árabe Unido 1–2 0–3
Águila El Salvador 1–1 (4–3 p) Nicaragua Real Estelí 1–0 0–1
Olimpia Honduras 3–0 Costa Rica Alajuelense 2–0 1–0
Platense Honduras 2–4 El Salvador Alianza 1–2 1–2
Portmore United Jamaica 1–1 (4–5 p) Panama Plaza Amador 1–0 0–1
Walter Ferretti Nicaragua 5–1 Belize Belmopan Bandits 4–1 1–0

Quarterfinals

The first legs will be played on 15–17 August and the second legs will be played on 22–24 August 2017.[25]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Chorrillo Panama QF1 Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles 15 Aug 22 Aug
Águila El Salvador QF2 Panama Árabe Unido 16 Aug 23 Aug
Alianza El Salvador QF3 Honduras Olimpia 17 Aug 24 Aug
Walter Ferretti Nicaragua QF4 Panama Plaza Amador 17 Aug 24 Aug

Semifinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Winners of QF2 SF1[†] Winners of QF1 – –
Winners of QF4 SF2[†] Winners of QF3 – –
  1. † Order of legs to be decided, with the team having the better performance in previous rounds hosting the second leg.

Finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Winners of SF2 F[†] Winners of SF1 – –
  1. † Order of legs to be decided, with the team having the better performance in previous rounds hosting the second leg.

Champions League

Location of teams of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League (CONCACAF League winners in italics)
North American Zone
Central American Zone
Caribbean Zone

Bracket

  Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals
 
Final
                                             
 
 
   
   
 
   
   
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
   
 

Round of 16

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
– – –
– – –
– – –
– – –

Semifinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
– – –
– – –

Finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
– – –

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "CONCACAF expands club competition field, implements new Champions League format". CONCACAF.com. 23 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 "CONCACAF Club Competitions Platform Expansion FAQs". CONCACAF.com.
  3. 1 2 "Details revealed for newly launched Scotiabank CONCACAF League". CONCACAF.com. 8 May 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Scotiabank CONCACAF League 2017 Regulations - English Edition" (PDF). Scotiabank CONCACAF League.
  5. ↑ "Nicaragua con dos pases a Liga de Campeones". Metro Nicaragua (in Spanish). 15 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Sounders GM hints at CONCACAF Champions League format change". Goal.com. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Canadian Championship Kicks off 10th Edition in May with more Canadian Content". CanadaSoccer.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Este es el panorama de los equipos ticos para Concachampions" [This is the panorama of the tactical teams for Concachampions] (in Spanish). TicoDeporte.com. 16 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Tres equipos representarán a El Salvador en Liga de Campeones de CONCACAF" [Three teams to represent El Salvador in the CONCACAF Champions League] (in Spanish). laprensagrafica.com. 15 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Suspension of the Guatemala Football Association". FIFA. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Deadlines Set for FEDEFUT". CONCACAF.com. 9 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Javier Pineda (5 May 2017). "Concacaf confirma que Guatemala no estará en la Liga de Campeones" [CONCACAF confirms Guatemala will not be in the Champions League]. GuateFutbol.com.
  13. ↑ Jeison Solano (12 April 2017). "Honduras, Costa Rica y Panamá tendrían un cupo más para la Concachampions" (in Spanish). Diez.
  14. ↑ Douglas Suruy. "Amarga noticia para el campeón Antigua GFC y el futbol en general" [Bitter news for the champion Antigua GFC and football in general] (in Spanish). PubliNews.
  15. ↑ "Costa Rica tendrá 4 equipos en la Liga de Campeones" [Costa Rica will have 4 teams in the Champions League] (in Spanish). Costa Rican Football Federation. 5 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Concacaf oficializa qué equipos hondureños participarán en la Liga de Campeones" [CONCACAF officializes which Honduran teams will participate in Champions League] (in Spanish). Diez. 24 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Clubes que Jugarán la Liga de Campeones 2017-2018". Liga MX. 21 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "Este miércoles arrancan las semis: Real Estelí vs Unan-Managua y Ferretti vs Diriangén" [This Wednesday the semis start: Real Estelí vs Unan-Managua and Ferretti vs Diriangén] (in Spanish). vivanicaragua.com.ni. 2 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "¡Llegó la hora!" [The time has come!] (in Spanish). El Siglo. 20 May 2017.
  20. ↑ "Colorado clinch spot in 2017 CONCACAF Champions League, joining Dallas, TFC". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  21. ↑ "Draw for inaugural Scotiabank CONCACAF League set for Wednesday". CONCACAF.com. 29 May 2017.
  22. ↑ "CONCACAF Announces Schedule of Round of 16 Matchups for 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League". CONCACAF.com. 14 June 2017.
  23. ↑ "Scotiabank CONCACAF League Draw Determines Opening Matchups for the Inaugural Season". CONCACAF.com. 31 May 2017.
  24. ↑ "Scotiabank CONCACAF League - OFFICIAL DRAW". CONCACAF.com. 31 May 2017.
  25. ↑ "Quarterfinal matches set in 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League Regional Club Championship". CONCACAF. 11 August 2017.
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