December 14 – The all MLS match-up of Houston Dynamo vs St Louis City and the LigaMX vs MLS tie between Tigres UANL and Vancouver Whitecaps were the stand-out first round fixtures in the draw for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup yesterday.
The Champions Cup, the renamed and revamped Concacaf Champions League, is the region’s premier men’s club competition, now entering its 59th edition with 27 teams qualified for the knock-out rounds.
Tigres UANL won the old Champions League in 2020 but were handed a tough opener against Vancouver Whitecaps if they are to win the 2024 competition and join CF Monterey, Seattle Sounders and Club Leon (winners in 2021, 2022 and 2023) as one of the four Concacaf qualifiers for the expanded 32-team Club World Cup to be played in the US in 2025.
Neither Seattle Sounders or Club Leon qualified for the knockout rounds of the 2024 Champions Cup. Monterrey have been drawn against Guatemala’s Comunicaciones FC.
St Louis City SC are making their international competition debut but won’t need to break out their passports until the quarter finals assuming they beat MLS Western Conference finalists Houston, and then overcome MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew who have been directly seeded into the last 16.
The first round draw saw 22 teams matched up in 11 home and away ties. The 11 winners will progress to the round of 16 where they will join the four directly qualified clubs – CF Pachuca (Mexico), SV Robinhood (Suriname), LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica) and the Columbus Crew.
The first round ties will be played in February 2024 with the final to be played 2 June 2024.
Champions Cup Draw:
Round One
RO Matchup #1: Philadelphia Union (USA) vs Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)
RO Matchup #2: Deportivo Toluca (MEX) vs CS Herediano (CRC)
RO Matchup #3: Club America (MEX) vs Real Estelí FC (NCA)
RO Matchup #4: CD Guadalajara (MEX) vs Forge FC (CAN)
RO Matchup #5: New England Revolution (USA) vs CA Independiente (PAN)
RO Matchup #6: Houston Dynamo FC (USA) vs St. Louis CITY SC (USA)
RO Matchup #7: Tigres UANL (MEX) vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN)
RO Matchup #8: Orlando City SC (USA) vs Cavalry FC (CAN)
RO Matchup #9: CF Monterrey (MEX) vs Comunicaciones FC (GUA)
RO Matchup #10: FC Cincinnati (USA) vs Cavalier FC (JAM)
RO Matchup #11: Nashville SC (USA) vs Moca FC (DOM)
Following home and away play, in February of 2024, the aggregate score winner in each matchup will advance to the Round of 16. The Round of 16 matchups will be as follows:
Round of 16
R16 Matchup #1: CF Pachuca (MEX) vs W1
R16 Matchup #2: SV Robinhood (SUR) vs W2
R16 Matchup #3: W3 vs W4
R16 Matchup #4: LD Alajuelense (CRC) vs W5
R16 Matchup #5: Columbus Crew (USA) vs W6
R16 Matchup #6: W7 vs W8
R16 Matchup #7: W9 vs W10
R16 Matchup #8: Inter Miami CF (USA) vs W11
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