2023 CONCACAF Champions League

2023 CONCACAF Champions League
2023 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
BMO Stadium in Los Angeles hosted the second leg of the final
Tournament details
Dates7 March – 4 June
Teams16 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
Champions León (1st title)
Runners-up Los Angeles FC
Tournament statistics
Matches played30
Goals scored82 (2.73 per match)
Top scorer(s) Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC)
7 goals
Best player(s) Víctor Dávila (León)[1]
Best young player Fidel Ambríz (León)[2]
← 2022
2024 (Champions Cup) →

The 2023 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2023 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th and final edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its former name, and overall the 58th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[3]

Seattle Sounders FC were the title holders, but they did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.

León won their first title, defeating Los Angeles FC of MLS in the final 3–1 on aggregate. As winners, they earned the right to play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and would have also qualified 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States alongside the winners from 2021 to 2024.[4] However, due to León sharing the same ownership as C.F. Pachuca, another qualified team, and regulations against multi-club ownership, León was later disqualified from the latter;[5] their spot in the Club World Cup was instead awarded to Los Angeles FC, the runners-up to León in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, who beaten Club América, the top-ranked team in the CONCACAF confederation ranking at the conclusion of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup in the play-in match on 31 May 2025.[6][7]

Teams

The following 16 teams (from eight associations) qualified for the tournament.[8]

In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).

Direct entrants (10 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Mexico (4 berths) Atlas Apertura 2021 champions and Clausura 2022 champions 1st Debut
León Apertura 2021 runners-up 5th (2022) Quarter-finals (2022)
Pachuca Clausura 2022 runners-up 4th (2016–17) Champions (2016–17)
UANL Best ranked team on aggregate table that have not already qualified 7th (2020) Champions (2020)
 United States (4 berths) Los Angeles FC 2022 MLS Cup champions and 2022 MLS Supporters' Shield champions 2nd (2020) Runners-up (2020)
Philadelphia Union 2022 Eastern Conference regular season champions 2nd (2021) Semi-finals (2021)
Orlando City SC 2022 U.S. Open Cup champions 1st Debut
Austin FC Highest-ranked U.S. based Division I club (based on 2022 MLS regular season record) not already qualified 1st Debut
 Canada (1 berth) Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2022 Canadian Championship champions 3rd (2016–17) Semi-finals (2016–17)
 Haiti (CFU berth) Violette 2022 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions 1st Debut
Qualified teams from CONCACAF League (6 teams)
Association Team Qualifying method App. (last) Previous best (last)
 Honduras Olimpia 2022 CONCACAF League champions (1st overall) 13th (2021) Semi-finals (2020)
Real España 2022 CONCACAF League semifinalist (3rd overall) 4th (2014–15) Group stage (2011–12)
Motagua 2022 CONCACAF League semifinalist (4th overall) 7th (2022) Round of 16 (2020)
 Costa Rica Alajuelense 2022 CONCACAF League runners-up (2nd overall) 7th (2021) Semi-finals (2014–15)
 El Salvador Alianza 2022 CONCACAF League best-ranked losing quarter-finalist (5th overall) 5th (2020) Round of 16 (2019)
 Panama Tauro 2022 CONCACAF League second-ranked losing quarter-finalist (6th overall) 7th (2018) Quarter-finals (2018)

Draw

Location of teams of the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League
North American Zone Central American Zone Caribbean Zone

The draw took take place in Miami, Florida, United States on 7 November 2022.[9] The seeding of teams was based on the CONCACAF Club Index.[10] The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, was based on the on-field performance of the teams that occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:

Points
per 		Participation Win Draw Stage advanced Champions
4 3 1 1 2

The slots were assigned by the following rules:[11]

  • For teams from North America, nine teams qualified based on criteria set by their association (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., MEX1, MEX2) for each team. If a team from Canada qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked within their association, resulting in an assigned slot (i.e., CAN2) for them.
  • For teams from Central America, they qualified through the CONCACAF League, and were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., CRC1, CRC2) for each team.
  • For teams from the Caribbean, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions were assigned the Caribbean champion slot (i.e., CCC1). If teams from the Caribbean qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., JAM1, SUR1) for each team.

