The Gold Standard. Season 4 is here. Atlanta United begins their quest to conquer international competition this week in the first leg of the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (CCL). But what exactly is the CCL? Who is eligible? How do you qualify? Everything you need to know about the international tournament below:
The Competition
The Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League is the sport’s premier professional tournament in North America held annually featuring the most elite clubs from leagues across North America, Central America and the Caribbean. This year’s will be the 12th edition of the competition under its current name, and the 55th overall edition of the premier club competition organized by Concacaf. The 2020 tournament will feature 16 teams competing in a knockout format with the opening matchups determined by a draw that was held in December. Each round of the knockout will feature two legs, meaning each team will play one home match and one away match with the aggregate winner advancing to the next round. The opening round of the competition will begin this month, in February of 2020.
The field of 16 is comprised of four teams from Mexico, four from the United States, one from Canada, one from Jamaica, two from Costa Rica, one from El Salvador, one from Guatemala and two from Honduras.
The best team out of these 16 teams will be crowned Concacaf champions and secure a spot in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held in December 2020.
The Road to Glory
The Concacaf Champions League is a 16-round bracket style tournament, with each leg consisting of a home and away match. The tournament consists of:
- Four teams from Mexico: (Club América, UANL, Cruz Azul and Club Léon),
- Five from MLS (Atlanta United, New York City FC, Seattle Sounders, Montreal Impact and LAFC)
- One team from Jamaica (Portmore United)
- Two teams from Costa Rica (Deportivo Saprissa and San Carlos)
- One team from El Salvador (Alianza F.C.)
- One team from Guatemala (Comunicaciones FC)
- Two teams from Honduras (F.C. Motagua and C.D. Olimpia)
Atlanta United will start the tournament against F.C Motagua in Honduras this Tuesday, Feb. 18th at 10 P.M. EST.
Tournament History
The Concacaf Champions League has been dominated by Mexican clubs since its current format was adopted in 2008. During that time, only three MLS teams have been able to reach the final – including most recently Toronto FC who fell just short to Chivas in the 2018 final.
In the history of the competition (known as Champions’ Cup from 1962-2008), only two U.S. teams have been crowned champions. Atlanta United will look to become the first U.S. and MLS side to win the competition since 2000 (LA Galaxy).
How to Tune In:
Fans will be able to enjoy all the actions through the Confederation's partner networks, including TUDN (United States), Fox Sports Latin America (Mexico & Central America), ESPN (Central America), TSN and RDS (Canada), Flow Sports (Caribbean) and other local partners. For other territories, the event will be available on Concacaf GO (subject to territory restrictions). As always, stay tuned to Atlanta United’s social media channels (@ATLUTD) as well as ATLUTD.com for all the latest updates throughout the tournament.
