Match dates for the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League were announced by the confederation today, with the competition set to begin in early April and be completed by the end of October.
The Portland Timbers qualified for this year's competition by winning the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament. Concacaf Champions League features the top teams from leagues in North and Central America as well as the Caribbean.
The competition's format will see 16 teams begin play no earlier than April 6 in a knockout format pairing opponents for a pair of home-and-home matches. The winners of those matchups will advance to the quarterfinal round, which begins on April 27 at the earliest ahead of August's semifinals.
| Stage | Date(s) |
|---|---|
| Round of 16, leg one | April 6-8 |
| Round of 16, leg two | April 13-15 |
| Quarterfinals, leg one | April 27-29 |
| Quarterfinals, leg two | May 4-6 |
| Semifinals, leg one | August 10-12 |
| Semifinals, leg two | August 24-26 |
| Final | October 26-28 |
Round of 16 matchups as well as the competition's tournament bracket will be determined on February 10, when Concacaf holds its Champions League draw. The eight highest-seeded teams based on Concacaf's ranking formula will be played in one pot, with their opponents drawn from the remaining teams, in a second pot.
All rounds before the final will feature home games for each team, with the leader on aggregate score after the second match advancing to the next stage. The tournament's final will be a single game hosted by the team who performed best over the preceding rounds (as determined by cumulative wins, draw, and goal difference).
The following teams have qualified for the 2021 competitions.
| 2021 SCCL participants | |
|---|---|
| Country | Qualifiers |
| Canada | Forge FC or Toronto FC |
| Costa Rica | Deportivo Saprissa, LD Alajuelense |
| Dominican Republic | Club Atletico Pantoja |
| Haiti | Arcahaie FC |
| Mexico | Club América, Club León, Cruz Azul and CF Monterrey |
| Nicaragua | Real Estelà FC |
| United States | Atlanta United FC, Columbus Crew SC, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers |
| - The winner of the Canadian Championship will compete in the 2021 SCCL. | |
Based on how teams will be seeded before the draw, Major League Soccer's qualifiers will not be able to face each other until at least the quarterfinal round.
Mexico's Tigres UANL are the competition's defending champions, having defeated Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC in December's final.
REMEMBERING Portland Timbers' triumph at the 2020 MLS Is Back tournament