The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:[12]

Pot Rank Slot 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total Team
Pot 1 1 MEX2 25 21 24 16 17 103 León
2 MEX3 17 26 11 20 19 93 Pachuca
3 MEX1 12 20 11 28 12 83 Atlas
4 USA4 5 11 12 12 25 65 Austin FC
5 USA2 7 15 16 16 8 62 Philadelphia Union
6 USA1 11 11 6 12 16 56 Los Angeles FC
7 USA3 17 11 11 10 7 56 Orlando City SC
8 CAN1 21 5 10 9 9 54 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Pot 2 9 MEX4 9 4 7 5 7 32 UANL
10 CRC1 5 7 6 4 5 27 Alajuelense
11 HON1 5 4 5 7 5 26 Olimpia
12 HON2 5 0 11 5 0 21 Real España
13 PAN1 8 12 0 0 0 20 Tauro
14 SLV1 7 5 7 0 0 19 Alianza
15 CCC1 4 4 4 4 0 16 Violette
16 HON3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Motagua

Format

Each tie, including the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing on a home-and-away basis.

  • In the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, the away goals rule was applied if the aggregate score was tied after the second leg. If still tied, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.7).[13]
  • In the final, extra time was played if the match was tied after regulation time. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.8).[13]

Schedule

Schedule for 2023 CONCACAF Champions League[14]
Round First leg Second leg
Round of 16 7–9 March 14–16 March
Quarter-finals 4–5 April 11–13 April
Semi-finals 25–26 April 2–3 May
Final 31 May 4 June

Bracket

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the matchups were decided by draw: R16-1 through R16-8. The teams from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played on 7–9 March, and the second legs were played on 14–16 March 2023.[15]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Violette 3–2 Austin FC 3–0 0–2
Tauro 0–3 León 0–1 0–2
UANL 1–1 (a) Orlando City SC 0–0 1–1
Motagua 1–1 (a) Pachuca 0–0 1–1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7–3[A] Real España 5–0 2–3
Alajuelense 2–4 Los Angeles FC 0–3 2–1
Olimpia 4–5 Atlas 4–1 0–4
Alianza 0–4 Philadelphia Union 0–0 0–4

Notes

  1. ^ Order of legs were reversed after original draw

Matches

Violette 3–0 Austin FC
  • Chéry 13', 39'
  • Tarek 47' (o.g.)
 Report
Referee: Selvin Brown (Honduras)
Austin FC 2–0 Violette
 Report
Attendance: 20,738[16]
Referee: Oshane Nation (Jamaica)

Violette won 3–2 on aggregate.

Tauro 0–1 León
Report
León 2–0 Tauro
 Report

León won 3–0 on aggregate.

Orlando City SC 1–1 UANL
 Report
Attendance: 21,112

1–1 on aggregate. UANL won on away goals.

Motagua 0–0 Pachuca
Report
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)
Pachuca 1–1 Motagua
 Report

1–1 on aggregate. Motagua won on away goals.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 5–0 Real España
 Report
Attendance: 13,644[17]
Referee: Fernando Hernández (Mexico)
Real España 3–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
  • Montes 67', 86'
  • Rocca 75'
 Report
Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC won 7–3 on aggregate.

Alajuelense 0–3 Los Angeles FC
Report
Referee: Daneon Parchment (Jamaica)
Los Angeles FC 1–2 Alajuelense
 Report
Attendance: 19,672[18]
Referee: Adonai Escobedo (Mexico)

Los Angeles FC won 4–2 on aggregate.

Olimpia 4–1 Atlas
 Report
Atlas 4–0 Olimpia
 Report
Attendance: 13,697[19]
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)

Atlas won 5–4 on aggregate.

