The 2023 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2023 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th and final edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its former name, and overall the 58th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[1]
Seattle Sounders FC were the title holders, but they did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.
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).
Location of teams of the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League North American Zone Central American Zone Caribbean Zone
The draw took take place in Miami, Florida, United States on 7 November 2022.[4] The seeding of teams was based on the CONCACAF Club Index.[5] 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 per
Participation
Win
Draw
Stage advanced
Champions
4
3
1
1
2
The slots were assigned by the following rules:[6]
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:[7]
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).[8]
In the final, extra time was played if the match was tied after regulation time. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.8).[8]
Source: CONCACAF Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Disciplinary points (1 point for yellow card, 3 points for indirect red card, 4 points for direct red card, 5 points for yellow card and direct red card); 8) Drawing of lots (Regulations Article 12.9.5).
Summary
The first legs were played on 25–26 April, and the second legs were played on 2–3 May 2023.