The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup under its former name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Monterrey was the title holder but did not qualify for this tournament and was unable to defend its title. American team Seattle Sounders FC won its first CONCACAF Champions League title, defeating Mexican club UNAM 5–2 on aggregate in the final. The Sounders thus became the first team from Major League Soccer to win the title under its current format. It was the first time since the 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup that a non-Mexican team won the Champions' Cup or Champions League, and the first time since 2000 that an American team won the Champions' Cup or League.
Teams The following 16 teams (from seven associations) qualified for the tournament. North American Zone: 10 teams (from three associations), including one of them which qualified through the 2021 CONCACAF League Central American Zone: 5 teams (from three associations), all of them qualified through the 2021 CONCACAF League Caribbean Zone: 1 team (from one association), qualified through the 2021 Caribbean Club Championship
In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
+Direct entrants (10 teams)AssociationTeamQualifying method Previous best León 2020 Guardianes champions4th Round of 16 Cruz Azul2021 Guardianes champions8th Champions UNAM2020 Guardianes runners-up5th Semi-finals Santos Laguna2021 Guardianes runners-up7th Runners-up New York City FC2021 MLS Cup champions2nd Quarter-finals New England Revolution2021 MLS Supporters' Shield champions2nd Preliminary round Colorado Rapids2021 MLS Western Conference regular season champions3rd Round of 16 Seattle Sounders FCHighest-ranked U.S. based Division I club (based on 2021 MLS regular season record) not already qualified.7th Semi-finals CF Montréal2021 Canadian Championship champions5th Runners-up Cavaly2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions1stDebut +Qualified teams from CONCACAF League (6 teams)AssociationTeamQualifying method Previous best Comunicaciones2021 CONCACAF League champions (1st overall)7th Quarter-finals Guastatoya2021 CONCACAF League worse-ranked losing semi-finalists (4th overall)2nd Round of 16 Motagua2021 CONCACAF League runners-up (2nd overall)6th Round of 16 Forge FC2021 CONCACAF League better-ranked losing semi-finalists (3rd overall)1stDebutSaprissa2021 CONCACAF League best-ranked losing quarter-finalists (5th overall)10th Semi-finals Santos de Guápiles2021 CONCACAF League second-ranked losing quarter-finalists (6th overall)1stDebut Notes;
Draw
The draw for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 15 December 2021, in Miami, Florida, United States.
The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" (Pot A and Pot B) contains the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 are assigned a bracket position from Pot A and the teams from Pot 2 were assigned a bracket position from Pot B. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association.
The seeding of teams were 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 occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:
Points perParticipationWinDrawStage advancedChampions43112
The slots were assigned by the following rules: For teams from North America, nine teams qualified based on criteria set by their association (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., MEX1, MEX2) for each team. If a team from Canada qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked within their association, resulting in an assigned slot (i.e., CAN2) for them. For teams from Central America, they qualified through the CONCACAF League, and were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., CRC1, CRC2) for each team. For teams from the Caribbean, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions were assigned the Caribbean champion slot (i.e., CCC1). If teams from the Caribbean qualified through the CONCACAF League, they were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., JAM1, SUR1) for each team.
The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:
PotRankSlot2016–172018201920202021TotalTeamPot 11116 Cruz Azul298 León389 UNAM469 Colorado Rapids568 New England Revolution667 CF Montréal751 New York City FC848 Seattle Sounders FCPot 2935 Santos Laguna1034 Santos de Guápiles1111545732 Motagua1230 Saprissa1321 Cavaly140019 Comunicaciones1500006 Guastatoya16000000 Forge FC
Format Each tie, including the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing on a home-and-away basis. In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, the away goals rule was applied if the aggregate score was tied after the second leg. If still tied, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.7). In the final, extra time was played if the match was tied after regulation time of the second leg. The away goals rule was not applied. If the score was still tied after extra time in the second leg, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.8).
Schedule All matches were played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. +Schedule for 2022 CONCACAF Champions LeagueRoundFirst legSecond legRound of 1615–18 February 2022 22–24 February 2022Quarter-finals8–10 March 2022 15–17 March 2022Semi-finals5–6 April 2022 12–13 April 2022Final27 April 2022 4 May 2022
Times are Eastern Time, as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses): Times on 15 March 2022 – 4 May 2022 are Eastern Daylight Time, i.e., UTC−4. Times otherwise are Eastern Standard Time, i.e., UTC−5.
Bracket
Round of 16 In the round of 16, the matchups were decided by draw: R16-1 through R16-8. The teams from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the second leg.
Summary The first legs were played on 15–17 February, and the second legs were played on 22–24 February 2022.
Matches
León won 3–0 on aggregate.
Seattle Sounders FC won 5–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Comunicaciones won 4–3 on penalties.
New York City FC won 6–0 on aggregate.
UNAM won 6–3 on aggregate.
New England Revolution advanced to the quarter-finals after Cavaly withdrew from the competition on 15 February 2022.
CF Montréal won 3–1 on aggregate.
Cruz Azul won 4–1 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows: QF1: Winner R16-1 vs. Winner R16-2 QF2: Winner R16-3 vs. Winner R16-4 QF3: Winner R16-5 vs. Winner R16-6 QF4: Winner R16-7 vs. Winner R16-8 The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5, and 7 hosted the second leg.
Summary The first legs were played on 8–9 March, and the second legs were played on 15–17 March 2022.
Matches
Seattle Sounders FC won 4–1 on aggregate.
5–5 on aggregate. New York City FC won on away goals.
3–3 on aggregate. UNAM won 4–3 on penalties.
Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows: SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2 SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4
The semi-finalists in each tie which had the better performance across all previous rounds hosted the second leg.
Summary The first legs were played on 5–6 April, and the second legs were played on 12–13 April 2022.
Matches
Seattle Sounders FC won 4–2 on aggregate.
UNAM won 2–1 on aggregate.
Final
In the final (Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2), the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds hosted the second leg.
Summary The first leg was played on 27 April, and the second leg was played on 4 May 2022. Unlike previous rounds, the away goals rule did not apply in the final round.
Matches
Seattle Sounders FC won 5–2 on aggregate.
Statistics Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubBy roundTotalgoals1 Juan Dinenno UNAM12 22 292 Nicolás Lodeiro Seattle Sounders FC 1 1 2153 Valentín Castellanos New York City FC2 11 44 Talles Magno New York City FC 2 1 3 Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC 21 Jordan Morris Seattle Sounders FC 11 1 Raúl Ruidíaz Seattle Sounders FC 1 28 Uriel Antuna Cruz Azul 11 2 Christian Bolaños Saprissa2 Adam Buksa New England Revolution 2 Elías Hernández León 11 Santiago Rodríguez New York City FC 1 1
Awards AwardPlayerClubGolden Ball Stefan Frei Seattle Sounders FCGolden Boot Juan Dinenno UNAMGolden Glove Stefan Frei Seattle Sounders FCBest Young Player Talles Magno New York City FCFair Play Award— Seattle Sounders FC
+Team of the TournamentPositionPlayerClub Stefan Frei Seattle Sounders FC Nouhou Tolo Seattle Sounders FC Xavier Arreaga Seattle Sounders FC Arturo Ortiz UNAM Alan Mozo UNAM Jordan Morris Seattle Sounders FC Nicolás Lodeiro Seattle Sounders FC Cristian Roldan Seattle Sounders FC Raúl Ruidíaz Seattle Sounders FC Talles Magno New York City FC Juan Dinenno UNAM
See also 2021 CONCACAF League
Notes
References
External links