Hey everyone, While national-team football hogs the spotlight, it is worth noting that the first qualifier for next season's edition of the CONCACAF Champions League will emerge at the end of this month. In the Canadian Championship, defending champions Vancouver Whitecaps survived a scare after going down 2-0 at the Ottawa Fury, winning 3-0 at home. They will face Toronto FC, who beat Montreal 4-2 at home and held out for a 0-0 draw in the Stade Saputo; the first leg will be June 21 at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Toronto, and the second at BC Place in Vancouver on June 29 at 10:00 p.m. EDT.
Here's a fun timeline: June 29, 2016: Toronto wins, qualifies for 2017-18 Champions League 2016-17: Watches Vancouver compete in the Champions League August 2017: Begins Champions League play April/May 2018: Wins Champions League December 2018: Participates in Club World Cup 30 months after qualifying for the continental tournament.
We have our first! Toronto beat Vancouver in the Canadian Championship final on away goals tonight. Will Johnson scored the winner in the 95th minute after a defensive mix-up allowed him to volley home from 15 yards. He got wrecked by the goalkeeper on the play and appeared to hurt his knee. Crazy drama in Canada.
Now that's the Vancouver we know and love. Time to whip out the board (below); the next qualifiers will be either the 2016 US Open Cup winner on Sep. 21 or a regular-season conference winner in MLS, depending on how fast that occurs. Mind you, Colorado Rapids currently have the inside track on the Supporters' Shield... 2017-18 CCL Qualifiers 1. Toronto FC [CAN]
The US Open Cup semifinals are set (home team first, both games on August 10): New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas On September 21, the winner of LA/Dallas will either travel to Chicago or host the Revs in the Final.
The next qualifier will be either FC Dallas or the New England Revolution, as the former will host the latter in the 2016 US Open Cup final. FC Dallas is playing for a second straight season of Champions League football, while the Revs would be returning for the first time since the "inaugural" CCL. Not that they have any intention of remembering how that went...
Congratulations to FC Dallas - the best MLS team at the moment won handily over the Revs 4-2 to claim the US Open Cup and the first US berth in next season's Champions League. In addition, they've set up a trio of hand-me-down situations: they're still in the running for both the Supporters' Shield (4 points ahead of the pack with 5 games to go) and the MLS Cup, while Toronto FC finishing first in the Eastern Conference (regular season) would cause that berth to go back to the top of the MLS table and down to the next US team not yet qualified. So finishing second and third in the full-year table could have serious CCL implications... 2017-18 CCL Qualifiers 1. Toronto FC [CAN] 2. FC Dallas [USA]
Interestingly, both of the already-qualified teams lead their conferences in MLS. Time to discuss how the "drop down" rules would apply? First question would be, if Toronto wins the Eastern regular season, does the second-place team get the "auto-bid" as the American conference champion, or does that go into the general drop-down pool?
Just to note: even if they weren't already qualified, Toronto leading the East would force a "drop-down" anyway since Toronto is Canadian, not American. And even in that case, the drop-down applies to the overall table as ArsenalMetro said - so if a Canadian team leads the Eastern Conference, that slot could go to a Western Conference team even if said Canadian team wasn't qualified. So it's entirely possible that all four American teams could come from the same conference.
So to draw this out, based on the current table: USOC - Dallas MLS Eastern Conference - Toronto -> Colorado MLS Western Conference - Dallas -> Colorado -> LA MLS Cup - ?