Alianza 0–0 Philadelphia Union
Report
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)
Philadelphia Union 4–0 Alianza
 Report
Attendance: 8,145[20]
Referee: Bryan López (Guatemala)

Philadelphia Union won 4–0 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:

  • QF1: Winner R16-1 vs. Winner R16-2
  • QF2: Winner R16-3 vs. Winner R16-4
  • QF3: Winner R16-5 vs. Winner R16-6
  • QF4: Winner R16-7 vs. Winner R16-8

The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5 and 7 hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played on 4–5 April, and the second legs were played on 11–12 April 2023.[21]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Violette 2–6 León 0–5 2–1
Motagua 0–6 UANL 0–1 0–5
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–6 Los Angeles FC 0–3 0–3
Atlas 2–3 Philadelphia Union 0–1 2–2

Matches

León 5–0 Violette
 Report
Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)
Violette 2–1 León
  • Chéry 15', 26'
 Report
Referee: Keylor Herrera (Costa Rica)

León won 6–2 on aggregate.

UANL 5–0 Motagua
 Report

UANL won 6–0 on aggregate.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–3 Los Angeles FC
Report
Attendance: 11,652
Los Angeles FC 3–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 Report
Attendance: 18,688
Referee: Juan Calderón (Costa Rica)

Los Angeles FC won 6–0 on aggregate.

Philadelphia Union 1–0 Atlas
 Report
Atlas 2–2 Philadelphia Union
 Report

Philadelphia Union won 3–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:

  • SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
  • SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4

The semi-finalists in each tie which had the better performance across all previous rounds hosted the second leg.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Host
1 (SF1) León 4 3 0 1 9 2 +7 9 Second leg
2 (SF1) UANL 4 2 2 0 7 1 +6 8 First leg
1 (SF2) Los Angeles FC 4 3 0 1 10 2 +8 9 Second leg
2 (SF2) Philadelphia Union 4 2 2 0 7 2 +5 8 First leg
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Disciplinary points (1 point for yellow card, 3 points for indirect red card, 4 points for direct red card, 5 points for yellow card and direct red card); 8) Drawing of lots (Regulations Article 12.9.5).

Summary

The first legs were played on 25–26 April, and the second legs were played on 2–3 May 2023.[22]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
UANL 3–4 León 2–1 1–3
Philadelphia Union 1–4 Los Angeles FC 1–1 0–3

Matches

UANL 2–1 León
 Report
León 3–1 UANL
 Report

León won 4–3 on aggregate.

Philadelphia Union 1–1 Los Angeles FC
 Report
Attendance: 17,676
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)
Los Angeles FC 3–0 Philadelphia Union
 Report
Attendance: 19,985
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

Los Angeles FC won 4–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2023 CONCACAF Champions League final

In the final (Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2), the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds hosted the second leg.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Host
1 Los Angeles FC 6 4 1 1 14 3 +11 13 Second leg
2 Club León 6 4 0 2 13 5 +8 12 First leg
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Disciplinary points (1 point for yellow card, 3 points for indirect red card, 4 points for direct red card, 5 points for yellow card and direct red card); 8) Drawing of lots (Regulations Article 12.9.5).


Summary

The first leg was played on 31 May, and the second leg was played on 4 June 2023.[23]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
León 3–1 Los Angeles FC 2–1 1–1


León 2–1 Los Angeles FC
 Report Bouanga 90+6'
Attendance: 20,517


Los Angeles FC 0–1 León
Report
Attendance: 22,413

León won 3–1 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated for this round.
Rank Player Club By round Total
goals[24]
1R1 1R2 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2
1 Denis Bouanga Los Angeles FC 3 2 1 1 7
2 Miche-Naider Chéry Violette 2 2 4
3 Víctor Dávila León 2 1 3
Dániel Gazdag Philadelphia Union 1 1 1
Ángel Mena León 1 1 1
Julián Quiñones Atlas 2 1
Luis Quiñones UANL 1 1 1
Carlos Vela Los Angeles FC 1 2
9 Jorge Benguché Olimpia 2 2
Julián Carranza Philadelphia Union 2
Sebastián Córdova UANL 1 1
Sebastián Driussi Austin FC 2
André-Pierre Gignac UANL 2
Elias Hernández León 1 1
Getsal Montes Real España 2
Andrés Perea Philadelphia Union 2
Brian Rubio León 1 1
Brian White Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 1

