2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 February – 1 June |
| Teams | 27 |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup will be the 60th season of North, Central America, and the Caribbean's premier club association football tournament organized by CONCACAF.
The final will be played on 1 June 2025.[1] The winners of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
Qualification
[edit]Twenty-seven teams will qualify for the tournament, with five qualifying directly to the round of 16. The remaining 22 teams enter in round one.
In addition to national league competitions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, 12 of 27 berths will be determined by international competitions, including the revamped North American zonal competition, the 2024 Leagues Cup (three), and the existing regional or zonal championships in the Caribbean and Central America, the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup (three) and CONCACAF Central American Cup (six), respectively.[2]
Two Canadian Premier League teams qualify automatically, while the United States-only 2024 U.S. Open Cup knockout competition and the Canada-only equivalent, the 2024 Canadian Championship, provide one berth each.
The winners of the three zonal championships, along with the winner of MLS Cup 2024 and the highest-scoring champion from the 2023–24 Liga MX season, will receive the five byes into the round of 16.[2][3][4]
North American Zone 
Central American Zone 
Caribbean ZoneDistribution
[edit]A total of 27 teams (from 10 associations) qualify for the tournament.[1]
- North American Zone: 18 teams (from 3 associations)
- Central American Zone: 6 teams (from 4 associations)
- Caribbean Zone: 3 teams (from up to 3 associations)
Five teams receive a bye into the round of 16.
- The champion of the regional competitions for each of CONCACAF's constituent zones; North American, Central American, and Caribbean
- The champions of Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada (Liga MX have a split Clausura and Apertura system, so the champion team with the higher aggregate points take this place)
The remaining 22 teams will enter in round one.
- The runners-up and third-place team from the MLS–Liga MX Leagues Cup
- The runners-up and third-place team from the Caribbean Cup
- The runners-up, remaining semi-finalists and two play-in winners from the Central American Cup
- The U.S. Open Cup champion
- The Canadian Championship winner
- The Canadian Premier League regular season winner and playoff champion
- The remaining winner, two runners-up, and the two best next clubs by season aggregate from Liga MX
- The MLS Supporters' Shield winner
- The remaining MLS Conference regular season leader, and the next two teams in the Supporters' Shield table
Teams
[edit]The following table includes the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best from the CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament.
| Competition | Team | Qualifying method | App. (last) | Previous best (last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caribbean Cup | 2024 Caribbean Cup champions | |||
| Central American Cup | 2024 Central American Cup champions | |||
| Leagues Cup |  Columbus Crew
|
2024 Leagues Cup champions | 6th (2024) | Runners-up (2024) |
| Liga MX |  América
|
2023–24 Liga MX Apertura and Clausura champions | 16th (2024) | Champions (2015–16) |
| Major League Soccer |
|
2024 MLS Cup champions |
| Competition | Team | Qualifying method | App. (last) | Previous best (last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Championship (1 berth) |
 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
|
2024 Canadian Championship winners | 5th (2024) | Semi-finals (2016–17) |
| Canadian Premier League (2 berths) |
Cavalry FC
|
2024 Canadian Premier League champions | 2nd (2024) | First round (2024) |
| Forge FC
|
2024 CPL Shield winners | 3rd (2024) | Round of 16 (2022) | |
| Caribbean Cup (2 berths) |
 Cavalier[Note JAM]
|
2024 Caribbean Cup finalists | 2nd (2024) | First round (2024) |
 Cibao[Note DOM]
|
2nd (2018) | Round of 16 (2018) | ||
| 2024 Caribbean Cup third place | ||||
| Central American Cup (5 berths) |
