The 2020 CONCACAF League (officially the 2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF League for sponsorship purposes) was the fourth edition of the CONCACAF League, a football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONCACAF announced on 23 June 2020 that the start of the tournament, which was scheduled to begin on 28 July 2020 and end in November, had been postponed. On 7 August 2020, they announced the tournament would begin on 20 October and end on 28 January 2021. To ease the schedule, CONCACAF originally announced that the preliminary round and round of 16 would be played as single-leg matches, but on 29 October 2020, CONCACAF announced that this format had been extended to all rounds, with ties hosted by the higher-seeded teams based on the CONCACAF Club Ranking. The final was also rescheduled to 3 February 2021.
Alajuelense defeated title holders Saprissa in the final to win their first CONCACAF League title. As winners, they and the next best five teams qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. After the format change of all rounds to single-leg matches, it was decided a play-in round would be added for the four losing quarter-finalists to compete for the last two places in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Qualification A total of 22 teams participated in the CONCACAF League: North American Zone: 1 team (from one association) Central American Zone: 18 teams (from seven associations) Caribbean Zone: 3 teams (from two or three associations)
Therefore, teams from either 10 or 11 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF League.
North America The one berth for the North American Zone (NAFU) was allocated to the Canadian Soccer Association through the previous year's Canadian Premier League, where the champions, decided by the Canadian Premier League Finals, contested between the Spring and Fall season champions, qualified. They were the second Canadian representative included in CONCACAF competitions, not including the Canadian Championship winners which qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Central America The 18 berths for the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consisted of seven member associations, were allocated as follows: three berths for each of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, two berths for Nicaragua, and one berth for Belize.
All of the leagues of Central America employed a split season with two tournaments in one season, so the following teams qualified for the CONCACAF League: In the league of Costa Rica, both champions, and the non-champions with the best aggregate record, qualified. If there was any team which were champions of both tournaments, the non-champions with the second best aggregate record qualified. In the leagues of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, both champions, and the runners-up with the better aggregate record (or any team which were runners-up of both tournaments), qualified. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the runners-up with the worse aggregate record qualify. If there were any two teams which were finalists of both tournaments, the semi-finalists with the best aggregate record would qualify. In the league of Nicaragua, both champions qualified. If there was any team which were champions of both tournaments, the runners-up with the better aggregate record (or any team which were runners-up of both tournaments) qualified. In the league of Belize, the champions with the better aggregate record (or any team which were champions of both tournaments) qualified.
If teams from any Central American associations were excluded, they were to be replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous CONCACAF League and CONCACAF Champions League tournaments.
Caribbean The three berths for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consisted of 31 member associations, were allocated via the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the first-tier and second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournaments. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship had been open to teams from professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, while the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season.
Besides the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship which qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, the runners-up and third-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, qualified for the CONCACAF League. For the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield to be eligible for the playoff, they had to comply with the minimum CONCACAF Club Licensing requirements for the CONCACAF League.
Teams The following 22 teams (from eleven associations) qualified for the tournament. Ten teams entered in the round of 16: two each from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama, and one each from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the Caribbean. Twelve teams entered in the preliminary round: two each from El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Caribbean, and one each from Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, and Belize.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for registration was extended to 28 June 2020.
