Sunday, December 3

CONCACAF Champions League draw results and support: Liga MX, MLS renew rivalry



Can anyone stop the Liga MX clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League? That will be the theme of the competition again after the draw for the 2022 edition held on December 15 in Miami.

Liga MX has dominated the competition, winning each and every edition since the tournament’s relaunch. In 2022, it will be up to Club León, Cruz Azul, Pumas UNAM and Santos Laguna to keep Mexico’s streak alive. Defending champion Monterrey did not qualify for the 2022 edition. Teams from the United States, Canada, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica will once again attempt to break that regional supremacy for the first time.

One side of the 2022 draw could see a quarter-final with Seattle Sounders (USA) Vs Club León (Mexico) in a rematch of their memorable 2021 League Cup final. Meanwhile, a possible quarter-final between New York City FC and Colorado Rapids would guarantee Major League Soccer a team in the semifinals.

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The draw was not a good one for Canadian clubs Forge FC Hamilton and CF Montreal; both will have to face the Mexicans to start the round of 16. Depending on the results of those head-to-head matches, we could see fully Canadian or fully Mexican quarterfinals.

The knockout tournament begins with the round of 16 and each round will feature a series of two home and home games to decide each match. The team that scores the most goals advances (tiebreak information is shown below). These are the results of the draw:

CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 Draw

The round of 16 matches will be played in February. The first leg matches will take place February 15-17, followed by the return matches on February 22-24. The seeded team in each series will host the second game.

CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals

These two stages will take place from March 8 to 10 and March 15 to 17. It was predetermined that the last 16 clubs No. 1, 3, 5 and 7 will host the second leg of each quarter-final series.

QF Home team – First leg Home team – 2nd leg
one Motagua / Seattle vs. Guastatoya / Club Leon
two Santos Guápiles / NYCFC vs. Communications / Colorado Rapids
3 Cavaly / New England vs. Deportivo Saprissa / Pumas UNAM
4 Forge FC / Cruz Azul vs. Santos Laguna / CF Montreal

CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals and final

According to the official tournament rules, the four teams left standing in the semi-finals will be ranked based on their 2022 Champions League results, with three points assigned for each victory and one point for each tie in the quarter-finals. If necessary, the tiebreakers in this qualifying process will be a.) Overall goal difference and then b.) Overall goals scored until the quarterfinals.

The highest ranked team in each of the semifinals and finals matches, according to the aforementioned point system, will host the second leg of the semifinals and the final.

Semifinalist No. 1 Semifinalist No. 2
Motagua / Seattle / Gustatoya / Leon vs. Guapiles / NYCFC / Communications / Colorado
Knight / New England / Saprissa / Cougars vs. Forge / Cruz Azul / Santos / CF Montreal
  • Semifinals: April 5-7, April 12-14
  • Final: April 26-28, May 3-5

CONCACAF Champions League playoffs

In the event that two teams are tied for added goals after both legs of a series, this is how the winner will be determined. according to tournament regulations:

Tiebreaker: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals

The tiebreakers of the first three rounds of the tournament are:

  1. Most away goals scored;
  2. If the teams are also tied for away goals scored, a penalty shoot-out will determine the team that advances.
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Tiebreaker: Final

The tiebreaker for away goals does not apply in the final. In the event of a tie after 180 minutes of regulation play, the winner is determined by:

  1. Two 15-minute halves of overtime;
  2. If the teams remain tied for total goals after overtime, a penalty shoot-out will determine the champion.

Teams qualified for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League

The next 16 teams qualified for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League. Ten teams qualified through national competition, while the other six earned a spot by finishing as one of the top six teams in the 2021 CONCACAF League.

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Club Country As qualified
Knight like Haiti 2021 Caribbean Championship Winner
CF Montreal Canada 2021 Canadian Championship Winner
Club Leon Mexico Champions of Liga MX Apertura 2020
Colorado Rapids USA 2021 MLS Western Confernce Regular Season Winner
Communications Guatemala 2021 CONCACAF League Winner
Blue Cross Mexico Clausura Liga MX 2021 Champion
Forge FC Canada CONCACAF League Semifinalist 2021
Guastatoya Guatemala CONCACAF League Semifinalist 2021
Motagua Honduras CONCACAF League Finalist 2021
New England Revolution USA 2021 MLS Eastern Conference Regular Season Winner
New York City FC USA 2021 MLS Cup Champions
Pumas UNAM Mexico Runner-up of Liga MX Apertura 2020
Saprissa Costa Rica Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF League 2021 (between the best two)
Santos de Guapiles Costa Rica Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF League 2021 (between the best two)
Santos Laguna Mexico Runner-up of the Clausura Liga MX 2021
Seattle Sounders USA Next Top Ranked in the 2021 MLS Supporters’ Shield Rankings
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How did the CONCACAF Champions League draw work?

The 16 teams were classified by CONCACAF, with the top eight teams grouped in Pot 1 and the rest in Pot 2.

For Round of 16, the seeded teams in Pot 1 faced the non-seeded teams in Pot 2, although clubs from the same country were unable to draw with each other in Round of 16.

Pot 1 Pot 2
CF Montreal Knight like
Club Leon Communications
Colorado Rapids Forge FC
Blue Cross Guastatoya
New England Revolution Motagua
New York City FC Santos de Guapiles
Pumas UNAM Santos Laguna
Seattle Sounders Saprissa

The draw began with the eight unseeded teams from Pot 2, and after each name was drawn, that team’s place in the pool was randomly selected from a different pot. The process was repeated with the seeded teams in Pot 1.

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CONCACAF Champions League Winners

A Mexican club has won every edition of the CONCACAF Champions League since the competition was revamped and renamed prior to the 2008-09 edition. All but four of the 13 finals have featured two Mexican teams.

Year Champion Runner-up
2021 Monterrey Mexico) Club America (Mexico)
2020 UANL Tigres (Mexico) LAFC (United States)
2019 Monterrey Mexico) UANL Tigres (Mexico)
2018 Chivas (Mexico) Toronto FC (Canada)
2016-17 Pachuca (Mexico) UANL Tigres (Mexico)
2015-16 Club America (Mexico) UANL Tigres (Mexico)
2014-15 Club America (Mexico) Montreal Impact (Canada)
2013-14 Cruz Azul (Mexico) Toluca (Mexico)
2012-13 Monterrey Mexico) Santos Laguna (Mexico)
2011-12 Monterrey Mexico) Santos Laguna (Mexico)
2010-11 Monterrey Mexico) Real Salt Lake (United States)
2009-10 Pachuca (Mexico) Cruz Azul (Mexico)
2008-09 Atlante (Mexico) Cruz Azul (Mexico)




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