2020 CONCACAF League

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2020 CONCACAF League
2020
Fernán Faerron
Best goalkeeperCosta Rica Leonel Moreira
Fair play awardCosta Rica Alajuelense
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The 2020 CONCACAF League (officially the 2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF League for sponsorship purposes) was the fourth edition of the CONCACAF League, a football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[1]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONCACAF announced on 23 June 2020 that the start of the tournament, which was scheduled to begin on 28 July 2020 and end in November, had been postponed.[2] On 7 August 2020, they announced the tournament would begin on 20 October and end on 28 January 2021.[3] To ease the schedule, CONCACAF originally announced that the preliminary round and round of 16 would be played as single-leg matches, but on 29 October 2020, CONCACAF announced that this format had been extended to all rounds, with ties hosted by the higher-seeded teams based on the CONCACAF Club Ranking.[4] The final was also rescheduled to 3 February 2021.

final to win their first CONCACAF League title. As winners, they and the next best five teams qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.[5][6] After the format change of all rounds to single-leg matches, it was decided a play-in round would be added for the four losing quarter-finalists to compete for the last two places in the CONCACAF Champions League.[4]

Qualification

A total of 22 teams participated in the CONCACAF League:

Therefore, teams from either 10 or 11 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF League.

North America

The one berth for the North American Zone (NAFU) was allocated to the Canadian Soccer Association through the previous year's Canadian Premier League, where the champions, decided by the Canadian Premier League Finals, contested between the Spring and Fall season champions, qualified.[7] They were the second Canadian representative included in CONCACAF competitions, not including the Canadian Championship winners which qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Central America

The 18 berths for the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consisted of seven member associations, were allocated as follows: three berths for each of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, two berths for Nicaragua, and one berth for Belize.

All of the leagues of Central America employed a split season with two tournaments in one season, so the following teams qualified for the CONCACAF League:

  • In the league of Costa Rica, both champions, and the non-champions with the best aggregate record, qualified. If there was any team which were champions of both tournaments, the non-champions with the second best aggregate record qualified.
  • In the leagues of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, both champions, and the runners-up with the better aggregate record (or any team which were runners-up of both tournaments), qualified. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the runners-up with the worse aggregate record qualify. If there were any two teams which were finalists of both tournaments, the semi-finalists with the best aggregate record would qualify.
  • In the league of Nicaragua, both champions qualified. If there was any team which were champions of both tournaments, the runners-up with the better aggregate record (or any team which were runners-up of both tournaments) qualified.
  • In the league of Belize, the champions with the better aggregate record (or any team which were champions of both tournaments) qualified.

If teams from any Central American associations were excluded, they were to be replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous CONCACAF League and CONCACAF Champions League tournaments.[8]

Caribbean

The three berths for the

CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the first-tier and second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournaments. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship had been open to teams from professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, while the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season.[9]

Besides the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship which qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, the runners-up and third-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, qualified for the CONCACAF League. For the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield to be eligible for the playoff, they had to comply with the minimum CONCACAF Club Licensing requirements for the CONCACAF League.[10]

Teams

The following 22 teams (from eleven associations) qualified for the tournament.[11]

  • Ten teams entered in the round of 16: two each from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama, and one each from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the Caribbean.
  • Twelve teams entered in the preliminary round: two each from El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Caribbean, and one each from Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, and Belize.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for registration was extended to 28 June 2020.[12]

