- The official draw will take place on Monday, November 7, 2022 in Miami, Florida
- The competition will start the second week of March and end with a weekend return final on Sunday June 4.
- Champion will represent the Confederation at the FIFA Club World Cup 2023
The 15th edition of the SCCL, which precedes the launch of an exciting new Concacaf club ecosystem in 2023-24 and includes the participation of 16 clubs from eight Concacaf Member Associations, is set to begin the second week of March 2023.
The official draw, which will determine each club’s route to the final and the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup (FCWC), is scheduled for Monday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Fans will be able to follow and enjoy the made-for-TV draw and the four competition rounds via the Confederation’s partner TV networks, including TUDN | ViX (US-Spanish), Fox Sports Mexico (Mexico-Spanish), ESPN (Central America, Caribbean and South America) and other local partners. For other territories, they will be available on the official Concacaf app (all subject to territorial restrictions).
Participating Clubs
So far, 15 of the 16 clubs that will take part in next year’s tournament have qualified through their domestic leagues and cups, as well as the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf League (SCL). The 16th participating club will be the champions of the 2022 MLS Cup. The MLS Cup is scheduled to be played on November 5, 2022.
The list of competing clubs is available below and here (listed in alphabetical order by country):
Canada (1): Vancouver Whitecaps
Costa Rica (1): LD Alajuelense
Salvador (1): Alianza FC
Haiti (1): Violet AC
Honduras (3): CD Olimpia, Motagua FC, RCD España
Mexico (4): Atlas FC, CF Pachuca, Club Leon, Tigres UANL
Panama (1): Tauro FC
United States (4): Los Angeles FC, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union and the 2022 MLS Cup Champions*
*If the 2022 MLS Cup Champion is a Canadian club OR a club that has already qualified for the 2023 SCCL, then the spot will be awarded to Austin FC as the highest ranked US-based club not already qualified according to MLS 2022 Supporters’ Shield Ranking.
The 2023 SCCL clashes will begin with the round of 16 in March, followed by the quarter-finals and semi-finals first leg in April, and the semi-final second legs and final first leg in May. The final of the return match, decisive, where the new champion of the region will be crowned, will take place on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
Round of 16: March 7-9 (first legs) and March 14-16 (returns)
Quarter-finals: April 4-6 (first legs) and April 11-13 (return matches)
Semi-finals: 25-27 April (first legs) and 2-4 May (return matches)
Finals: May 31 (first leg) and June 4 (return match)
Round of 16: Pot 1 clubs (highest ranked)
Quarter-finals: Clubs from Round of 16 1, 3, 5 and 7
Semi-finals and Final: The best performing clubs in the first rounds of the competition (based on wins, draws and, if necessary, goal difference).
Drawing procedures
Concacaf director of competitions Carlos Fernandez will conduct the draw alongside former players from the region.
The official draw will be executed using a double-blind, four-pot system. Pots 1 and 2 will contain the spheres with the names of the 16 participating clubs, and pots A and B will contain the spheres with the bracket positions for the Round of 16.
Based on SCCL 2023 ranking (more information is available here), the clubs will be allocated to pots 1 and 2 as follows (in alphabetical order by pot):
Saucepan 1: Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Atlas FC, CF Pachuca, Club Leon, Los Angeles FC, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, MLS Cup Champions 2022
Saucepan 2: LD Alajuelense, Alianza FC, Violette AC, CD Olimpia, Motagua FC, RCD España, Tigres UANL, Tauro FC
The round of 16 will be divided into pots A and B as follows:
Pan A: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8
Pan B: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8
Once all eight clubs in Pot 2 have been assigned to a Round of 16 position, the first sphere from Pot 1 will be drawn, followed by a bracket position sphere from Pot A. The same procedure will apply to all the spheres in pot 1.
At the end of the draw, each Round of 16 will feature one club from each pot and no more than one club from each country (as per competition rules, clubs from the same country cannot face in the round of 16).
New format from 2023/2024
In September 2021 Concacaf announced that from 2023/24 the Concacaf Champions League will be expanded to include 27 clubs and five rounds – Round 1, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final .
In addition, three regional cups (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) will replace the Scotiabank Concacaf League and qualify clubs for the expanded Confederation-wide Champions League.
More information on the regional cups and the extended Concacaf Champions League, which will start in autumn 2023 and spring 2024 respectively, can be found here.
