Concacaf Reveals Qualifying Criteria for Expanded Champions League

The tournament will grow to 27 teams starting in 2024, with different paths to qualification opening up as a result.

Eighteen North American clubs—up to nine could come from the U.S.—will take part in the expanded Concacaf Champions League kicking off in 2024. Organizers unveiled most of the 27-team format’s complex qualifying criteria Wednesday morning, detailing how three new regional tournaments and multiple leagues and overlapping domestic cups (in the U.S. and Canada) will feed into the enlarged continental competition.

The 2023 CCL contested early next year will be the last under the current, 16-team format. While the Seattle Sounders are still less than a month removed from their historic ’22 triumph, the four Mexican entrants for ’23 already are decided (Atlas, León, Pachuca and Tigres UANL). In ’24, Mexico’s allotment, along with that from the U.S. and Canada, will increase significantly.

The larger CCL will remain a bracketed, home-and-away tournament until the final, which will be a single game. Five clubs from across Concacaf will earn direct passage to the round of 16, while the remaining 22 entrants will contest 11 first-round series. The five byes will be awarded to the MLS Cup champion, the Liga MX champion with the better combined Apertura/Clausura regular-season record and then the winners of three new fall subregional tournaments: the Leagues Cup (involving every club from MLS and Liga MX), the Central American Cup and the Caribbean Cup. Those events begin next year.

With the 2023 Leagues Cup format still unannounced, Concacaf is waiting to determine how to proceed if the MLS Cup champion or higher-ranked Liga MX winner also lifts the Leagues Cup, thereby earning two byes.

Here’s a breakdown of qualifying and eligibility for the new, expanded CCL:

Concacaf

North America: 18 clubs

MLS (at least five): MLS Cup champion (bye), Supporters’ Shield winner, top finisher in the conference opposite the Shield winner, two clubs with the next best regular-season records.

If the MLS Cup winner also qualifies via the regular season, the next-best regular-season team will earn a berth. The three Canadian MLS clubs will be eligible to qualify for the CCL through league play for the first time.

U.S. Open Cup (one or zero): Champion or runner-up.

If the Open Cup winner qualifies via MLS or the Leagues Cup, the tournament runner-up will go to the CCL. If that team also holds multiple CCL slots, the Open Cup will cede its allocation to the next-best MLS regular-season team. The Open Cup is the only avenue through which a USL Championship, USL League One, NISA or American amateur side can reach the CCL.

Leagues Cup (three): First- (bye), second- and third-place finishers.

Concacaf hasn’t determined how to handle Leagues Cup qualifiers that also earn CCL invites via domestic play. One possibility is to award the extra berth to the next-best regular-season team in that qualifier’s league (e.g., if the Supporters’ Shield winner finishes second in Leagues Cup, another MLS club gets that spot). It could also trickle down to the fourth semifinalist if that team hasn’t qualified otherwise.

Liga MX (six): Apertura/Clausura champion with the better combined regular-season record (bye), other champion, Apertura and Clausura runners-up, two clubs with the next best regular-season records.

If any team doubles up, the open spot will be decided by combined regular-season record.

Canadian Championship (one): Champion, runner-up or semifinalist.

The “higher-ranked” semifinalist, based on unspecified criteria, will earn the berth if the two finalists have qualified via MLS, the Leagues Cup or the Canadian Premier League. It’s unclear what would happen to the slot if all four semifinalists somehow qualify from elsewhere, which might be possible if Toronto FC, CF Montreal and Vancouver Whitecaps advance via MLS and/or the Leagues Cup.

Canadian Premier League (two): Champion and best regular-season record.

If one team does the double, the next-best regular-season finisher earns the berth.

Concacaf

Central America: Six clubs

The new Central American Cup, which replaces the Concacaf League qualifier, will feature 20 clubs from across the seven Central American countries (the final Concacaf League will be played this fall). Those 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five sides each, then progress into a knockout phase.

The champion will earn a CCL bye, while the runner-up, semifinalists and two of the four quarterfinalists (after playoffs) qualify for the CCL’s first round.

Concacaf

Caribbean: Three clubs

Ten clubs will contest the new Caribbean Cup, starting with two groups of five teams each. The champion gets a CCL bye. The runner-up and third-place finisher move on to the continental championship’s first round.