Qualified teams from North America (1 team: entering in preliminary round)
Association Team Entry round Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Canada (1 PR berth) Forge FC Preliminary round 2019 Canadian Premier League champions 2nd (2019) Round of 16 (2019)
Qualified teams from Central America (18 teams: 9 entering in round of 16, 9 entering in preliminary round)
Association Team Entry round Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Costa Rica (3 berths: 2 R16 + 1 PR) Saprissa Round of 16 Champions with better 2019–20 aggregate record (2020 Clausura) 2nd (2019) Champions (2019)
Herediano Round of 16 Champions with worse 2019–20 aggregate record (2019 Apertura) 3rd (2019) Champions (2018)
Alajuelense Preliminary round Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record 2nd (2017) Round of 16 (2017)
 Honduras (3 berths: 2 R16 + 1 PR) Olimpia Round of 16 2019 Apertura champions[Note HON] 3rd (2019) Champions (2017)
Marathón Round of 16 Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note HON] 2nd (2019) Preliminary round (2019)
Motagua Preliminary round Non-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note HON] 3rd (2019) Runners-up (2019)
 Panama (3 berths: 2 R16 + 1 PR) Tauro Round of 16 2019 Apertura champions[Note PAN] 3rd (2019) Semi-finals (2018)
San Francisco Round of 16 Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note PAN] 2nd (2019) Preliminary round (2019)
Independiente Preliminary round Non-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note PAN] 2nd (2019) Quarter-finals (2019)
 El Salvador (3 berths: 1 R16 + 2 PR) Alianza Round of 16 2019 Apertura champions[Note SLV] 3rd (2019) Semi-finals (2019)
FAS Preliminary round Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note SLV] 2nd (2018) Quarter-finals (2018)
Municipal Limeño
 Preliminary round Non-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note SLV] 1st Debut
 Guatemala (3 berths: 1 R16 + 2 PR) Municipal Round of 16 2019 Apertura champions[Note GUA] 1st Debut
Comunicaciones Preliminary round Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note GUA] 2nd (2019) Quarter-finals (2019)
Antigua GFC Preliminary round Non-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record[Note GUA] 2nd (2019) Preliminary round (2019)
 Nicaragua (2 berths: 1 R16 + 1 PR) Real Estelí Round of 16 2019 Apertura and 2020 Clausura champions 3rd (2019) Round of 16 (2017)
Managua Preliminary round 2019 Apertura and 2020 Clausura runners-up 2nd (2019) Round of 16 (2019)
 Belize (1 PR berth) Verdes Preliminary round 2019 Opening champions[Note BLZ] 1st Debut
Qualified teams from Caribbean (3 teams: 1 entering in round of 16, 2 entering in preliminary round)
Association Team Entry round Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Jamaica Waterhouse Round of 16 2nd best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage[Note CFU] 2nd (2019) Quarter-finals (2019)
 Haiti Arcahaie Preliminary round 3rd best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage[Note CFU] 1st Debut
 Dominican Republic Cibao Preliminary round 4th best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage[Note CFU] 1st Debut
Notes
  1. ^
    Belize (BLZ): The 2020 Closing tournament of the 2019–20 Premier League of Belize season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belize, and the title was not awarded. The team that qualified to represent the Football Federation of Belize in the 2020 CONCACAF League was Verdes (entering in the preliminary round), the 2019 Opening tournament champions (also the team with the best 2019–20 aggregate record at the time of suspension).[13]
  2. ^
    Caribbean (CFU): The 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield and the final stage of the 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship were cancelled by CONCACAF due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Caribbean. The three teams that qualified to represent the Caribbean Football Union in the 2020 CONCACAF League were Waterhouse from Jamaica (entering in the round of 16), Arcahaie from Haiti and Cibao from the Dominican Republic (both entering in the preliminary round), the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best ranked teams of the 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage.[14]
  3. Municipal Limeño (both entering in the preliminary round), the non-champions with the best and second-best 2019–20 aggregate record at the time of suspension (Once Deportivo, the 2020 Clausura regular season leaders at the time of suspension, were originally declared 2020 Clausura tournament champions, but the title and 2020 CONCACAF League berth were later retracted).[15][16][17]
  • ^
    Guatemala (GUA): The 2020 Clausura tournament of the 2019–20 Liga Nacional de Guatemala season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala, and the title was not awarded. The three teams that qualified to represent the National Football Federation of Guatemala in the 2020 CONCACAF League were Municipal (entering in the round of 16), the 2019 Apertura tournament champions, and Comunicaciones and Antigua GFC (both entering in the preliminary round), the non-champions with the best and second-best 2019–20 aggregate record at the time of suspension.[18]
  • ^
    Honduras (HON): The 2020 Clausura tournament of the 2019–20 Honduran Liga Nacional season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Honduras, and the title was not awarded. The three teams that qualified to represent the National Autonomous Federation of Football of Honduras in the 2020 CONCACAF League were Olimpia (entering in the round of 16), the 2019 Apertura tournament champions, and Marathón and Motagua (entering in the round of 16 and preliminary round, respectively), the non-champions with the best and second-best 2019–20 aggregate record at the time of suspension.[19]
  • ^
    Panama (PAN): The 2020 Apertura tournament of the 2019–20 Liga Panameña de Fútbol season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Panama, and the title was not awarded. The three teams that qualified to represent the Panamanian Football Federation in the 2020 CONCACAF League were Tauro (entering in the round of 16), the 2019 Apertura tournament champions, and San Francisco and Independiente (entering the round of 16 and preliminary round, respectively), the non-champions with the best and second-best 2019–20 aggregate record at the time of suspension.[20][21]

    • Draw

    class=notpageimage|
    Location of teams of the 2020 CONCACAF League
    North American Zone
    Limeño
    Municipal
    Comunicaciones
    Antigua GFC
    Real Estelí
    Managua
    Verdes
    Waterhouse
    Arcahaie
    Cibao
    class=notpageimage|
    Location of teams of the 2020 CONCACAF League
    Central American Zone
    Caribbean Zone
    Teams in bold enter in the round of 16