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.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 February – 1 June |
| Teams | 27 |
← 2024 2026 → | |
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
editTwenty-seven teams will qualify for the tournament, with five of them earning direct qualification to the round of 16. The remaining twenty-two teams will 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 will qualify automatically while the United States-only 2024 U.S. Open Cup knockout competition and the Canada-only equivalent, the 2024 Canadian Championship, will 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]
Distribution
editA 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
editThe 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 | 2024 Leagues Cup champions | 6th (2024) | Runners-up (2024) | |
| Liga MX | 2023–24 Liga MX Apertura and Clausura champions | 16th (2024) | Champions (2015–16) | |
| Major League Soccer | 2024 MLS Cup champions |
- ^ Canada (CAN): Cavalry FC qualified as a finalist of the 2024 Canadian Premier League as Forge FC already qualified as 2024 CPL Shield winners.
- ^ Canada (CAN1): Vancouver Whitecaps FC can still qualify for the Round of 16 by winning the MLS Cup 2024.
- ^ 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): FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC can still qualify for the Round of 16 by winning the MLS Cup 2024.
Schedule
editThe competition schedule is as follows.[6]
| 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
editReferences
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.
- ^ "Concacaf confirms important details for 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup". Concacaf. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.