The road to the Champions League defined

Slowly, CONCACAF's new Champions League is starting to take shape.  Today the confederation announced the qualification criteria for the competition.  Here's a summary:

USA:

• [USA 1] MLS Cup winner
• [USA 2] Supporters' Shield winner
• [USA 3] MLS Cup runner-up
• [USA 4] US Open Cup winner OR Next highest in MLS regular-season table

Canada:

• [CAN 1] Winner of Canada Cup of Soccer

Mexico:

• [MEX 1] Torneo Apertura winner
• [MEX 2] Torneo Clausura winner
• [MEX 3] Torneo Apertura runner-up
• [MEX 4] Torneo Clausura runner-up

Belize:

• [BLZ 1] BPFL/RFG Insurance Cup winner

Costa Rica:

• [CRC 1] Winner of Invierno/Verano playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)
• [CRC 2] Runner-up of Invierno/Verano playoff, or runner-up of Torneo Verano (if applicable)

El Salvador:

• [SLV 1] Winner of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)
• [SLV 2] Runner-up of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or runner-up of Torneo Clausura (if applicable)

Guatemala:

• [GUA 1] Winner of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)
• [GUA 2] Runner-up of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or runner-up of Torneo Clausura (if applicable)

Honduras:

• [HON 1] Winner of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)
• [HON 2] Runner-up of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or runner-up of Torneo Clausura (if applicable)

Panama:

• [PAN 1] Winner of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)
• [PAN 2] Runner-up of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or runner-up of Torneo Apertura (if applicable)

Nicaragua:

• [NCA 1] Winner of Apertura/Clausura playoff, or winner of both tournaments (if applicable)

Caribbean:

• [CFU 1] CFU Club Tournament champion
• [CFU 2] CFU Club Tournament runner-up
• [CFU 3] CFU Club Tournament 3rd place

Group Stage slots: USA1, USA2, MEX1, MEX2, CRC1, GUA1, HON1, SLV1
Qualifying Round slots: USA3, USA4, MEX3, MEX4, CRC2, GUA2, HON2, SLV2, PAN1, PAN2, CAN1, NCA1, BLZ1, CFU1, CFU2, CFU3

So the official qualifying criteria for the Champions League didn't exactly match the Wikipedia entry for the tournament.  (It's corrected now.)  Perhaps some educated conjectures were made to arrive at the 24 teams.  The qualifying slots do make sense for the most part.  Nevertheless, there are a couple of anomalies.

It's interesting that the US Open Cup winner gets to enter the Champions League.  Is that still true if a second-division club wins the trophy?  (It's already happened once before, and the lower-division clubs are always more motivated.)  Nonetheless, the Cup has greater motivation to everyone in US soccer now.   I'm also surprised that CFU1 wasn't an automatic entry into the group stage.  Considering that this is a Warner administration that has supposedly done so much to raise the profile of Caribbean soccer, the lack of a direct entry into a big payday has to be a shock to many in the Caribbean.  Then again, maybe they know that a Caribbean side in the group stage is almost certain to finish bottom, so it might be best to go through a playoff first.

So now we have some official confirmation on who gets to participate in the Champions League.  Lots of other information needs to be passed along soon, so let's have more of it very soon, please!

Comments

[FxB]

I had hoped that a spot in the tournament would be awarded to the US Open Cup winner. Now MLS teams will be more motivated, raising the level of play and the general appeal of the Cup.

That may just put an end to the days when USL-1 teams were kings of the hill.