2021 CONCACAF Champions League
The 2021 CONCACAF Champions League was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 56th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament, which usually starts in mid-February each year, was started in April, and concluded with the 2021 [CONCACAF Champions League Final|final] in October, which was played as a single-leg match hosted by the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds.
Mexican club Tigres UANL were the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title. Monterrey, also from Mexico, won their fifth CONCACAF Champions League title, defeating fellow Mexican club América in the final to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.
As of 2025, this is the last final to have featured two Mexican teams.
Qualification
A total of 16 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League:- Ten teams which directly qualified for the tournament:
- *North American Zone: 9 teams
- *Caribbean Zone: 1 team
- Six teams qualified through the CONCACAF League
North America
The nine direct berths for the North American Football Union, which consisted of three member associations, were allocated as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. For the Apertura tournament, the playoff winners and runners-up qualified, while for the Clausura tournament, no playoffs were held due to the league's suspension; the two highest ranked teams in the regular season at the time of suspension instead qualified. If there were any teams which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.
For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, two through the Major League Soccer season and two through its domestic cup competitions:
- The champions of the MLS Cup, the championship match of the MLS Cup Playoffs|MLS Cup Playoffs].
- The champions of the 2020 [Major League Soccer season#Overall table|Supporters' Shield], awarded to the team with the best MLS regular season record.
- The champions of the MLS is Back Tournament.
- The champions of the 2019 U.S. Open Cup.
For Canada, the champions of the Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awarded the Voyageurs Cup, were originally set to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. However, the final between Forge FC, champions of the Canadian Premier League, and Toronto FC could not be scheduled in time for the start of the tournament, and so it was then agreed upon that Toronto FC would be Canada's representative. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. Moreover, the champions of the Canadian Premier League qualified for the CONCACAF League, meaning a second team from Canada could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Central America
Teams from the Central American Football Union, which consisted of seven member associations, had to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the CONCACAF League. A total of 18 teams from Central America qualified for the CONCACAF League through their domestic leagues. As all but four teams in the CONCACAF League were from Central America, between two and six teams from Central America could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.Caribbean
Teams from the Caribbean Football Union, which consisted of 31 member associations, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League either as champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament, or through the CONCACAF League. 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.Another three teams from the Caribbean qualified for the CONCACAF League, which were 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, the second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament which was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season. Therefore, between one and four teams from the Caribbean could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
CONCACAF League
Besides the ten direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 22 teams qualified for the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from July to November prior to the CONCACAF Champions League. The top six teams of the CONCACAF League qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.Teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the tournament.- North American Zone: 9 teams
- Central American Zone: 5 teams, all of them qualified through the 2020 CONCACAF League
- Caribbean Zone: 2 teams, one of them qualified through the 2020 CONCACAF League
| Association | Team | Qualifying method | Previous best | |
| Monterrey | 2019–20 [Liga MX season#Torneo Apertura|2019 Apertura] champions | 6th | Champions | |
| Cruz Azul | 2020 Clausura regular season first place at time of suspension | 7th | Champions | |
| América | 2019 Apertura runners-up | 6th | Champions | |
| León | 2020 Clausura regular season second place at time of suspension | 3rd | Round of 16 | |
| Columbus Crew SC | 2020 MLS Cup champions | 3rd | Quarter-finals | |
| Philadelphia Union | 2020 MLS Supporters' Shield champions | 1st | Debut | |
| Portland Timbers | MLS is Back Tournament champions | 3rd | Group stage | |
| Atlanta United FC | 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions | 3rd | Quarter-finals | |
| Toronto FC | 2020 Canadian Championship finalists | 7th | Runners-up | |
| Atlético Pantoja | Best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage | 2nd | Round of 16 |
;Notes
Draw
The draw for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 10 February 2021, 19:00 EST, at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States.The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" contained the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 were 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 could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replaced 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 had 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 |
| Points per | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The slots were assigned by the following rules:
- For teams from North America, nine teams qualified based on criteria set by their association, resulting in an assigned slot for each team. If a team from Canada qualified through the CONCACAF League, they would be ranked within their association, resulting in an assigned slot 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 for each team.
- For teams from the Caribbean, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions were assigned the Caribbean champion slot. If teams from the Caribbean qualified through the CONCACAF League, they would be ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot for each team.
| Pot | Rank | Slot | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total | Team |
| Pot 1 | 1 | 120 | Cruz Azul | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 2 | 103 | Monterrey | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 3 | 92 | América | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 4 | 75 | Portland Timbers | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 5 | 66 | Toronto FC | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 6 | 65 | Philadelphia Union | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 7 | 53 | Columbus Crew SC | ||||||
| Pot 1 | 8 | 52 | Atlanta United FC | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 9 | 48 | León | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 10 | 39 | Saprissa | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 11 | 0 | 38 | Marathón | |||||
| Pot 2 | 12 | 36 | Alajuelense | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 13 | 35 | Olimpia | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 14 | 25 | Atlético Pantoja | ||||||
| Pot 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Real Estelí | |||
| Pot 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Arcahaie |
;Notes
Format
In the CONCACAF Champions League, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which is played as a single-leg match.- In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, the away goals rule was applied if the aggregate score is tied after the second leg. If still tied, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.
- In the final, extra time was played if the score was tied after the end of match. If the score is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.Times are Eastern Daylight Time, i.e., UTC−4, as listed by CONCACAF.
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 6–8 April, and the second legs were played on 13–15 April 2021.Matches
Cruz Azul won 8–0 on aggregate.----
Toronto FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
----
Monterrey won 6–1 on aggregate.
----
Columbus Crew SC won 5–0 on aggregate.
----
Philadelphia Union won 5–0 on aggregate.
----
Atlanta United FC won 2–0 on aggregate.
----
2–2 on aggregate. América won on away goals.
----
''Portland Timbers won 7–2 on aggregate.''
Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:- QF1: Winners of R16-1 vs. Winners of R16-2
- QF2: Winners of R16-3 vs. Winners of R16-4
- QF3: Winners of R16-5 vs. Winners of R16-6
- QF4: Winners of R16-7 vs. Winners of R16-8
Summary
The first legs were played on 27–28 April, and the second legs were played on 4–5 May 2021.Matches
Cruz Azul won 4–1 on aggregate.----
Monterrey won 5–2 on aggregate.
----
Philadelphia Union won 4–1 on aggregate.
----
''América won 4–2 on aggregate.''
Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:- SF1: Winners of QF1 vs. Winners of QF2
- SF2: Winners of QF3 vs. Winners of QF4
Summary
The first legs were played on 11–12 August, and the second legs were played on 15–16 September 2021.Matches
Monterrey won 5–1 on aggregate.----
''América won 4–0 on aggregate.''