2018 CONCACAF Champions League

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2018 CONCACAF Champions League
2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico hosted the second leg of the final
Tournament details
Dates20 February – 25 April
Teams16 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsMexico Guadalajara (2nd title)
Runners-upCanada Toronto FC
Tournament statistics
Matches played30
Goals scored84 (2.8 per match)
Top scorer(s)Italy Sebastian Giovinco
Canada Jonathan Osorio
(4 goals each)
Best player(s)Italy Sebastian Giovinco
Best young playerMexico Rodolfo Pizarro
Best goalkeeperMexico Rodolfo Cota
Fair play awardUnited States New York Red Bulls
2019 →

The 2018 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)

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 format of the tournament was changed as part of a new CONCACAF club competition platform consisting of two tournaments (CONCACAF League and CONCACAF Champions League) and a total of 31 teams competing during the season (an increase from the previous 24 teams), with 16 teams competing in the newly created CONCACAF League from August to October, and the winners of the CONCACAF League joining the 15 direct entrants competing in the CONCACAF Champions League from February to April.[2] As a result, the 2018 edition was played using a new format that included the removal of the group stage, a reduction in participating teams from 24 to 16, and a total reduction in matches from 62 to 30.

final to win their second CONCACAF club title and their first in the Champions League era, and qualified as the CONCACAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.[3] Pachuca
won the previous tournament but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.

Qualification

A total of 16 teams participated in the CONCACAF Champions League:

  • North American Zone: 9 teams (from three associations)
  • Central American Zone: 5 teams (from four associations; ordinarily from five associations, but Guatemalan teams were excluded from this season's tournament)
  • Caribbean Zone: 1 team (from one association)
  • Winners of the CONCACAF League (from one association, from either Central American Zone or Caribbean Zone)

Therefore, teams from either 8 or 9 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.

North America

The nine berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU) were allocated to the three NAFU member associations as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.

For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla (playoff) tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.

For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, three through the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and one through its domestic cup competition:

If there was any team which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, or conference regular season, the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record not yet qualified.

For Canada, the champions of the Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awards the Voyageurs Cup, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. In line with the launch of the new format, which placed the Canadian representative directly in the CONCACAF Champions League beginning in early 2018, the Canadian Soccer Association announced in March 2017 that a special one-match playoff 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, except in the case that Toronto FC won the 2017 edition, in which the playoff would be unnecessary and Toronto FC would qualify automatically.[4] As Toronto FC did later win the 2017 Canadian Championship, the playoff was not played.

Central America

The five berths for the

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama
qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

If teams from any Central American associations were excluded, they were replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous CONCACAF Champions League tournaments. For this season, the team from Guatemala was excluded due to the suspension of their federation by FIFA and was replaced by an additional team from Costa Rica.[5]

Caribbean

The sole berth for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) was allocated via the Caribbean Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament open to the clubs of all 31 CFU member associations. To qualify for the Caribbean Club Championship, teams had to finish as the champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams could also be selected by their associations if they played in the league of another country. The champions of the Caribbean Club Championship qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

CONCACAF League

Further information: 2017 CONCACAF League § Qualification

Besides the 15 direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 16 teams (13 from Central America and 3 from the Caribbean) entered the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from August to October prior to the CONCACAF Champions League.[5] The champions of the CONCACAF League qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Teams

The following 16 teams (from eight 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).

Qualified teams from North America (9 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Mexico (4 berths) UANL 2016 Apertura champions and 2017 Clausura runners-up 4th (2016–17) Runners-up (2016–17)
Guadalajara 2017 Clausura champions 2nd (2012–13) Group stage (2012–13)
América 2016 Apertura runners-up 4th (2015–16) Champions (2015–16)
Tijuana Non-finalists with best regular season record in 2017 Clausura[Note MEX] 2nd (2013–14) Semi-finals (2013–14)
 United States (4 berths) Seattle Sounders FC 2016 MLS Cup champions 5th (2015–16) Semi-finals (2012–13)
FC Dallas 2016 MLS Supporters' Shield and 2016 U.S. Open Cup champions 3rd (2016–17) Semi-finals (2016–17)
New York Red Bulls 2016 MLS Eastern Conference regular season champions 4th (2016–17) Quarter-finals (2016–17)
Colorado Rapids 2016 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up[Note USA] 2nd (2011–12) Group stage (2011–12)
 Canada (1 berth) Toronto FC 2016 Canadian Championship and 2017 Canadian Championship champions[Note CAN] 5th (2012–13) Semi-finals (2011–12)
Qualified teams from Central America (6 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Costa Rica (1 + 1 berths)[Note GUA] Saprissa Champions with better
2016 Invierno
) 		7th (2016–17) Semi-finals (2010–11)
Herediano Champions with worse
2017 Verano
) 		8th (2016–17) Semi-finals (2014–15)
 Honduras (1 berth + CL winner) Motagua 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura champions 4th (2015–16) Group stage (2015–16)
Olimpia 2017 CONCACAF League champions 10th (2016–17) Quarter-finals (2014–15)
 Panama (1 berth) Tauro Champions with better aggregate record in 2016–17 season (2017 Clausura) 6th (2014–15) Group stage (2014–15)
 El Salvador (1 berth) Santa Tecla 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura champions 2nd (2015–16) Group stage (2015–16)
Qualified teams from Caribbean (1 team)
Association Team Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Dominican Republic Cibao 2017 Caribbean Club Championship champions 1st Debut
Notes
  1. ^
    Canada (CAN): Due to the tournament's restructuring, Canada was to be represented by the winners of a play-off match between the Canadian Championship champions in 2016 and 2017. However, as Toronto FC won both tournaments, they qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League automatically. This arrangement was used for this season only.[4]
  2. aggregate record in 2016–17 season. To replace Municipal in the CONCACAF Champions League, Herediano
    , which qualified for the first Costa Rican berth in the CONCACAF League, were moved from the CONCACAF League to the CONCACAF Champions League, giving Costa Rica two direct qualifiers to the CONCACAF Champions League.
  • ^
    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 Xolos.[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 U.S.-based team in the Supporters' Shield table, the Colorado Rapids.[10]

    • Draw

    Herediano
    Saprissa
    class=notpageimage|
    Location of teams of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League
    North American Zone Central American Zone
    Caribbean Zone