+Qualified teams from North America (1 team: entering in preliminary round)AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best Forge FCPreliminary round2019 Canadian Premier League champions2nd Round of 16 +Qualified teams from Central America (18 teams: 9 entering in round of 16, 9 entering in preliminary round)AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best SaprissaRound of 16Champions with better 2019–20 aggregate record (2020 Clausura)2nd Champions HeredianoRound of 16Champions with worse 2019–20 aggregate record (2019 Apertura)3rd Champions AlajuelensePreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Round of 16 OlimpiaRound of 162019 Apertura champions3rd Champions MarathónRound of 16Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Preliminary round MotaguaPreliminary roundNon-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record3rd Runners-up TauroRound of 162019 Apertura champions3rd Semi-finals San FranciscoRound of 16Non-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Preliminary round IndependientePreliminary roundNon-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Quarter-finals AlianzaRound of 162019 Apertura champions3rd Semi-finals FASPreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Quarter-finals Municipal LimeñoPreliminary roundNon-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record1stDebut MunicipalRound of 162019 Apertura champions1stDebutComunicacionesPreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Quarter-finals Antigua GFCPreliminary roundNon-champions with 2nd best 2019–20 aggregate record2nd Preliminary round Real EstelíRound of 162019 Apertura and 2020 Clausura champions3rd Round of 16 ManaguaPreliminary round2019 Apertura and 2020 Clausura runners-up2nd Round of 16 VerdesPreliminary round2019 Opening champions1stDebut +Qualified teams from Caribbean (3 teams: 1 entering in round of 16, 2 entering in preliminary round)AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best WaterhouseRound of 162nd best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage2nd Quarter-finals ArcahaiePreliminary round3rd best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage1stDebutCibaoPreliminary round4th best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage1stDebut
Notes
Draw
The draw for the 2020 CONCACAF League was held on 21 September 2020, 19:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, United States.
The draw determined each tie in the preliminary round (numbered 1 through 6) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing six teams. A team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2 were drawn into each tie. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other in the preliminary round except for "wildcard" teams which could replace a team from another association.
The draw also determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 3 and a team from Pot 4, each containing eight teams, with the six preliminary round winners, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, in Pot 4. A team from Pot 3 and a team from Pot 4 were drawn into each tie.
The seeding of teams was based on the CONCACAF Club Index. The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, was based on the on-field performance of the teams that had occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF League and CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF League or CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:
Points perParticipationWinDrawStage advancedChampionsCONCACAF Champions League 43112CONCACAF League 2310.51
Teams qualified for the CONCACAF League based on criteria set by their association (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., CRC1, CRC2) for each team.
The 22 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:
+Teams in preliminary round drawPotRankSlot2015–16 CCL2016–17 CCL2017 CL or2018 CCL2018 CL or2019 CCL2019 CLTotalTeamPot 110048.5 Alajuelense235 FAS30031.5 Municipal Limeño40028 Independiente50026.5 Motagua623.5 ArcahaiePot 2718 Verdes80017 Comunicaciones90016.5 Managua100012.5 Cibao11000012 Antigua GFC1200009.5 Forge FC +Teams in round of 16 drawPotRankSlot2015–16 CCL2016–17 CCL2017 CL or2018 CCL2018 CL or2019 CCL2019 CLTotalTeamPot 3155 Tauro246.5 Olimpia346 San Francisco440 Marathón537.5 Saprissa635 Herediano733 Alianza824.5 WaterhousePot 49024 Municipal1023.5 Real Estelí11Winner preliminary round 112Winner preliminary round 213Winner preliminary round 314Winner preliminary round 415Winner preliminary round 516Winner preliminary round 6
Format In the CONCACAF League, the 22 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played as a single match. In all rounds except the final, if the score was tied after the end of regulation, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner. In the final, extra time was played if the score was tied after regulation. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows.
RoundDatesPreliminary round20–22 October 2020Round of 163–5 November 2020Quarter-finals1–2 December 2020 (previously 1–3 and 8–10 December 2020 as two-leg matches)Play-in round8–9 December 2020 (previously not scheduled)Semi-finals20 January 2021 (previously 5–7 and 12–14 January 2021 as two-leg matches)Final3 February 2021 (previously 19–21 and 26–28 January 2021 as two-leg matches)
Times are Eastern Time, as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses): Times up to 31 October 2020 (originally scheduled preliminary round matches) are Eastern Daylight Time, i.e., UTC−4. Times thereafter (all other matches) are Eastern Standard Time, i.e., UTC−5.
Bracket
Preliminary round In the preliminary round, the matchups were decided by draw: PR-1 through PR-6. The team from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the single-leg match.
Summary