Major League Soccer teams have participated in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly the CONCACAF Champions League from 2008 to 2023) each season since 1997. As of 2023[update], MLS may send up to ten teams to the CONCACAF Champions Cup each season — up to six from the United States, up to one from Canada, and up to three through the Leagues Cup berths.[1]
Under the Champions Cup's updated format starting in 2008–09, the first MLS team to finish first in its group was Real Salt Lake in 2010.[2]
The following table shows the number of MLS participants in the Champions Cup each season, as well as the number of MLS teams that have reached various stages in the knockout rounds. MLS teams performed poorly during the first two years, as fixture congestion from the Superliga tournament as well as CONCACAF Champions League preliminary rounds meant that MLS teams often fielded teams without their first choice players.
Beginning in 2018, the Champions League format was changed to eliminate group play and the knockout round started with sixteen teams rather than eight.[5] Beginning in 2024, the format was expanded to include five knockout rounds and twenty-seven teams.[6]
MLS sent only four teams to the Champions League in 2008–09 because the Canadian team, the Montreal Impact, played in the USL First Division at the time.
Performance by opposition in knockout series
The following table shows the performance of MLS teams in the knockout rounds for each home-and-away series for opponents from various leagues. During the first nine seasons of the Champions League, MLS teams did not play any foreign teams in knockout stage other than Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama. With the change in tournament format in the 2018 season, specifically with the knockout rounds now including a round of 16, MLS teams have played knockout matches against a greater variety of countries.
In the Champions Cup knockout rounds, MLS teams have played Mexican teams more than any other country, in some years facing multiple matchups.[7] Seattle's 2013 quarter-final win over Mexico's UANL was the first time since the Champions League format began in 2008–09 that an MLS team eliminated a Mexican team in the knockout rounds.[8] Montreal repeated the feat in 2015 when they beat Mexico's Pachuca in the quarter-finals.[9] In 2018, Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls both advanced to the semi-finals by beating Mexican teams, the first time that two MLS teams eliminated two Mexican teams in the same tournament.[10] In 2020, Los Angeles FC became the first MLS team to eliminate three Mexican teams in the same tournament — beating Mexican opponents in the Round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, before losing in the final to a Mexican team.[11] MLS' improved performance against Mexican teams was attributed to MLS club academies focused on player development, and an increase in player salaries through the league's Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) program.[12]
In 2023, CONCACAF released a new club ranking system ahead of the revamped Champions Cup and regional competitions. It replaced the former CONCACAF Club Index as the method used to seed clubs in international competitions. A modified Elo rating system, MLS teams receive updated ratings from results in MLS, Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, and Club World Cup matches, with more weight placed on international matches.[13][14]
As of 2024, 27 MLS teams have appeared in the CONCACAF Champions Cup since MLS began sending teams to the competition in 1997.
Seattle Sounders FC became champions in 2022, ending Liga MX's winning streak in the competition since 2006. They were the fifth MLS club to make it to the final, following Real Salt Lake in 2011, Montreal Impact in 2015, Toronto FC in 2018 and Los Angeles FC in 2020.[3]
Canadian teams in MLS – CF Montréal, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC – qualify to the Champions Cup via a separate competition, the Canadian Championship, and they represent the Canadian Soccer Association. Starting in 2024, all three Canadian teams may also qualify through MLS or Leagues Cup.[1] The only times MLS standings were used for Canadian teams qualification were the 2014 season to determine the 2015–16 Champions League representative, as the Canadian Championship format was changed that season, and the 2020 season to determine the 2021 Champions League representative, as the 2020 Canadian Championship was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting in 2018, the group stage was removed, so MLS teams now started in the Round of 16 (first round). Starting in 2024, one or two MLS teams receive byes to the round of 16 (second round) while others enter in the first round of 22 teams.[6]
