2018–19 in CONCACAF club competitions
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates |
CONCACAF League: August – October 2018 CONCACAF Champions League: February – May 2019 |
| Teams |
CONCACAF League: 16 CONCACAF Champions League: 16 Total: 31 (from Maximum of 14 associations) |
The 2018–19 season of CONCACAF club competitions will be overall the 54th season of the football club competitions organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and the 11th season since the name of the premier tournament was changed to its current name, CONCACAF Champions League.
This will be the second season where the overall CONCACAF club competition platform consists of two tournaments, the CONCACAF League and the CONCACAF Champions League:[1][2][3]
- CONCACAF League is the qualifying tournament with 16 teams, where the winners advance to the Champions League to join the 15 direct entrants.
- CONCACAF Champions League is the main tournament with 16 teams competing for the CONCACAF club championship title.
Therefore, a total of 31 teams will compete during the season, with the 2018 CONCACAF League being held from August to October 2018, and the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League being held from February to May 2019, both of home-and-away two-legged single-elimination format.
The winners of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League will qualify as the CONCACAF representative at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.
Qualification
A total of 31 teams participate in either the CONCACAF League or Champions League:[1][2]
- A total of 9 teams from three associations of the North American Zone.
- A total of 18 teams from seven associations of the Central American Zone.
- A total of 4 teams from at most four associations of the Caribbean Zone.
Therefore, a maximum of 14 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.
Due to the Champions League's restructuring from 2017–18, the United States will be represented in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League by two teams each in the 2017 and 2018 seasons: the MLS Cup champions in 2017 and 2018, and the U.S. Open Cup champions in 2017 and 2018. This means that the Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, and the Eastern Conference and/or Western Conference regular season champions which are not Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, which would have qualified for the Champions League in the usual setup, will not be guaranteed a berth in the Champions League. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, how berths will be reallocated have not been confirmed. This arrangement will be used for this season only.[4]
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.
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:
- In the league of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, both tournament champions qualify, plus the runners-up (non-champions for Costa Rica) with the best aggregate record.
- In the league of Nicaragua, both tournament champions qualify.
- In the league of Belize, the champions with the better aggregate record 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.
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 at most 14 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) | ||||||
 Mexico4 berths |
Champions League | 2017 Apertura champions | ||||
| 2017 Apertura runners-up | ||||||
| 2018 Clausura champions | ||||||
| 2018 Clausura runners-up | ||||||
 United States4 berths |
2017 MLS Cup champions[Note USA] | |||||
| 2018 MLS Cup champions[Note USA] | ||||||
| 2017 U.S. Open Cup champions[Note USA] | ||||||
| 2018 U.S. Open Cup champions[Note USA] | ||||||
 Canada1 berth |
2018 Canadian Championship champions | |||||
| Central America (18 teams) | ||||||
 Costa Rica3 berths |
Champions League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| CONCACAF League | Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Non-champions with best aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 El Salvador3 berths |
Champions League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| CONCACAF League | Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 Guatemala3 berths[Note GUA] |
Champions League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| CONCACAF League | Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 Honduras3 berths |
Champions League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| CONCACAF League | Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 Panama3 berths |
Champions League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| CONCACAF League | Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 Nicaragua2 berths |
CONCACAF League | Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||
| Champions with worse aggregate record in 2017–18 season | ||||||
 Belize1 berth |
Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season | |||||
| Caribbean (4 teams) | ||||||
 TBD |
Champions League | 2018 CFU Club Championship champions | ||||
| TBD |
CONCACAF League | 2018 CFU Club Championship runners-up | ||||
| TBD |
2018 CFU Club Championship third place | |||||
| TBD |
2018 CFU Club Championship fourth place | |||||
- Notes
- ^ Guatemala (GUA): The National Football Federation of Guatemala is currently suspended by FIFA (as of May 2017).[5]
- ^ United States (USA): Due to the Champions League's restructuring from 2017–18, the United States will be represented in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League by two teams each in the 2017 and 2018 seasons: the MLS Cup champions in 2017 and 2018, and the U.S. Open Cup champions in 2017 and 2018. This means that the Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, and the Eastern Conference and/or Western Conference regular season champions which are not Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, which would have qualified for the Champions League in the usual setup, will not be guaranteed a berth in the Champions League. If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, how berths will be reallocated have not been confirmed. This arrangement will be used for this season only.[4]
Summary by tournament
| Pot 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica 2 |
El Salvador 2 |
Guatemala 2 |
Honduras 2 |
| Panama 2 |
Nicaragua 1 |
Belize 1 |
Caribbean 2 |
| Pot 2 | |||
| Costa Rica 3 |
El Salvador 3 |
Guatemala 3 |
Honduras 3 |
| Panama 3 |
Nicaragua 2 |
Caribbean 3 |
Caribbean 4 |
| Seeding TBA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico 1 |
Mexico 2 |
Mexico 3 |
Mexico 4 |
| USA 1 |
USA 2 |
USA 3 |
USA 4 |
| Canada 1 |
Costa Rica 1 |
El Salvador 1 |
Guatemala 1 |
| Honduras 1 |
Panama 1 |
Caribbean 1 |
TBD (CONCACAF League winners) |
Schedule
To be determined.
See also
- 2019 FIFA Club World Cup
References
- 1 2 "CONCACAF expands club competition field, implements new Champions League format". CONCACAF.com. January 23, 2017.
- 1 2 "CONCACAF Club Competitions Platform Expansion FAQs". CONCACAF.com.
- ↑ "Details revealed for newly launched Scotiabank CONCACAF League". CONCACAF.com. May 8, 2017.
- 1 2 Brian Straus (April 6, 2017). "MLS clubs have resolution over qualifying for future CCL after format change". Sports Illustrated.
- ↑ "Suspension of the Guatemala Football Association". FIFA. October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
External links
- CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF.com