2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 February – 1 June |
| Teams | 27 |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup is the upcoming 60th season of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the premier club association football tournament for North, Central America, and the Caribbean's organized by CONCACAF. It is a five-round knockout tournament with 27 teams who qualify based on their national and zonal league and cup competitions; the first four rounds are played as a two-legged series at the home stadiums of the respective teams.[1]
The final will be a single match played on 1 June 2025.[2] The winners of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
Qualification
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.[1]
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.[3]
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.[3][4][5]
North American Zone 
Central American Zone 
Caribbean ZoneDistribution
A total of 27 teams (from 10 associations) qualify for the tournament.[2]
- North American Zone: 18 teams (from 3 associations)
- Central American Zone: 6 teams (from 4 associations)
- Caribbean Zone: 3 teams (from 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 takes 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 with the worse record, 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
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 |  Cavalier
|
2024 Caribbean Cup champions | 2nd (2024) | First round (2024) |
| Central American Cup |  Alajuelense
|
2024 Central American Cup champions | 28th (2024) | Champions (2004) |
| 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 | LA Galaxy
|
2024 MLS Cup champions | 11th (2015–16) | Champions (2000) |
| 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) |
 Cibao
|
2024 Caribbean Cup finalists | 2nd (2018) | Round of 16 (2018) |
 Real Hope
|
2024 Caribbean Cup third place | 1st | Debut | |
| Central American Cup (5 berths) |
 Real Estelí
|
2024 Central American Cup runners-up | 13th (2024) | Round of 16 (2021) |
 Antigua
|
2024 Central American Cup semi-finalists | 2nd (2016–17) | Group stage (2016–17) | |
| 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) |
| FC Cincinnati
|
Next best clubs in the 2024 Supporters' Shield standings[Note USA] | 2nd (2024) | Round of 16 (2024) | |
| Real Salt Lake
|
4th (2015–16) | Runners-up (2010–11) | ||
| Seattle Sounders FC
|
8th (2022) | Champions (2022) | ||
| U.S. Open Cup (1 berth) |
Sporting Kansas City
|
2024 U.S. Open Cup runners-up[Note USA2] | 7th (2019) | Semi-finals (2019) |
- ^
- ^United States (USA): As the Columbus Crew, Los Angeles FC, and LA Galaxy already qualified based on their performances in other competitions, these berths were awarded to teams that finished 5th, 6th, and 7th in the overall standings.[6]
- ^United States (USA2): 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.[7]
Draw
The draw for the tournament took place on 10 December 2024 in Miami. The ceremony was streamed on CONCACAF's YouTube channel and broadcast live on Fox Sports in the United States and Mexico and ESPN in most of the Americas.[1] Teams were seeded and placed in draw pots based on their CONCACAF club ranking as of 9 December 2024.[8]
Entering in the Round of 16
| Seed | Team | Ranking points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus Crew
|
1252 |
| 2 | América
|
1242 |
| 3 | LA Galaxy
|
1203 |
| 4 | Alajuelense
|
1157 |
| 5 | Cavalier
|
1057 |
Entering in Round One
|
|
|
Schedule
The competition schedule is as follows.[9]
| 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).
Bracket
Round one
Summary
The matches will be played over four weeks on 4–6, 11–13, 18–20 and 25–27 February 2025.[10]
Matches
| Real Hope | v | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Concacaf announces procedures for 2025 Champions Cup draw" (Press release). CONCACAF. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Evans, Jaya (7 December 2024). "Sounders' Club World Cup schedule released; Seattle qualifies for CONCACAF Champions Cup". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ "Sporting Kansas City cruise past Indy Eleven into US Open Cup final". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Official Draw Pots and Procedures" (Press release). Miami, FL: CONCACAF. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ "Concacaf confirms important details for 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup". Concacaf. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ "Concacaf announces schedule for 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One and Round of 16 matches". CONCACAF. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "Cavalry FC to Play 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One Home Match at Starlight Stadium in Langford, BC". Cavalry FC. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.