2024 Central American Cup runners-up | |||
 Alajuelense[Note CRC]
|
2024 Central American Cup semi-finalists | 28th (2024) | Champions (2004) | |
 Antigua
|
2nd (2016-17) | Group stage (2016-17) | ||
 Real Estelí[Note NCA]
|
13th (2024) | Round of 16 (2021) | ||
| Herediano
|
17th (2024) | Semi-finals (2014–15) | ||
| Saprissa
|
2024 Central American Cup play-in winners | 38th (2024) | Champions (2005) | |
 Motagua
|
21st (2023) | Quarter-finals (2023) | ||
| Leagues Cup (2 berths) |
Los Angeles FC
|
2024 Leagues Cup runners-up | 3rd (2023) | Runners-up (2023) |
| Colorado Rapids
|
2024 Leagues Cup third place | 4th (2022) | Round of 16 (2022) | |
| Liga MX (5 berths) |
Cruz Azul
|
2023–24 Liga MX Clausura runners-up | 18th (2022) | Champions (2013–14) |
| UANL
|
2023–24 Liga MX Apertura runners-up | 12th (2024) | Champions (2020) | |
| Monterrey
|
Next three best clubs in 2023–24 Liga MX aggregate table[Note MEX] | 13th (2024) | Champions (2021) | |
| Guadalajara
|
10th (2024) | Champions (2018) | ||
| UNAM
|
12th (2022) | Champions (1989) | ||
| Major League Soccer (4 berths) |
Inter Miami CF
|
2024 Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield winners | 2nd (2024) | Quarter-finals (2024) |
| LA Galaxy[Note USA2]
|
2024 Major League Soccer Western conference regular season runners up[Note USA1] | 11th (2015–16) | Champions (2000) | |
| FC Cincinnati
|
Next two best clubs in the 2024 Supporters' Shield standings | 2nd (2024) | Round of 16 (2024) | |
| Real Salt Lake
|
4th (2015–16) | Runners-up (2010–11) | ||
| U.S. Open Cup (1 berth) |
Sporting Kansas City
|
2024 U.S. Open Cup runners-up[Note USA] | 7th (2019) | Semi-finals (2019) |
- ^ Costa Rica (CRC): Alajuelense qualified as a finalist. They can still qualify for the Round of 16 if they win the 2024 Central American Cup.
- ^ Dominican Republic (DOM): Cibao qualified as a finalist. They can still qualify for the Round of 16 if they win the 2024 Caribbean Cup.
- ^ Jamaica (JAM): Cavalier qualified as a finalist. They can still qualify for the Round of 16 if they win the 2024 Caribbean Cup.
- ^
- ^ Nicaragua (NCA): Real Estelí qualified as a finalist. They can still qualify for the Round of 16 if they win the 2024 Central American Cup.
- ^ United States (USA): Sporting Kansas City qualified as 2024 U.S. Open Cup runners-up as the champions Los Angeles FC already qualified via the 2024 Leagues Cup.[5]
- ^ United States (USA1): LA Galaxy qualified as Western Conference regular season runners-up as the champions Los Angeles FC already qualified via the 2024 Leagues Cup.[6]
- ^ United States (USA2): LA Galaxy can still qualify for the Round of 16 by winning the MLS Cup 2024. If so, the Seattle Sounders qualify as the next best club not yet qualified in the 2024 Supporters' Shield standings
Schedule
[edit]The competition schedule is as follows.[7]
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| Round one | 4–6 and 18–20 February | 11–13 and 25–27 February |
| Round of 16 | 4–6 March | 11–13 March |
| Quarter-finals | 1–3 April | 8–10 April |
| Semi-finals | 22–24 April | 29 April – 1 May |
| Final | 1 June | |
Times are EST or EDT,[note 1] as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "These are the qualified clubs for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup/". CONCACAF.com. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Concacaf announces expanded Champions League starting in 2024". Major League Soccer. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "How clubs can qualify for the expanded 2024 Concacaf Champions League". Major League Soccer. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Concacaf announces qualification criteria for Confederation's expanded Champions League starting in 2024". CONCACAF. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Sporting Kansas City cruise past Indy Eleven into US Open Cup final". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "LA Galaxy Clinch 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Berth". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ "Concacaf confirms important details for 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup". Concacaf. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.