The Competitions tab of www.concacaf.com has two links for "CONCACAF League" that go to the same place but no link for the CCL.
Alianza exacted revenge on Santa Tecla for the pounding they took last time with a decisive 4-1 victory. For their part, Antigua held off Municipal to claim another championship. It'll be a damn shame if the suspension on Guatemala's federation prevents this team from ever taking to the continental stage...but if said federation doesn't make right with FIFA by March 30, Antigua will get frozen out again. 2019 CCL Qualifiers 1. Sporting Kansas City [USA] 2. Tigres UANL [MEX] 3. CF Monterrey [MEX] 2018 CL Qualifiers 1. Chorrillo FC [PAN1 or PAN2] 2. Walter Ferretti [NCA] 3. Alianza [SLV1 or SLV2] 4. Antigua GFC [GUA1 or GUA2]*
CONCACAF conducted the draw for the first round of the Caribbean Club Championship (Professional Tier) today...and they were in such a rush that they forgot to include the month in the press release. The top team in each group will host...and the nationalities of the participants: Trinidad and Tobago - W Connection, Central FC Jamaica - Arnett Gardens, Portmore United Haiti - Real Hope FA, Racing FC Dominican Republic - Atlético Pantoja, Atlántico FC These groups will be played out in the first two months of 2018; the eventual winner of this tournament will qualify for the CCL, the runner-up and third-place to the CONCACAF League, and fourth place will face the winner of the Caribbean Club Shield (Semi-Pro Tier) in a playoff, assuming the latter meets minimum standards for participating in continental play should they win. And yes, the CFU is nowhere in sight.
A major upset out of Costa Rica, as Pérez Zeledón beat Herediano 1-0 at home, then held on for a 0-0 draw at the Rosabal Cordero to win their first-ever league title. Next up: the Honduran Apertura final, the details of which are being ironed out as we speak. What's certain is that that first leg between Motagua and Real España (hosted by the latter) will take place tomorrow. 2019 CCL Qualifiers 1. Sporting Kansas City [USA] 2. Tigres UANL [MEX] 3. CF Monterrey [MEX] 2018 CL Qualifiers 1. Chorrillo FC [PAN1 or PAN2] 2. Walter Ferretti [NCA] 3. Alianza [SLV1 or SLV2] 4. Antigua GFC [GUA1 or GUA2]* 5. Pérez Zeledón [CRC1 or CRC2]
Great! I was just hoping we'll see CL format (straight knock-out home-away) here as those "pro" clubs should be able to afford themselves few trips. At least it would be great that SF and F are played that way. Congrats to Perez Zeledon. They will take part in the CCL if one spot opens (i.e. Guatemala suspension case), right?
My best guess is yes, as CONCACAF has to have the distribution of berths for the CL and CCL cleared up before the former begins in August. Maybe they wait for the current CCL to wrap up and update their club index; but to my untrained eye, I don't see how Honduras could catch up with Costa Rica.
The last team in from 2017 is Real España, the first team from San Pedro Sula to play continental ball in what feels like ages. Real España se coronó Campeón del Torneo Apertura 2017 de Honduras a pesar de caer 2-1 el domingo, en el partido de vuelta de la final contra el Motagua. Los Azules que buscaban el Tri-Campeonato, cayeron 2-0 el pasado miércoles en San Pedro Sula. pic.twitter.com/Vc6hnklsXk— UNCAF / Oficial (@uncaf) December 31, 2017 2019 CCL Qualifiers 1. Sporting Kansas City [USA] 2. Tigres UANL [MEX] 3. CF Monterrey [MEX] 2018 CL Qualifiers 1. Chorrillo FC [PAN1 or PAN2] 2. Walter Ferretti [NCA] 3. Alianza [SLV1 or SLV2] 4. Antigua GFC [GUA1 or GUA2]* 5. Pérez Zeledón [CRC1 or CRC2] 6. Real España [HON1 or HON2]
The schedule for the 2018 Canadian Championship, now including the winners from the regional leagues in Ontario and Québec: 2018 Canadian Championship Schedule First Qualifying Round (1QR) June 6, 2018: AS Blainville vs. Oakville Blue Devils June 13, 2018: Oakville Blue Devils vs AS Blainville Second Qualifying Round (2QR) June 20, 2018: Winner 1QR vs. Ottawa Fury FC June 27, 2018: Ottawa Fury vs. Winner QR1 Semifinal Round July 18, 2018: Winner 2QR vs. Toronto FC July 18, 2018: Montreal Impact vs. Vancouver Whitecaps July 25, 2018: Toronto FC vs. Winner 2QR July 25, 2018: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Montreal Impact Final Round Aug 8, 2018: Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner Aug 15, 2018: Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner
