MLS performance in the CONCACAF Champions League

Major League Soccer teams have participated in the CONCACAF Champions League each season since the tournament began its current format in 2008–09. Previously, MLS teams played in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. MLS may send up to five teams to the CONCACAF Champions League each season — up to four from the United States, and up to one from Canada.

The first MLS team to finish first in its group was Real Salt Lake in 2010.[1] The best performance by an MLS team to date occurred in 2018, when Toronto FC reached the final, before losing to Mexico's Guadalajara 4–2 on penalties following a 3–3 scoreline on aggregate.[2] Real Salt Lake, CF Montréal and Los Angeles FC all also reached the final, losing to Monterrey in 2011, América in 2015 and UANL in 2020, respectively.[1] MLS teams have never won the Champions League under its current format since 2008–09, and therefore have not sent a team to the FIFA Club World Cup.

Performance by round

The following table shows the number of MLS participants in the Champions League 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 starts with sixteen teams rather than eight.[3]

TournamentParticipantsQuarter-
finalists		Semi-
finalists		FinalistsChampions
2008–0941———
2009–1051———
2010–115211—
2011–12531——
2012–13532——
2013–1453———
2014–155211—
2015–1654———
2016–17532——
20185321—
2019541——
20205411—

Notes:

  • MLS sent only four teams to the Champions League in 2008–09 because the Canadian team, the Montreal Impact, played in the minor-league United Soccer Leagues 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 play knockout matches against a greater variety of countries.

In the Champions League knockout rounds, MLS teams have played Mexican teams more than any other country, in some years facing multiple matchups.[4] 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.[5] Montreal repeated the feat in 2015 when they beat Mexico's Pachuca in the quarter-finals.[6] 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.[7] In 2020, Los Angeles FC became the first MLS team to eliminate three Mexican teams in the same tournament. 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.[8]

Tournament Mexico Costa Rica Panama Honduras El Salvador Guatemala Dominican Republic
2008–090–1——————
2009–100–1——————
2010–110–11–0—————
2011–120–2——————
2012–131–31–0—————
2013–140–3——————
2014–151–11–1—————
2015–160–4——————
2016–170–2—1–0————
20183–3—0–11–01–0——
20191–41–01–1——1–01–0
20203–32–0—1–2———
Totals9–28 (24%)6–1 (86%)2–2 (50%)2–2 (50%)1–0 (100%)1–0 (100%)1–0 (100%)

CONCACAF Club Index

The CONCACAF Club Index was introduced in 2018 as a way of seeding the 16 teams in the knockout rounds.[9] The index does not rank clubs but ranks member association qualification slots and is based on the past five prior years' results.[10] Points are awarded as follows: 4 for participation, 3 for a win, 2 for Champions, 1 for draw, and 1 for stage advanced.

The following table shows the index for the five Canadian and American teams. For context, the table also shows the index for the lowest-ranked Mexican slot and the highest-ranked Central American slot.

2018 Rank: Slot (points) 2019 Rank: Slot (points)
4 — MEX4 (101) 4 — CAN1 (84)
5 — USA3 (76) 5 — USA3 (77)
6 — CAN1 (73) 6 — MEX4 (75)
7 — USA1 (73) 7 — USA4 (65)
8 — USA2 (71) 8 — USA1 (64)
9 — USA4 (71) 9 — PAN1 (57)
10 — CRC1 (65) 10 — USA2 (56)
Rank Slot 2020
4 CAN1 79
5 USA3 77
6 USA4 60
7 USA2 58
8 USA1 58
9 CRC2 53
10 MEX4 50

Performance by team

20 MLS teams have appeared in the CONCACAF Champions League since the inaugural 2008–09 season.

Real Salt Lake in 2011, Montreal Impact in 2015, Toronto FC in 2018 and Los Angeles FC in 2020 are the only teams that have played in the competition's final, but all four have failed to win the continental title.

Canadian teams in MLS – Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC – qualify to the Champions League via a separate competition, the Canadian Championship, and they represent the Canadian Soccer Association. The only time MLS standings were used for Canadian teams qualification was the 2014 season to determine the 2015–16 Champions League representative as the Canadian Championship format was changed that season.

Starting in 2018, the group stage was removed, so MLS teams now start in the Round of 16 (first round).

