2022 CONCACAF League


The 2022 CONCACAF League was the sixth and final edition of the CONCACAF League, a football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Olimpia defeated Alajuelense in the final to win their second CONCACAF League title. As winners, they and the next best five teams qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
Comunicaciones were the title holders, but were eliminated by Diriangén in the Round of 16.

Qualification

A total of 22 teams participated in the CONCACAF League:
  • North American Zone: 1 team
  • Central American Zone: 18 teams
  • Caribbean Zone: 3 teams
Therefore, teams from either 10 or 11 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations may participate in the CONCACAF League.

North America

The one berth for the North American Zone was allocated to the Canadian Soccer Association through the previous year's Canadian Premier League. The league champion, decided by the Canadian Premier League Finals contested between the two semifinal winners, qualified. They are the second Canadian representative included in CONCACAF competitions, besides the Canadian Championship champions which qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Central America

The 18 berths for the Central American Football Union, which consists 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 employ 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 Clausura record, qualified. If there was any team which were champions of both tournaments, the non-champions with the second best Clausura record qualified.
  • In the leagues of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, both champions, and the runners-up with the better aggregate record, qualify. If there is any team which are finalists of both tournaments, the runners-up with the worse aggregate record qualify. If there are any two teams which are finalists of both tournaments, the semi-finalists with the best aggregate record qualify.
  • In the league of Nicaragua, both champions qualify. If there is any team which are champions of both tournaments, the runners-up with the better aggregate record qualify.
  • In the league of Belize, the champions with the better aggregate record qualify.
If teams from any Central American associations were excluded, they would 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, which consists 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 is open to teams from professional leagues, where they can qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, while the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield is open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they can 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 were required to comply with the minimum CONCACAF Club Licensing requirements for the CONCACAF League.

Teams

The following 22 teams qualified for the tournament.
  • Ten teams enter 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 enter 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.
AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best
Pacific FCPreliminary round2021 Canadian Premier League champions1stDebut

AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best
Herediano[|Round of 16]Champions with better 2021–22 aggregate record 4th Champions
CartaginésRound of 16Champions with worse 2021–22 aggregate record 1stDebut
AlajuelensePreliminary roundNon-champions with best regular season record in 2021 Clausura4th Champions
OlimpiaRound of 162021 Apertura champions5th Champions
MotaguaRound of 162022 Clausura champions5th Runners-up
Real EspañaPreliminary round2021 Apertura and 2022 Clausura runners-up2nd Round of 16
TauroRound of 16Champions with better 2021–22 aggregate record 4th Semi-finals
AlianzaRound of 16Champions with worse 2021–22 aggregate record 1stDebut
Sporting San MiguelitoPreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2021–22 aggregate record 1stDebut
AlianzaRound of 16Champions with better 2021–22 aggregate record 4th Semi-finals
ÁguilaPreliminary roundChampions with worse 2021–22 aggregate record 3rd Quarterfinals
PlatensePreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2021–22 aggregate record1stDebut
ComunicacionesRound of 16Champions with better 2021–22 aggregate record 4th Champions
MalacatecoPreliminary roundChampions with worse 2021–22 aggregate record 1stDebut
MunicipalPreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2021–22 aggregate record2nd Round of 16
DiriangénRound of 16Champions of both Apertura and Clausura Finals 2021–22 Liga Primera de Nicaragua5th Round of 16
Real EsteliPreliminary roundNon-champions with best 2021–22 Liga Primera de Nicaragua record5th Quarterfinals
VerdesPreliminary roundChampions with better 2021–22 aggregate record3rd Preliminary Round

AssociationTeamEntry roundQualifying method Previous best
Cibao FCRound of 162022 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship runners-up 2nd Preliminary Round
Atlético Vega RealPreliminary round2022 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship third place 1stDebut
WaterhousePreliminary round2022 Caribbean CONCACAF League playoff winners3rd Quarterfinal

Draw

The draw for the 2022 CONCACAF League was held on 8 June 2022, 20:00 EDT, at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, United States.
For the preliminary round, the draw determined each tie between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing six teams. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other except for "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association.
For the round of 16, the draw determined each tie between a team from Pot 3 and a team from Pot 4, each containing eight teams. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other except for "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association. The six preliminary round winners, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, were placed in Pot 4 and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
The seeding of teams was based on the CONCACAF Club Index. The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, is based on the on-field performance of the teams that have 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 uses the following formula:
Points perParticipationWinDrawStage advancedChampions
CONCACAF Champions League 43112
CONCACAF League 2310.51

Teams qualified for the CONCACAF League based on criteria set by their association, resulting in an assigned slot for each team.
The 22 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:
PotRankSlot2017 CL or
2018 CCL
2018 CL or
2019 CCL
2019 CL2020 CL2021 CLTotalTeam
Pot 1184.5 Alajuelense
Pot 120046.5 Municipal
Pot 1344.5 Real España
Pot 1436.5 Platense
Pot 150036 Pacific FC
Pot 1634.5 Sporting San Miguelito
Pot 2730 Águila
Pot 2827 Atlético Vega Real
Pot 2922 Real Estelí
Pot 2100014.5 Malacateco
Pot 21114.5 Waterhouse
Pot 21210 Verdes