Team of the Season

CONCACAF selected the following players as the team of the tournament.[25]

Pos. Player Team
GK John McCarthy Los Angeles FC
DF Diego Palacios
Aaron Long
Adonis Frías León
Iván Moreno
MF Fidel Ambríz
Luis Quiñones UANL
Elías Hernández León
FW Víctor Dávila
Denis Bouanga Los Angeles FC
Carlos Vela

Awards

Award Player Team Ref.
Best Player Award Víctor Dávila León [1]
Best Goalkeeper Award John McCarthy Los Angeles FC [26]
Young Player Award Fidel Ambríz León [2]
Top Scorer Award Denis Bouanga Los Angeles FC [27]
Fair Play Award — Los Angeles FC [28]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Due to the 2018–2023 Haitian crisis, Violette played their home matches at Estadio Cibao FC in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

References

  1. ^ a b "Club Leon's Davila earns Scotiabank Best Player Award". CONCACAF. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Club Leon's Fidel Ambriz claims Young Player Award". CONCACAF. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Violette AC win 2022 FCCCC, claim SCCL berth". Concacaf. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  4. ^ Dunbar, Graham (14 March 2023). "FIFA expands 2026 World Cup again, with Toronto and Vancouver hosting extra matches". CBC Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  5. ^ "FIFA Appeal Committee decision on CF Pachuca and Club León". FIFA Inside.
  6. ^ Vertelney, Seth (May 6, 2025). "Club America and LAFC set for Club World Cup playoff after Leon appeal denied". Pro Soccer Wire. USA Today. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
  7. ^ "FIFA takes decision on last FIFA Club World Cup 2025 participating team" (Press release). FIFA. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
  8. ^ "Concacaf Announces Scotiabank Concacaf League Expansion". www.concacafleague.com. 11 February 2019. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Concacaf announces details for 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League". CONCACAF. 13 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Q&A: Club Index for 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League Draw". CONCACAF.com. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  11. ^ "SCCL How Clubs Qualify". CONCACAF Champions League. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Club Ranking for the 2023 SCCL". Concacaf. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League 2023 Regulations" (PDF). CONCACAF.
  14. ^ "Concacaf announces details for 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League". Concacaf. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Draw delivers Round of 16 matchups for 2023 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions league". CONCACAF. 7 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Match Recap: ATX vs. VIO, March 14, 2023". MLSsoccer.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  17. ^ Adams, J.J. (8 March 2023). "Whitecaps 5, Real Espana 0: Boom goes the CCL dynamite". The Province. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Match Recap: LAFC vs. LDA, March 15, 2023". MLSsoccer.com. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Match Recap: ATL vs. OLI, March 14, 2023". MLSsoccer.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Match Recap: PHI vs. ALZ, March 14, 2023". MLSsoccer.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Schedule announced for 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Quarterfinals". Concacaf. 2023-03-17. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  22. ^ "Schedule announced for 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Semifinals". Concacaf. 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  23. ^ "Schedule announced for 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Final between Los Angeles FC and Club Leon". Concacaf. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  24. ^ "Stats". CONCACAF. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Rondon, Idrissi lead Concacaf Champions Cup Best XI". CONCACAF. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  26. ^ "LAFC's McCarthy secures Best Goalkeeper Award". CONCACAF. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  27. ^ "LAFC FW Bouanga earns Qatar Airways Top Scorer Award". CONCACAF. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Los Angeles FC win Fair Play Award". CONCACAF. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
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