Whisper it softly, but CONCACAF's hostile takeover of subregional tournaments may not be a bad thing...they are livestreaming all the Caribbean Club Championship games on their Facebook page. We'll hone in on the Caribbean in the next round, when continental berths are in sight; but worth noting that after scoring the only goal of the day, Haiti's Real Hope FA are on top of Group A. GOAL Real Hope FA, Johnson JEUDY No. 10 | @wconnectionfc #RealHopeFA #CCC2018 pic.twitter.com/rMn1SpJMAr— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 1, 2018
Eh, so much for that... Group A is in the books, and Atlético Pantoja (DOM) and Arnett Gardens (JAM) have advanced to the next stage - no word yet on whether there will be semifinals or just a final-stage group. Notably, Real Hope FA finished dead last in spite of tying W Connection on 3 points and having beaten them - informing us that GD is the first tiebreaker, rather than head-to-head.
So all of a sudden, Dominican clubs reign the Caribbean with an iron fist @brentgoulet Atlético Pantoja won their group, and Atlántico, hosting their own in the DR, just beat Racing of Haiti. How are they doing it? Among other things, there's a certain trend you may notice from the gameday rosters: Underway between Arnett Gardens and Real Hope, both sides need a result in this one pic.twitter.com/EpiqXZIXUS— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) February 4, 2018 W Connection - Atletico Pantoja underay, Jonathan Faña starts against the club where he had several successful years. pic.twitter.com/MkzK9KSIVQ— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) February 5, 2018 30' Scoreless between Central FC and Portmore in the Group 2 opener so far pic.twitter.com/v4SlGkpNpf— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) February 7, 2018 Teams for Atlantico - Racing FC pic.twitter.com/vu4ucOx1n0— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) February 8, 2018 Only three teams have brought foreigners to this championship: W Connection with their ringers from the Lesser Antilles, and the DR clubs coming through with them South American imports
The first round of the Caribbean Club Championship is done and dusted, and these remain standing: Atlético Pantoja (DOM) Arnett Gardens (JAM) Central FC (TRI) Portmore United (JAM) So we now know that at least one Jamaican team will play continental ball next season; and we will have a Caribbean debutant, as neither of the first two sides has made it to a CONCACAF tournament in the CCL era. Remember that the winner of the final round will go straight to the CCL, 2nd and 3rd place to the CL, and 4th place will await the winner of the semi-pro championship for a playoff.
The groups for the semipro Caribbean Club Shield were drawn today: Groups have been drawn for the 2018 #CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, set to kick off in April 2018! #CCCShield pic.twitter.com/kdZbseUKTL— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 15, 2018 ...but CONCACAF still hasn't gotten around to publishing the summary article, so I went back and listened to the draw video to catch where these teams are from. Group A SV Deportivo Nacional (Aruba) Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) Weymouth Wales FC (Barbados) Unité Sainte-Rosienne (Guadeloupe) Group B Guyana Defence Force FC (Guyana) Avenues United FC (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) Hard Rock Sports Club (Grenada) SV Real Rincon (Bonaire) Group C Cayon FC (St. Kitts and Nevis) Bodden Town FC (Cayman Islands) RKSV Centro Dominguito (Curaçao) Club Franciscain (Martinique)
