2023 CONCACAF Champions League


The 2023 CONCACAF Champions League 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.
Seattle Sounders FC were the title holders, but they did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.
León won their first title, defeating Los Angeles FC of MLS in the final 3–1 on aggregate. As winners, they earned the right to play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and would have also qualified 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States alongside the winners from 2021 to 2024. However, due to León sharing the same ownership as C.F. Pachuca, another qualified team, and regulations against multi-club ownership, León was later disqualified from the latter; their spot in the Club World Cup was instead awarded to Los Angeles FC, the runners-up to León in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, who beaten Club América, the top-ranked team in the CONCACAF confederation ranking at the conclusion of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup in the play-in match on 31 May 2025.

Teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the tournament.
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.
AssociationTeamQualifying method Previous best
AtlasApertura 2021 champions and Clausura 2022 champions1stDebut
LeónApertura 2021 runners-up5th Quarter-finals
PachucaClausura 2022 runners-up4th Champions
UANLBest ranked team on aggregate table that have not already qualified7th Champions
Los Angeles FC2022 MLS Cup champions and 2022 MLS Supporters' Shield champions2nd Runners-up
Philadelphia Union2022 Eastern Conference regular season champions2nd Semi-finals
Orlando City SC2022 U.S. Open Cup champions1stDebut
Austin FCHighest-ranked U.S. based Division I club not already qualified1stDebut
Vancouver Whitecaps FC2022 Canadian Championship champions3rd Semi-finals
Violette2022 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions1stDebut

Draw

The draw took take place in Miami, Florida, United States on 7 November 2022. The seeding of teams was 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
per		ParticipationWinDrawStage advancedChampions
Points
per		43112

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 were 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 were ranked per association by their CONCACAF League ranking, resulting in an assigned slot for each team.
The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:
PotRankSlot20182019202020212022TotalTeam
Pot 11103 León
Pot 1293 Pachuca
Pot 1383 Atlas
Pot 1465 Austin FC
Pot 1562 Philadelphia Union
Pot 1656 Los Angeles FC
Pot 1756 Orlando City SC
Pot 1854 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Pot 2932 UANL
Pot 21027 Alajuelense
Pot 21126 Olimpia
Pot 2120021 Real España
Pot 21300020 Tauro
Pot 2140019 Alianza
Pot 21516 Violette
Pot 216000000 Motagua

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.
  • 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.

    Schedule

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 7–9 March, and the second legs were played on 14–16 March 2023.

Matches

Violette won 3–2 on aggregate.
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León won 3–0 on aggregate.
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1–1 on aggregate. UANL won on away goals.
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1–1 on aggregate. Motagua won on away goals.
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Vancouver Whitecaps FC won 7–3 on aggregate.
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Los Angeles FC won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Atlas won 5–4 on aggregate.
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''Philadelphia Union won 4–0 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 4–5 April, and the second legs were played on 11–12 April 2023.

Matches

León won 6–2 on aggregate.
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UANL won 6–0 on aggregate.
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Los Angeles FC won 6–0 on aggregate.
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''Philadelphia Union won 3–2 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 25–26 April, and the second legs were played on 2–3 May 2023.

Matches

León won 4–3 on aggregate.
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''Los Angeles FC won 4–1 on aggregate.''

Final

In the final, the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first leg was played on 31 May, and the second leg was played on 4 June 2023.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Team of the Season

CONCACAF selected the following players as the team of the tournament.
PlayerTeam
John McCarthy Los Angeles FC
Diego Palacios Los Angeles FC
Aaron Long Los Angeles FC
Adonis Frías León
Iván Moreno León
Fidel Ambríz León
Luis Quiñones UANL
Elías Hernández León
Víctor Dávila León
Denis Bouanga Los Angeles FC
Carlos Vela Los Angeles FC