We're closer to finding out the MLS regular season CCL qualifiers: NYRB won and NYCFC lost this afternoon, so the Red Bulls just need a point next Sunday to officially clinch first place in the East; even if they lose, their derby rivals would have to make up GD difference of 13 goals to top them. Meanwhile, if Colorado win at Portland and Dallas lose at home against Seattle, the Rapids could clinch the Supporters' Shield and a return to the Champions League this very afternoon - we'll find out in two hours. Finally, although this corresponds to the next edition of the CCL, the 2017 Canadian Championship bracket is set (assuming no expansion). Team hosting the return leg first... Play-in Round: FC Edmonton vs. Ottawa Fury Semifinals: Toronto FC vs. Play-in Winner Impact de Montréal vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
At the conclusion of MLS's penultimate matchday, the Supporters' Shield is still up for grabs. Nonetheless, we can confirm the following: Congratulations, @JasonMa et al.! The Rapids are back in the Champions League! While Colorado lost today, NYCFC's defeat in DC means that the only team that could catch them for second place in the overall MLS table are the New York Red Bulls - who would presumably have the "opposite conference regular season winner" CCL berth in their pockets. Either FC Dallas or Colorado will take the Shield; in the worst case, the Rapids finish third in the table, and with FC Dallas holding two tickets and NYRB one, Dallas's hand-me-down berth would end up in Commerce City. Now, here's hoping Mastroeni takes continental ball more seriously than Gary Smith did... 2017-18 CCL Qualifiers 1. Toronto FC [CAN] 2. FC Dallas [USA] 3. Colorado Rapids [USA]
The MLS regular season finished a half-hour ago...and the Red Bulls won in Philly to wrap up first place in the East. Like Dallas, they've signed up for a full year of CCL in 2017 - knockout round in the spring, then next season's group stage in the fall. As for the final CCL berth from the US: if any of the already-qualified teams wins the MLS Cup final, the hand-me-down berth falls to New York City FC. The Pigeons are also in if they do the honors themselves; the rest (Montreal excepted) will try to qualify on their own merits. 2017-18 CCL Qualifiers 1. Toronto FC [CAN] 2. FC Dallas [USA] 3. Colorado Rapids [USA] 4. New York Red Bulls [USA]
Or if either Canadian team wins MLS Cup. So NYCFC gets in the CCL if any of half the playoff teams (Dallas, Colorado, RBNY, TFC, Montreal, or themselves) win MLS Cup.
An update from MLS: the Canadian teams swept the Eastern Conference play-in games, so the only teams in the East than can make MLS Cup are NYCFC and three teams that would get them in the CCL if they were to win it all. Thus, if the Western Conference Final is FC Dallas-Colorado Rapids - or failing that, if either one makes MLS Cup from the West - David Villa and co. are Champions League-bound from that moment.
Yup - for now, the Canadian qualifier is in Pot 2, so said team can end up in any group. OTOH, Giovinco performing well against Mexican opposition might get the Italy NT to take him more seriously
As always, the Panamanian league is the first in Central America to reach the playoff round, with the first legs of the semifinals taking place last weekend: Resultados de las semifinales de ida. #YosoyLPF @ChorrilloFC 0-0 @cdplazaamador @ArabeUnido_ 3-0 @TauroFC— LPF TIGO (@LPFpanama) November 20, 2016 And a major announcement for the Apertura final: El cantautor panameño @rubenblades cantará el himno nacional de Panamá en la Gran Final del Torneo Apertura 2016. #YosoyLPF— LPF TIGO (@LPFpanama) November 21, 2016 I don't care who you are, that's amazing - Ruben Blades is retiring from his music career soon (this year?), so to book him will make this Final must-see TV in Panama.
http://www.puertoricofc.com/news/20...-cup-and-now-headed-to-caribbean-championship Puerto Rico FC now moves on to the CFU Club Championship which will start early next year, in which three CONCACAF Champions League passes are in play. “We are very aware of how important CFU is to our fans.” Whitbread continued- “That is precisely why we wanted to win this Cup, to come back next year with momentum on our side and be ready to be competitive from the start. It is no secret that we want to be the best club in the Caribbean”. PRFC will wait now for CFU to realize the official draw and select the venues for the competition.
So lemme get this straight... If any team other than Seattle wins the league, the dropdown will fall 4 pegs How many times have the top 5 in general table made the CCL. That should eliminate any excuses, not that any of the annual excuses were ever valid. But the whole "Wah! Our playoff structure doesn't allow the best teams to go to the CCL!!! Wah!!!!" would be kaput. It was always a ridiculous excuse, the league champion is always most deserving of a CCL spot no matter the format. Also, how many times have there been 2 dropdown berths. I know there's never been 3 DDs, since that can only happen if a team won usoc, SS, and Final runner-up while a Can team won the league pre-2013.
3 pegs. The top 3 in the table (Dallas, Colorado, and RBNY) are already in. So if anyone but Seattle wins the top 4 int he table will all go.