Took you long enough, CONCACAF Or to be fair, maybe they wanted to wait until today so that they could jointly announce that this tournament will be hosted by the Dominican Republic in April. Mind you, the Dominicans don't have a dog in the fight...but it could give Pantoja a chance to scout in case they roll snake eyes in the Caribbean Club Championship finals. Btw, they've also thrown in this nifty chart on Caribbean qualification to the CL and CCL:
A few good nuggets out of Costa Rica: 1. As per the regulations for the last Concacaf League, the only leagues in Central America that don't give preference to runners-up for hand-me-down berths is Belize (no hand-me-down to speak of) and Costa Rica. Thus, by virtue of having won the full-year table, Herediano is guaranteed to play in a Concacaf tournament next year. 2. As for Pérez Zeledón: if they don't make the Top 4 of the current Clausura to reach the semifinal-round group and keep their title defense alive, according to the article, they're headed straight for the Concacaf League, as all of the four teams currently above them have outperformed them in the full-year table. 3. What about getting an extra CCL berth from Guatemala? Well, the same article states that the Guatemalan Fed's going to make the necessary changes to their statutes...but the word out of Guatemala is that they missed the deadline. Tough luck, Antigua And unless @ArsenalMetro informs us that Honduras or Panama have outperformed Costa Rica in the last five years, I'm comfortable confirming now that Pérez Zeledón will be in the CCL. 4. If Herediano win the Clausura, the hand-me-down Concacaf league berth falls to Saprissa. 2019 CCL Qualifiers 1. Sporting Kansas City [USA] 2. Tigres UANL [MEX] 3. CF Monterrey [MEX] 4. Pérez Zeledón [CRC1 or CRC2] 2018 CL Qualifiers 1. Chorrillo FC [PAN1 or PAN2] 2. Walter Ferretti [NCA] 3. Alianza [SLV1 or SLV2] 4. Real España [HON1 or HON2] 5. Herediano [CRC1 or CRC3]
Sounds like Guyana Defence Force have dropped out of the Caribbean Shield due to financial issues. The club was given $10,000-12,000 for air travel by Concacaf, but seems they couldn't make up the difference and have thus withdrawn— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) April 12, 2018 www.flashscore.com doesn't list the Club Shield games. https://us.soccerway.com/internatio...hampionship/2018/tier-2/r45772/?ICID=SN_03_25 says each group will have doubleheaders at 2:00 P.M. and 4:30 P.M. USA Eastern, but that doesn't know Guyana Defense Force withdrew. Three stadiums in the Dominican Republic will be used, with each stadium hosting each group once. The Finalists will play 5 games in 9 days with games today, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and next Saturday.
Club Franciscain (Martinique) have beaten Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) 2-1 to win the Caribbean Shield and advance to the playoff with the fourth-placed team from the Tier 1 competition. Real Rincon (Bonaire) beat Deportivo Nacional (Aruba) 3-1 to claim third place.— Caribbean Football (@caribbeanfooty) April 22, 2018
Nope, not even close. Panama has outperformed Costa Rica over the past 3 years though. The Ticos are really clinging to that 2014-15 campaign. Is there a schedule out for the final round of the Caribbean Championship? I saw an article that Central might miss out because they can't raise the funds to travel to Jamaica (where it's apparently being hosted?), but I can't find any details on it.
A couple more updates out of Central America: In Belize, Belmopan Bandits and defending champion Verdes FC will have a rematch in the Closing Season finals. The Bandits won the full-year table, so the winner of this Final will claim Belize's CL berth. And halfway through the semifinal round in the Costa Rican Clausura, Herediano top the group by three points. As they won the regular season, they just need to hold on to their lead to claim the Clausura title, head to the CCL and gift Saprissa the CL berth...or gift Saprissa to the CL, as it were No disrespect to Santos de Guápiles, but the CL could have a greater impact with more traditional Central American grandes making deep runs.
