2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup

2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
The Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza hosted the final stage.
Tournament details
DatesPreliminary round:
15 August 2024
Competition proper:
20 August 2024 – 24 May 2025
TeamsCompetition proper: 10
Total: 11 (from 7 associations)
Final positions
Champions Gotham FC (1st title)
Runners-up Tigres UANL
Third place Portland Thorns
Fourth place América
Tournament statistics
Matches played24
Goals scored102 (4.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ana Dias (Tigres UANL)
María Sánchez (San Diego Wave)
(4 goals each)
Best player(s) Esther González (Gotham FC)
Best young player Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)
Best goalkeeper Itzel González (Tigres UANL)
Fair play award América

The 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup was the first season of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF.[1] The winner qualified for both the inaugural 2026 FIFA Women's Champions Cup,[2] and the inaugural 2028 FIFA Women's Club World Cup.[3]

Format

On 12 March 2024, CONCACAF announced the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. The tournament will feature eleven teams from seven CONCACAF member associations. The winner of a preliminary round match between a club from Canada and El Salvador joined the remaining nine teams in the group stage. In the group stage, teams were split into two groups of five teams. Teams faced each other in a single round-robin format, with each team playing two matches at home and two matches away in August, September and October 2024. The top two clubs from each group advanced to the knockout stage, which will be played at a centralized location on 21–24 May 2025. The knockout stage will feature semi-finals, a final to determine the champions of the competition, and a third place play-off.

The tournament was originally intended to provide a pathway for a future FIFA Women's Club World Cup which FIFA had committed to launching in the future, but with the postponement of the Women's Club World Cup to 2028, FIFA awarded the winner of the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup a semifinal spot in the 2026 FIFA Women's Champions Cup.[1][4][2]

Tiebreakers

Teams in the group stage were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[5]

  1. Goal difference in all group matches;
  2. Goals scored in all group matches;
  3. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  4. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  5. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  6. Lower number of disciplinary points (single yellow card = 1 point, double yellow card = 3 points, direct red card = 4 points, direct red card after single yellow card = 5 points);
  7. Drawing of lots.

Association team allocation

CONCACAF allocated spots to seven of their member associations based on eligibility criteria. Each association had one spot in the tournament, with the exception of Mexico and the United States, which had three.[1]

Distribution

The following was the access list for the 2024–25 season.[1]

Access list for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Round Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round
(2 teams)
  • 1 team from Canada
  • 1 team from El Salvador
Group stage
(10 teams)
  • 1 team from Costa Rica
  • 1 team from Jamaica
  • 3 teams from Mexico
  • 1 team from Panama
  • 3 teams from the United States
  • 1 winner from the preliminary round
Knockout phase
(4 teams)
  • 2 group winners from the group stage
  • 2 group runners-up from the group stage

Teams

Teams qualified through their domestic leagues based on sporting merit. The qualification criteria, confirmed on 24 April 2024,[6] were proposed by each member association and ratified by CONCACAF.[1]

Qualified teams for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Association Team Qualification method
Teams entering in group stage
Costa Rica
(1 berth)
Alajuelense 2023 Costa Rican Women's Premier Division Apertura and Clausura champions
Jamaica
(1 berth)
Frazsiers Whip 2022–23 Jamaica Women's Premier League champions
Mexico
(3 berths)
Tigres UANL 2023 Liga MX Femenil Apertura champions
Monterrey 2024 Liga MX Femenil Clausura champions
América Best runner-up of the 2023–24 Liga MX Femenil season based on accumulated points during the regular phase
Panama
(1 berth)
Santa Fe 2024 Panamanian Women's Football League Apertura champions
United States
(3 berths)
NJ/NY Gotham 2023 National Women's Soccer League champions
San Diego Wave 2023 National Women's Soccer League Shield winners
Portland Thorns 2023 National Women's Soccer League Shield runners-up
Teams entering in preliminary round
Canada
(1 berth)
Whitecaps FC Girls Elite 2023 League1 Canada Inter-Provincial Championship champions
El Salvador
(1 berth)
Alianza 2023–24 Primera División Femenina de El Salvador Apertura–Clausura play-off winners

Seeding

The pots were confirmed on 7 May 2024, with the qualifying teams being split into six pots of two teams.[7]

Pot Team
1 Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
Alianza
2 NJ/NY Gotham
San Diego Wave
3 Portland Thorns
Tigres UANL
4 América
Monterrey
5 Alajuelense
Santa Fe
6 Frazsiers Whip
Preliminary round winner

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 June 2024 at 20:00 EDT (UTC−4).[4][7][8] A team was randomly drawn from Pot 1, consisting of the two Preliminary Round teams, to determine the host of the Preliminary Round match. Then, the ten Group Stage teams (the nine direct qualifiers for the Group Stage plus the as-then-unknown winner of the Preliminary Round) were drawn into two groups of five. The Group Stage draw began by randomly selecting a team from Pot 2 and placing them into Group A and then selecting the remaining team from Pot 2 and placing them into Group B. The Group Stage draw continued with the same procedure done for the remaining pots.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.[4]

Schedule for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Phase Round Match date
Qualifying Preliminary round 13–15 August 2024
Group stage Matchday 1 20–22 August 2024
Matchday 2 2–5 September 2024
Matchday 3 17–19 September 2024
Matchday 4 1–3 October 2024
Matchday 5 15–17 October 2024
Knockout stage Semi-finals 21 May 2025
Third place play-off 24 May 2025
Final

Preliminary round

The qualified teams from Canada and El Salvador participated in the preliminary round, with the winner joining the remaining nine teams in the group stage.[8]

Alianza 0–1 Whitecaps Girls Elite
Report
  • Wong 25' (pen.)

