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 5:00 PM. The event, conducted live from Univision Studios in Miami, Florida, will be televised on Univision Deportes Network, Fox Sports Latin America and other rights partners networks throughout the Confederation, and will feature coaches from participating clubs, as well as celebrity guests from the world of international football.
The 16 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 16 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 names of the participating clubs, while the other two “Bracket Position Pots” will contain the 16 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.
