I would say that for this year, Canadian Championship is easier than finishing top 6 in CONCACAF League. Forge & Cavalry had nothing to worry about until they faced one another unfortunately. Vancouver is a team virtually rebuilding, Montreal are plagued with injuries and inconsistent performances. Cavalry (best football in the league and deadly on set pieces) is the best equipped to upset Vancouver (keeper can't save you forever) & Montreal (depending on which team shows up.) Once again, TFC is the team to beat this year. The way CONCACAF League is set up with having all Costa Rica and Central America teams there...finishing top 6 is really a long shot. These teams are deep, have chemistry and home advantage is undeniable. Going through Antigua will be tough enough but Olimpia is a tall order. Then next is Guastatoya (almost upset MLS this year) or one of 2 clubs (Communicaciones & Marathon) have experience in this kind of tournament. If there's an upset there...then it's the Costa Rica giants or Panana teams like Tauro & Independiente (eliminated TFC).
Hmm. Houston beat Guastatoya in the CCL away, 0-1, and at home, 2-1, in the first two competitive games of the year for the Dynamo. That second leg was after a 2.5 hour lightning delay. How is that an almost upset?
Yeah, I wouldn't call it an "almost upset" either, but it was level on aggregate going into the 77th minute of the second leg.
Tie game 1-1 between Forge FC and Cavalry who has the away goal in a very entertaining game that had everything... Great football Dramatic ending Fighting.... Canadian Championship is on fire! Vancouver will be facing one of the 2 top teams of CPL and they took notice We ready. https://t.co/mgJIeE3bD1— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) June 5, 2019
1st leg of the second round of the Canadian Championship HFX Wanderers wins 2-1 against Valour FC Winner face USL Ottawa Fury York 9 wins 3-1 against FC Edmonton Winner face MLS Montreal Impact
Cavalry beats Forge 2-1 and wins on aggregate 3-2. They will face the Vancouver Whitecaps in round 3 of the Canadian Championship
FC Edmonton wons 1-0 against York 9 York 9 advance (3-2 aggregate) against Montreal Impact Halifax Wanderers wins 2-0 against Valour FC HFX Wanderers advance (4-1 aggregate) against Ottawa Fury
2020 CCL Qualifiers 1. Cruz Azul [MEX3] 2. Club América [MEX1] 3. Club León [MEX4] 4. Portmore United (JAM) [CFU1] 5. Tigres UANL [MEX2] 2019 CL Qualifiers 1. Tauro [PAN1] 2. CD Guastatoya [GUA1] 3. Managua FC [NCA1] 4. Santa Tecla FC [SLV2] 5. Motagua [HON1 or HON2] 6. Herediano [CRC2] 7. Deportivo Saprissa [CRC3] 8. Belmopan Bandits [BLZ] 9. Alianza [SLV3] 10. Olimpia [HON1 or HON2] 11. Waterhouse FC (JAM) [CFU2] 12. AD San Carlos [CRC1] 13. AS Capoise (HAI) [CFU3] 14. SV Robinhood (SUR) [CFU4] 15. Comunicaciones [GUA3] 16. Águila [SLV1] 17. Marathón [HON3] 18. Real Estelí [NCA2] 19. CA Independiente [PAN2] 20. San Francisco [PAN3] 21. Antigua GFC [GUA2] 22. Forge [CAN2]
The business end of the US Open Cup, based on today's draw (home team first): Semifinals Orlando City vs. Atlanta United Minnesota United vs. Portland Timbers Final Atlanta United vs. Minnesota/Portland or Minnesota United vs. Orlando City or Orlando City vs. Portland Timbers
Atlanta United might need to USOC to qualify for the CCL. They're in a group of five clubs with 1.50 to 1.64 points per game in the Eastern Conference, and it will be hard for them to win MLS Cup because of how good LAFC is. I wonder what attendance Atlanta United would get hosting the Final. According to Wikipedia, the highest attendance in a USOC Final was 35,615 in Seattle in 2011.
Atlanta United and Minnesota United will play in the U.S. Open Cup Final on August 27. Either of them could qualify from the U.S. Open Cup and MLS and hand a spot down to another club.
Canadian Championship Semifinals Results Toronto and Montreal advances and will meet in the finals this September.
I haven't found anything on the order of the games - does Toronto host the 2nd leg for being the defending champ? 'cause if it were based on league seeding (from previous season), then Montreal should do the honors.
Atlanta is also currently the #1 team in the Eastern conference - you can't discount the possibility of them taking that slot, thought they have good competition from Philly and NYC as well. I think there's a very strong possibility that those three teams + LAFC will be USA's four qualifiers this year - it just remains to see if they all qualify directly or if some get hand-me-down spots.
Yep. This is the current MLS Shield table: 1. LAFC 62 pts 2. Atlanta 48 pts 3. Philly 48 pts 4. NYCFC 47 pts 5. RSL 43 pts 6. Seattle 43 pts 7. LA Galaxy 42 pts 8. Minnesota 42 pts LAFC is going to clinch the Supporter Shield pretty soon. I would say that the Western Conference teams below LAFC are going to have to win the MLS Cup to qualify.
Just to add them to the list for OCD's sake On a separate note: given the CCL qualifying criteria in the CL regulations, we will already know the six teams that will move on up as soon as the quarterfinals are done. All 4 semifinalists qualify, as well as the two best eliminated quarterfinalists based on the same tiebreaker criteria used to determine hosting for the final two rounds of the CL. 2020 CCL Qualifiers 1. Cruz Azul [MEX3] 2. Club América [MEX1] 3. Club León [MEX4] 4. Portmore United (JAM) [CFU1] 5. Tigres UANL [MEX2] 6. Atlanta United [USA1, USA2, USA3 or USA4]
What slot would Atlanta take if they win the MLS Cup? I still can't understand why on Earth this seeding scheme was implemented. Considering continental chances, almost worst thing was to win (the US) national title as that "seed" was almost allocated into unseeded pot (behind each of remaining US spots). Outrageous. It's like they want footballing world to see them as retarded and undeveloped.
The MLS Cup winner would go into USA1. If that is Atlanta then the USA4 slot would be filled by a team from the MLS Supporter Shield table. MLS Cup winners have not done very well in the CCL but USA2 is actually the lowest ranked. USA2 is usually the Supporter Shield winner, the best regular season record.