As of December 22, 2020
TeamAppsGPWDLGFGAGDBest Result
Atlanta United FC284131110+1Quarter-finals
Chivas USA*1201113–2Preliminary round
Colorado Rapids28224914–5Group stage
Columbus Crew SC2166462022–2Quarter-finals
FC Dallas3189362725+2Semi-finals
D.C. United42611693836+2Quarter-finals
Houston Dynamo FC52811893634+2Quarter-finals
LA Galaxy53015695236+16Semi-finals
Los Angeles FC1530296+3Final
CF Montréalǂ41876523230Final
New England Revolution1200216–5Preliminary round
New York City FC1420268–2Quarter-finals
New York Red Bulls5228862719+8Semi-finals
Portland Timbers285122213+9Group stage
Real Salt Lake32211653422+12Final
San Jose Earthquakes1622264+2Quarter-finals
Seattle Sounders FC638167155854+4Semi-finals
Sporting Kansas City4209473130+1Semi-finals
Toronto FCǂ6341410104645+1Final
Vancouver Whitecaps FCǂ2126241612+4Semi-finals

ǂ – teams representing Canada
* – team folded
Apps – CCL appearances
GP – games played
W, D, L – win, draw, loss

GF, GA – goals for, goals against

Team (# of participation) 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 2018 2019 2020
Toronto FC (6) • PR GS SF GS • F R16 •
Seattle Sounders FC (6) • GS QF SF • QF • QF • R16
LA Galaxy (5) • PR QF SF QF • QF •
Houston Dynamo FC (5) QF GS • QF GS • QF •
New York Red Bulls (5) • PR • GS • QF SF QF •
DC United (4) GS GS • QF QF •
CF Montréal (4) QF • GS F • QF
Sporting Kansas City (4) • QF GS • GS • SF •
FC Dallas (3) • GS • SF R16 •
Real Salt Lake (3) • F • GS • QF •
Atlanta United FC (2) Did Not Exist • QF QF
Colorado Rapids (2) • GS • R16 •
Columbus Crew SC (2) • QF QF •
Portland Timbers (2) • GS • GS •
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2) • GS SF •
Chivas USA (1) PR • Team Dissolved
Los Angeles FC (1) Did Not Exist • F
New England Revolution (1) PR •
New York City FC (1) Did Not Exist • QF
San Jose Earthquakes (1) • QF •

Records

Biggest win: 6 goals margin
Portland Timbers 6–0 Alpha United (2014–15 Group stage)

Biggest defeat: 5 goals margin
Santos Laguna 6–1 Seattle Sounders FC (2011–12 Quarter-finals, first leg)
Monterrey 5–0 Sporting Kansas City (2019 Semi-finals, first leg)

Other continental competitions

MLS teams have participated in other continental competitions.

Copa Sudamericana
Main article: Copa Sudamericana
  • 2005 — D.C. United played in the Round of 16, where they lost 3–4 in aggregate over two legs (1–1, 2–3) to Chile's Universidad Católica.
  • 2007 — D.C. United played in the Round of 16, where they lost 2–2 on aggregate on away goals (2–1, 0–1) to Mexico's Guadalajara.

See also

References
  1. "The Throw-In: Real Salt Lake's Champions League run? For MLS' sake, forget it ever happened", MLS Soccer, March 20, 2014.
  2. "TFC suffers heartbreak on penalties in CONCACAF Champions League final". CBC Sports. April 25, 2018.
  3. "CONCACAF Champions League is Different, but Will MLS's Fortunes Change at All?", Sports Illustrated, February 20, 2018.
  4. "It’s MLS vs. Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals", Washington Post, Steven Goff, October 22, 2015.
  5. "CCL Match Recap: Seattle Sounders 3, Tigres UANL 1", MLS Soccer, March 13, 2013.
  6. "Montreal's epic moment caps CONCACAF Champions League QFs", ESPN FC, Arch Bell, March 6, 2015.
  7. "There's no longer a big gap in the level of play between Mexico's Liga MX and MLS, Donovan says", L.A. Times, Kevin Baxter, March 17, 2018.
  8. "CONCACAF Champions League will benefit from MLS wins over Liga MX", ESPN, Tom Marshall, March 15, 2018.
  9. "Q&A: Club Index for 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League Draw". www.concacafchampionsleague.com. November 29, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  10. "CONCACAF announces draw procedure for 2018 Champions League", MLS Soccer, November 29, 2017.
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