Gotta say Atlanta United have a great chance to play in the Club world Championship this year, cause they are playing in both the Concacaf Champions League + UEFA Champions League. Atlanta United are through to the quarterfinals in Concacaf, and just beat Valencia 4-1 in Uefa Champions League too
The CONCACAF quarterfinals are set: Club America (MEX) - Atlanta United (USA) Los Angeles FC (USA) - Cruz Azul (MEX) New York City (USA) - Tigres UANL (MEX) Montreal Impact (CAN) - CD Olimpia (HON) There were some very closely fought series in the R16. Standouts include the last second winner by Tigres (scored by the keeper!) and the comeback from LAFC. In the OFC, defending champions Hienghène Sport have already been eliminated in the group stage. In CAF defending champs Espérance lost the first quarterfinal leg 3:1 at Zamalek.
CAF Quarterfinals, First Leg: Al Ahly (Egypt) - Mamelodi Sundowns (S. Africa) 2:0 Raja Casablanca (Morocco) - TP Mazembe (DR Congo) 2:0 Zamalek (Egypt) - Esperance Tunis (Tunisia) 3:1 Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) - Etoile Sahel (Tunisia) 2:0 All home teams won by a margin of two. Curious if anyone can overturn this deficit. All quiet on the Asian front thanks to the corona-virus. I have no idea how the AFC is going to sort out this scheduling mess.
ooh damn, didn't realize they had fallen so hard. I taught English in Guadalajara for a while in 2004 and remember the Chivas vs Atlante rivalry well. They were pretty evenly matched then but I guess not anymore. With that said, still hope for Atlanta vs Atalanta Club World Cup match-up in December...
Yes, was at that final in Abu Dhabi... remember that Gun n' Roses the day before, then Inter vs Mazembe the next.. how could I forget? Inter vs Inter would have truly been an international event!
Since we are (indirectly) remembering the 2010 Mazembe... None of the first leg losers were able to change the outcome of the CAF quarterfinals series. That also means Esperance won't achieve a unprecedented three titles in a row. The semis are: Raja Casablanca (Morocco) - Zamalek (Egypt) Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) - Al Ahly (Egypt) I guess it's safe to say the winner will either come from Casablanca or Cairo. We may even have a derby in the final. Guess that means the final will be in Tunisia?
Remember when they took the lead against Barcelona in the 2009 CWC? Neither Atlanta nor Atalanta can claim that. (I was in Abu Dhabi that night)
erm, nope... I mean don't remember but that's pretty cool. I remember desperately wanting to go to AD for that final but couldn't due to work issues. Was kind of an anti-climax the next year.... I also remember my camera constantly blurring up though so footage wasn't that great. In other news, does look like we'll have a new Qatar entrant as Al Sadd just lost to Al Rayyan in the QSL leaving them 10 points behind Al Duhail with only 5 games to play. Barring a miracle, it looks like we'll have a Qatari team making their debut in the CWC in December. Al Rayyan are 5 points behind but have the easier run-in as Duhail still have to play Sadd and Gharafa. We'll see what happens, would like to see Duhail as they've been Qatar's most dominant team this last decade. They'll have won 7 of the last 10 QSL championships if they hold on to their position. PS - we could still see Atlanta vs Atalanta or Barcelona vs Barcelona, City vs City, Lyon vs Tigre maybe?
Should be quite easy to complete the CONCACAF CL in this calendar year. They can do so in seven games. Cruz Azul - LAFC can be a single game and so can semis and final. They can just meet at a single site in California or Texas, like in the Champions Cup days, and complete the tournament behind closed doors. I see no issues for UEFA, CONCACAF, CAF and the OFC in completing their competitions with single site, single game scenarios. It will be much tougher for CONMBEOL and the AFC who are still in the group stage phase. As for the Qatar Stars League, it will resume on July 24. I do wonder if we will see a CWC this year. Perhaps the 2020 winners will play in the 2021 CWC (in December in Qatar for the last edition of this format) and the 2021 winners will get thrown into the qualifying bucket for an expanded 2025 CWC. I struggle to see how FIFA could organize an expanded CWC before then with all the calendar issues.
If they do just a 1 game series in the USA for the semis and final. ( And maybe even in the quarters). Even though I don’t like that, I guess we just have to make do with the situation. I guess that may increase the chance of mls winning SCCL.
Apparently we can expect an update on the 2020 CWC at the (virtual) FIFA Council meeting on June 25. UEFA have decided to conclude the UCL in final eight straight knock-out tournament in Lisbon, Portugal in August. CAF will conclude theirs in September.
I can't find it on the FIFA website but a number of Latin American sites are saying the 2020 CWC has been cancelled? Was it covered in the FIFA Council press conference today?
I don't see the 2020 CWC happening in December this year. The underlying question is whether it is cancelled or postponed. And if it's postponed when would they play it? Qatar now has the Pan-Arab tournament in December 2021 which was the likely replacement slot. Was the 2019 CWC the last edition for the seven-team format? Are we now immediately jumping to the expanded format? [EDIT] I watched the press conference. When asked about the CWC, Infantino just answers in regards to the expanded CWC. No word on the 2020 edition.
Complicated by the fact that the Libertadores final is now scheduled for January 2021. Who will represent CONMEBOL?