Group stage

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TUA NYJ MON LDA FRA
1 Tigres UANL 4 3 1 0 18 6 +12 10 Advance to knockout stage 4–0 3–1
2 NJ/NY Gotham 4 2 2 0 21 4 +17 8 4–4 0–0
3 Monterrey 4 2 1 1 8 4 +4 7 3–0 5–0
4 Alajuelense 4 1 0 3 6 10 −4 3 0–4 5–0
5 Frazsiers Whip 4 0 0 4 1 30 −29 0 1–7 0–13
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Alajuelense 5–0 Frazsiers Whip
Report
Referee: Karen Hernández (Mexico)

Alajuelense 0–4 NJ/NY Gotham
Report
Monterrey 5–0 Frazsiers Whip
Report
Referee: Deily Gomez (Costa Rica)

Frazsiers Whip 1–7 Tigres UANL
  • Richards 55'
Report
NJ/NY Gotham 0–0 Monterrey
Report
Referee: Odette Hamilton (Jamaica)

Frazsiers Whip 0–13 NJ/NY Gotham
Report
Referee: Amairany Garcìa (Mexico)
Tigres UANL 3–1 Alajuelense
Report

NJ/NY Gotham 4–4 Tigres UANL
Report
Referee: Astrid Gramajo (Guatemala)
Monterrey 3–0 Alajuelense
Report

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AME POR SDW WFC SFE
1 América 4 3 0 1 14 3 +11 9 Advance to knockout stage 7–0 5–0
2 Portland Thorns 4 3 0 1 13 5 +8 9 3–1 2–1
3 San Diego Wave 4 3 0 1 7 3 +4 9 0–1 3–2
4 Whitecaps Girls Elite 4 1 0 3 2 16 −14 3 0–6 0–2
5 Santa Fe 4 0 0 4 2 11 −9 0 0–2 1–2
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Santa Fe 0–2 San Diego Wave
Report
Attendance: 2,093
Referee: Astrid Gramajo (Guatemala)

Santa Fe 1–2 Whitecaps Girls Elite
Murillo 85' (pen.) Report
Estadio Universidad Latina, Penonomé
Referee: Priscila Pérez (Mexico)
Portland Thorns 3–1 América
Report Guerrero 53'
Referee: Myriam Marcotte (Canada)

San Diego Wave 3–2 Portland Thorns
Report
Referee: Merlin Soto (Honduras)
América 5–0 Santa Fe
Report

Whitecaps Girls Elite 0–2 San Diego Wave
Report
Referee: Aranza Quero (Mexico)
Portland Thorns 2–1 Santa Fe
Report Márquez 82'
Referee: Carly Shaw-MacLaren (Canada)

Whitecaps Girls Elite 0–6 Portland Thorns
Report
Referee: Francia González (Mexico)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, if a match were level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. On 26 December 2024, CONCACAF announced that Estadio Universitario in Nuevo León, Mexico would host the knockout stage of the tournament.[9]

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
21 May – San Nicolás
 
 
Tigres UANL2
 
24 May – San Nicolás
 
Portland Thorns0
 
Tigres UANL0
 
21 May – San Nicolás
 
Gotham FC1
 
América1
 
 
Gotham FC3
 
Third place play-off
 
 
24 May – San Nicolás
 
 
América0
 
 
Portland Thorns3

Semi-finals

América 1–3 Gotham FC
Report
Referee: Odette Hamilton (Jamaica)

Tigres UANL 2–0 Portland Thorns
Report
Referee: Carly Shaw-MacLaren (Canada)

Third place play-off

América 0–3 Portland Thorns
Report
Referee: Astrid Gramajo (Guatemala)

Final

The winners qualified for both the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup to be held in 2026 and the inaugural FIFA Women's Club World Cup to be held in 2028.

Tigres UANL 0–1 Gotham FC
Report

Awards

The following players and team earned top distinctions.

Golden Ball Golden Boot Golden Glove
Esther González
(Gotham FC)
Ana Dias
(Tigres UANL)
Itzel González
(Tigres UANL)
Young Player Award
Olivia Moultrie
(Portland Thorns)
CONCACAF Fair Play Trophy
América


Goalscorers

Rank Player Team Goals[10]
1 Ana Dias Tigres UANL 4
María Sánchez San Diego Wave
3 Izzy D'Aquila Portland Thorns 3
Lucía García Monterrey
Esther González NJ/NY Gotham
Irene Guerrero América
Thembi Kgatlana Tigres UANL
Sarah Luebbert América
Stephany Mayor Tigres UANL
Kiana Palacios América
Yazmeen Ryan NJ/NY Gotham
Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns
Lynn Williams NJ/NY Gotham

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "CONCACAF launches region's first official women's continental club competition with annual W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Timelines and formats of landmark FIFA women's club competitions confirmed". FIFA. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Concacaf confirms key details for 2025/26 W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 12 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "2024/25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup Draw Scheduled for June 6; match-dates confirmed". CONCACAF. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  5. ^ "2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup Regulations" (PDF). CONCACAF. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  6. ^ "CONCACAF announces qualification criteria for Confederation's 2024/25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b "2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup official draw details announced". CONCACAF. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Draw delivers groups for inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Estadio Universitario in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, awarded 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup Finals". Concacaf. 26 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Stats". CONCACAF. Retrieved 4 October 2024.