Sixteen top CONCACAF clubs will learn their first-round opponents at the gala event in Miami on Monday, December 18
Miami (Wednesday, November 29, 2017) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) confirmed today the programming for the official draw of the newly re-formatted 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the region’s premier club championship, featuring representatives from eight CONCACAF Member Associations.
The official draw will take place on Monday, December 18, at 7:00 pm ET. The event, conducted live from Univision Studios in Miami, Florida, will be televised on Univision Deportes Network, Fox Sports Latin America and other rights partner networks throughout the Confederation, and will feature coaches from participating clubs, as well as celebrity guests from the world of international football.
The sixteen clubs qualified for next year’s Champions League are (in alphabetical order by country): Toronto FC (CAN), CS Herediano (CRC), Deportivo Saprissa (CRC), Cibao FC (DOM), Santa Tecla FC (SLV), CD Olimpia (HON), FC Motagua (HON), CD Guadalajara (MEX), Club America (MEX), Club Tijuana (MEX), Tigres UANL (MEX), Tauro FC (PAN), Colorado Rapids (USA), FC Dallas (USA), New York Red Bulls (USA) and Seattle Sounders FC (USA).
Next month’s draw will sort the sixteen qualified clubs into eight parings for the first round of the Championship, which will begin in February.
The 2018 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League will be the first to feature the newly developed, action-packed knockout style format. The Round of 16 matches in home-and-away format demand the highest level of performance from the participating clubs from the start, and result in a quickly developing championship which continues with quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds in the months of March and April.
The draw, to be executed by CONCACAF General Secretary Philippe Moggio, with the assistance of a range of former Champions League stars from across the Confederation, will use a double-blind system involving four pots -- two “Club Pots” and two “Bracket Position Pots”. The two “Club Pots” will each contain eight of the participating clubs, while the other two “Bracket Position Pots” will contain the sixteen possible positions for the participating clubs.
Based on the new CONCACAF Club Index, which ranks clubs based on the performance of the countries over the last five editions of the Champions League, the clubs will be distributed as follows (in alphabetical order by country):
Pot 1: Toronto FC (CAN), CD Guadalajara (MEX), Club America (MEX), Tigres UANL (MEX), Club Tijuana (MEX), FC Dallas (USA), New York Red Bulls (USA) and Seattle Sounders FC (USA)
Pot 2: Deportivo Saprissa (CRC), CS Herediano (CRC), Cibao FC (DOM), FC Motagua (HON), Club Deportivo Olimpia (HON), Tauro FC (PAN), Santa Tecla FC (SLV) and Colorado Rapids (USA)
Wildcard club which entered the competition following the disqualification of Guatemala’s participant.
The “Bracket Position Pots” (A and B) will contain the bracket positions:
Pot A: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8
Pot B: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8
The draw will begin when the first club is selected from Pot 1, followed by a bracket position from Pot A. Once the position for all the clubs from Pot 1 has been drawn, using Pot A, clubs from Pot 2 will be drawn using the same procedure and Pot B. Each first round pairing will feature one team from each pot. Additionally, clubs from the same Member Association cannot face each other in the first round.
For the Round of 16, clubs drawn from Pot 1 will play away first, and host the return matches. The winners of matchups number 1, 3, 5 and 7, will host the return leg of the quarterfinals and will face the winners of matchups 2, 4, 6 and 8 respectively.
For the semifinals, the initial bracket will determine the matchups. Additionally, clubs will be ranked per their performance in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals, using the competition’s tie-breaking procedure. The highest ranked club in each semifinal matchup will host the 2nd leg matches. The same aggregate performance procedure will be applied to determine who will host the second leg Final. Detailed information can be found in the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League Regulations.
Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League 2018 Match Date Windows
Round of 16: February 20-22 and February 27- March 1, 2018
Quarterfinals: March 6-8 and March 13-15, 2018
Semifinals: April 3-5 and April 10-12, 2018
Finals: April 17-19 and April 24-26, 2018