Sooooo we have a lot of ground to make up. Let's get right to it... NORTH AMERICA Canada: The Canadian Championship will kick off next month. USA: Nothing to see here until the US Open Cup Final in September. Keep an eye on NYCFC and Atlanta United, though: they are currently neck-and-neck for the top spot in the 2017+2018 MLS regular season table, where Toronto FC left a CCL berth hanging after they won MLS Cup last year. Mexico: The Clausura quarterfinals finished up this past weekend, and both the Apertura finalists crashed and burned - so no hand-me-down situations to deal with here. The semifinals will take place over this week (team listed first hosts second leg; tiebreakers are away goals, then higher finish in regular season): Toluca FC vs. Club Tijuana Club América vs. Santos Laguna CENTRAL AMERICA Belize: The Belmopan Bandits hold a slight advantage in the Closing Season Final, having tied 1-1 at Verdes FC ahead of the second leg on Saturday. Guatemala: Honduras: Guatemala's loss is the gain of the same trio from last year. Honduras and Panama stand to pick up the CL berths left over, meaning that all the Apertura and Clausura finalists over the 2017-18 season in both countries are guaranteed some continental action down the line. Motagua will face Marathón in the Clausura Final; the winner will go straight to the Champions League, while the runner-up will join Real España in the CL. And the Guatemalan berth goes to, drum roll please: Olimpia! Yes, the exact same team who got it last season. Panama: By the same token, Apertura runners-up Árabe Unido will be back on the continental stage next season. They are also involved in the current Clausura semifinals: Árabe Unido vs. Tauro CAI La Chorrera vs. San Francisco Both the higher seeds are down heading into the return legs next weekend, with the winners facing off in the one-game Final on May 19. Now, Panama getting 4 overall berths + the runners-up getting preference means that Tauro are back as well: either they will reach the Clausura final on their own merits, or Árabe Unido will punk them and then drop them a hand-me-down berth at the same time. The last two certainties we have from this tournament are that 1) the winner will qualify directly to the CCL, and 2) Chorrillo, who finished below all four semifinalists in the full-year table, are CL-bound. Así queda la tabla general o tabla del descenso en esta temporada 2017/2018 de la Liga Panameña de Fútbol. El @SDAVeraguense jugará en el @ascensolpf. #YoSoyLPF pic.twitter.com/etIpob6445— LPF TIGO (@LPFpanama) April 29, 2018 El Salvador: Apertura champs Alianza won the full-year table, so they're moving on up to the big boys' table for next season. They are also taking part in the Clausura semifinals: Alianza vs. Águila Santa Tecla FC vs. Audaz For their part, Santa Tecla finished second in the Apertura and the full-year table, so they are good for a CL berth. Águila and Audaz must chase their own Concacaf League ticket, either by winning the Clausura or at least meeting an Apertura finalist in the championship match; meanwhile, a third-straight Alianza-Santa Tecla final would slip none other than FAS through the back door. Costa Rica: With two matchdays left in the semifinal group, only one point separates Saprissa, Alajuelense and Herediano at the top. The Guatemalan situation guarantees that Saprissa will be back on the continental stage next season, while Alajuelense are as good as in, as soon as Santos de Guápiles' dwindling hopes of the Clausura title are mathematically extinguished. Nicaragua: We've got a good one, folks! A Clásico in the Clausura final - winner goes continental, loser goes to lick its collective wounds. CARIBBEAN As we've covered here before, everything will be cleared up this weekend: the Caribbean Club Championship winner will go to the CCL, the runner-up and third place to the CL, and the fourth-place finisher will square off with Club Franciscain for the last berth. 2019 CCL Qualifiers 1. Sporting Kansas City [USA] 2. Tigres UANL [MEX] 3. CF Monterrey [MEX] 4. Pérez Zeledón [CRC2] 5. Alianza [SLV1] 2018 CL Qualifiers 1. Chorrillo FC [PAN2] 2. Walter Ferretti [NCA] 3. Real España [HON2] 4. Herediano [CRC1 or CRC3] 5. Motagua [HON1 or HON3] 6. Marathón [HON1 or HON3] 7. Olimpia [HON4] 8. Árabe Unido [PAN1 or PAN3] 9. Tauro [PAN1, PAN3 or PAN4] 10. Santa Tecla FC [SLV2 or SLV3] 11. Deportivo Saprissa [CRC1, CRC3 or CRC4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_CONCACAF_Champions_League says Sporting Kansas City is USA3 but can move to USA1 or USA2. The only USA spot in the bottom pot for the draw is USA2. I don't know if these are how the numbers are determined, but if MLS Cup 2018 determines USA1 and the combined 2017 and 2018 record determines USA2, is it possible Sporting Kansas City would have an MLS game at the end of the regular season they want to lose to avoid moving "up" to USA2, especially if that game is meaningless to playoff seeding?
Seems like it. This is also where we realize that seeding teams on their method of qualification rather than individual achievement is catastrophically dumb.
Common sense would dictate that the coefficient simply determines how many teams a country gets in a given pot, and that the lowest qualifier from the US (one of the hand-me-down entries) ends up in Pot B regardless of whether that team finished as USA2 or not. But I don't know if common sense and Concacaf are on speaking terms...