- Expanded continental competition will feature 27 clubs and 5 rounds
- Draw on December 13 will determine each club's path to the Final
- Tournament kicks off the first week of February 2024
- 21 clubs have already secured a berth for the competition
Miami, FL- Concacaf has confirmed important details regarding the 2024 edition of the Confederation's flagship club competition, the Concacaf Champions Cup. The revamped tournament, comprising five rounds and 27 of the region's best clubs, will begin in February 2024.
The 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Draw, which will determine the tournament's bracket and each club's path to the Final, will be conducted on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 7:00 pm ET. The made-for-tv live event will be widely available for fans across the region to follow and enjoy through the Confederation’s TV partner networks. Fans will also be able to follow live updates on Concacaf's Social Media platforms.
Champions League to Champions Cup
As previously announced, beginning next year, the Confederation has replaced the Concacaf Champions League with the Concacaf Champions Cup. The name "Champions Cup" is part of a complete rebrand inspired by this tournament's rich history. Since 1962, when the first iteration of this tournament was formed, 30 different clubs have won this title, highlighting how competitive it is and the great diversity of champions we have had in Concacaf.
The brand essence is "epic battles for greatness", which symbolizes how difficult this competition is to qualify for, compete in, and win to be crowned Concacaf club champion.
Expanded competition format
Like its predecessor, the Champions Cup is played in a direct elimination knockout stage format and has been expanded to include five rounds (up from four) and 27 clubs (up from 16). The competition's first four rounds, Round One, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals, all include home and away play, while the Final, where the region's Champion is crowned, is played as a single-leg match on a weekend date.
Of the 27 clubs participating, 22 will begin play in Round One, and five will receive a bye to the Round of 16. The qualification process for the clubs is divided by region (North, Central America, and Caribbean). Further details on how each club has qualified are available below.
Competition dates
The 2024 Champions Cup will begin with Round One. These eleven home-and-away series will be played in February, followed by the Round of 16 in March, the Quarterfinals and semifinals in April, and the single-leg Final on Sunday, June 2.
Round One: February 6-8 (Week 1), 13-15 (Week 2), 20-22 (Week 3) and 27-29 (Week 4)
Round of 16: March 5-7 (First Legs) and 12-14 (Second Legs)
Quarterfinals: April 2-4 (First Legs) and 9-11 (Second Legs)
Semifinals: April 23-25 (First Legs) and April 30 - May 2 (Second Legs)
Final: June 2 (Single Leg)
Participating clubs
Clubs qualify for the new Champions Cup via three new regional cups in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as domestic leagues and cups for Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The three regional cups - Leagues Cup, Concacaf Central American Cup, and Concacaf Caribbean Cup, which play an essential role in the Confederation's new club ecosystem and crown their champions, are played in the summer and fall of each year.
Thus far, 21 clubs have secured a berth in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. These clubs are (in alphabetical order per tournament):
- Canadian Championship (1): Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN)
- Canadian Premier League (2): Cavalry FC (CAN) and Forge FC (CAN)
- Concacaf Central American Cup (4): CA Independiente (PAN), CS Herediano (CRC), LD Alajuelense (CRC), and Real Estelí FC (NCA)
- Leagues Cup (3): Inter Miami CF (USA), Nashville SC (USA) and Philadelphia Union (USA)
- Liga MX (6): CD Guadalajara (MEX), CF Monterrey (MEX), CF Pachuca (MEX), Club América (MEX), Deportivo Toluca (MEX), and Tigres UANL (MEX)
- MLS (4): Columbus Crew (USA), FC Cincinnati (USA), Orlando City SC (USA), and St. Louis CITY SC (USA)
- US Open Cup (1): Houston Dynamo FC (USA)
The remaining six participating clubs, which include three Caribbean Clubs (2023 Caribbean Cup winners, runners-up, and third-place finishers), two Central American Clubs (2023 Central American Cup Play-In winners), and one MLS club (2023 MLS Cup winners), will be confirmed before the official draw.
Competition bracket and draw pots and procedures
On December 13, Concacaf will conduct the official draw for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. The procedures governing the event have been established to provide the fairest balance to all competing clubs.
The draw will be carried out using a double-blind system involving four pots. The two "club pots", to be identified as Pot 1 and Pot 2, will contain the spheres with the names of the non-seeded clubs, and the two "position pots", to be identified as Pot A and Pot B, will contain the available Round One bracket positions, which excludes those occupied by the pre-seeded clubs.
Based on the competition's regulations and qualification criteria, five clubs have received a bye to the Round of 16, rewarding their sporting merit, and will be pre-seeded into a bracket position. These five clubs are:
- 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup champion - TBC
- 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup champion - TBC
- 2023 Leagues Cup champion - Inter Miami FC
- 2022/23 Liga MX champion with the most accumulated points - CF Pachuca
- 2023 MLS Cup champions - TBC
These five clubs will be positioned in a Round of 16 bracket position based on the Concacaf Club Rankings of December 11, 2023, as follows:
- Highest-ranked club - Matchup 1
- Second highest-ranked club - Matchup 5
- Third highest-ranked club - Matchup 8
- Fourth highest-ranked club - Matchup 4
- Fifth highest-ranked club - Matchup 2
For Round One, which includes the participation of 22 clubs, the three highest-ranked clubs will be pre-seeded into a Round One bracket position, and the remaining 19 clubs will be distributed into the two "club pots". The three highest-ranked clubs are being seeded to reward their competitive merit and strength, ensuring that they will not face any club that received a bye to the Champions Cup Round of 16 until later rounds in the competition.
The three highest-ranked Round One clubs, based on the Concacaf Club Rankings of December 11, 2023, will be pre-seeded into a matchup as follows:
- Highest-ranked Round One club - Position A3, and if advanced Matchup 3
- Second highest-ranked Round One club - Position A9, and if advanced Matchup 7
- Third highest-ranked Round One club - Position A7, and if advanced Matchup 6
The 19 remaining clubs that will begin play in Round One will be divided into the two "Club Pots" as follows:
- Pot 1: 8 next best-ranked clubs
- Pot 2: 11 lowest-ranked clubs
The 19 available Round One bracket positions will be divided into the two "Position Pots" as follows:
- Pot A: A1, A2, A4, A5, A6, A8, A10 and A11
- Pot B: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B10 and B11
The official draw will begin by confirming the bracket positions for the eight pre-seeded clubs. Once confirmed, the draw for Pot 1 clubs will start by randomly drawing a sphere, followed by a Round One bracket position from Pot A. This process will be repeated for the remaining seven spheres in Pot 1, always using the available bracket positions in Pot A.
After all Pot 1 clubs have been drawn and assigned a bracket position, the draw for clubs in Pot 2 will begin, following the same procedure and the bracket positions in Pot B. Once all clubs have been assigned a bracket position, the draw will conclude.
Fans will be able to enjoy the live event through the Confederation's TV partner networks, including FOX Sports | Tubi (USA-English), TUDN | ViX (USA-Spanish), Fox Sports Mexico (Mexico-Spanish), ESPN | Star+ (Central America, Caribbean, and South America), and the Concacaf Official Platforms for all other territories (subject to territory restrictions).
