The draw for the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League is set for December 18 in Miami and CONCACAF has now unveiled its new slot allocation ranking for positioning in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League (SCCL) draw. The allocation ranking has determined the seeding of clubs for the upcoming edition of the SCCL.

Here are some questions and answers to help shed light on the new structure:

What is the basis for the seeding of each club?
Clubs qualify for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League based on criteria set by the respective Member Associations (i.e. tournament champion, runner-up, Cup champion, etc.).  The specific method of qualification for each club results in an assigned slot to each qualified club (i.e. CRC 1, CRC 2, etc.), which is used as the basis for the draw’s seeding.

What are the rankings based on?
The system does not rank individual clubs, but is based on the on-field performance of the various clubs of the same Member Association that have occupied those respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the competition.

For example, each year U.S. Soccer qualifies four clubs to the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.  The 2016 MLS champion Seattle Sounders FC — per the competition regulations — will be assigned slot USA1.  The total points awarded to USA1 (shown in the table below) are not therefore those obtained by Seattle Sounders FC in its previous appearances in the Champions League, but rather those obtained by the last five USA clubs that qualified for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League as the MLS Cup champion, and were therefore assigned the slot USA1.

How are points awarded in the Index?
To determine the total points awarded to a Member Association’s slot(s) (i.e. CRC 1) in any single edition of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions league, CONCACAF utilizes the following formula:

Total Points

=

3 Points per win

+

1 Point per tie

+

1 Point per stage advanced

+

4 Points for Participating

+

2 Points for winning the competition

How does the draw work based on the Index?
For the upcoming draw, the eight top-ranked participating clubs will be seeded into Pot 1 of the two “Club Pots”. The other eight clubs will be placed in Pot 2.

Each first round pairing will feature one team from each pot. Additionally, clubs from the same Member Association cannot face each other in the first round.

2018 CONCACAF Club Index

Pot 1	Ranking	Slot	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	Total
Pot 1	1	MEX3	11.00	29.00	32.00	23.00	15.00	110.00
	2	MEX1	16.00	22.00	11.00	33.00	27.00	109.00
	3	MEX2	27.00	10.00	16.00	20.00	30.00	103.00
	4	MEX4	35.00	29.00	9.00	18.00	10.00	101.00
	5	USA3	16.00	11.00	13.00	16.00	20.00	76.00
	6	CAN1	10.00	10.00	23.00	8.00	22.00	73.00
	7	USA1	20.00	17.00	11.00	14.00	11.00	73.00
	8	USA2	22.00	13.00	9.00	13.00	14.00	71.00

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Pot 2	Ranking	Slot	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	Total
Pot 2	9	USA4	11.00	16.00	20.00	16.00	8.00	71.00
	10	CRC1	16.00	19.00	12.00	10.00	8.00	65.00
	11	CRC2	11.00	10.00	18.00	9.00	14.00	62.00
	12	HON1	9.00	11.00	15.00	10.00	11.00	56.00
	13	PAN1	4.00	15.00	4.00	10.00	20.00	53.00
	14	SLV1	4.00	8.00	4.00	7.00	9.00	32.00
	15	CCC1	5.00	5.00	4.00	8.00	5.00	27.00
	16	SCL1	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

2018 Member Association Slot Allocations and Qualification Method
*Listed In alphabetical order by Member Association

Country	Slot	Qualification Method	Club
CAN	CAN1	2016 and 2017 Canadian Cup Champion	Toronto FC
CCC	CCC1	2017 Caribbean Club Championship Champion	Cibao FC
CRC	CRC1	Overall winner of the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons	Deportivo Saprissa
GUA	CRC2 (1)	Second place overall of the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons	CS Herediano
HON	HON1	Overall winner of the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons	FC Motagua
MEX	MEX1	Winner of the 2016 Apertura / Second in the 2017 Clausura	Tigres UANL
MEX	MEX2	Winner of the 2017 Clausura	CD Guadalajara
MEX	MEX3	Second in the 2016 Apertura	Club America
MEX	MEX4	2016 Apertura & 2017 Clausura Non-Finalist Club with the best regular season record	Club Tijuana (2)
PAN	PAN1	Overall winner of the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons	Tauro FC
SCL	SCL1	2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League Champion	CD Olimpia
SLV	SLV1	Overall winner of the 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura seasons	Santa Tecla FC
USA	USA1	2016 MLS Cup Champion	Seattle Sounders FC
USA	USA2	2016 MLS Supporters’ Shield Champion / 2016 US Open Cup Champion	FC Dallas
USA	USA3	2016 Non-Supporters’ Shield Winning Conference Champion	New York Red Bulls
USA	USA4	2016 MLS Supporters’ Shield 2nd Place Finisher	Colorado Rapids (3)

 

A space is reserved in Champions League for the Guatemalan champion, but that Member Association is suspended. What happened with that spot?
Due to FIFA’s ongoing suspension of the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala (Guatemalan Football Federation) by FIFA, the GUA1 slot was awarded to the second-best club of Costa Rica.  This was based on the performances of Costa Rican clubs in the last five editions of the Champions League. The replacement club, Herediano, was then ranked based on the performance of the second Costa Rican entrant in the Champions League over the last five years, rather than assuming the GUA1 ranking.

What happens when a team from the United States or Mexico occupies more than one qualifying position?
Tigres UANL is the 2017 Apertura second place finisher, but already occupies a top-seeded position (MEX1), so it vacates the secondary position, which is allocated to Club Tijuana, Mexico’s non-finalist club with the best regular-season record.

How are the slots allocated?
Each Member Association with multiple entrants has a criteria for ranking its entrants.  This criteria is determined by the MA and approved by CONCACAF. For example, the U.S. ranks its slots in the following order:

USA1 = MLS Cup Champion
USA2 = MLS Supporters’ Shield winner
USA3 = Division winner in Conference opposite of MLS Supporters’ Shield winner
USA4 = US Open Cup champion

FC Dallas is the 2016 US Open Cup Champion, but already occupies a higher-seeded position (USA2), so it vacates the secondary position, which is allocated to the Colorado Rapids (2016 MLS Supporters’ Shield second place finisher).

This means that the Colorado Rapids will occupy the USA4 slot in this year’s Index.  As a result, they sit in the Index’s ninth position and will be placed into Pot 2.

Can a team from a country not represented in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League move up the rankings to play in the competition in future years?
Yes, a team can earn a berth in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League by either winning the Caribbean Club Championship or, in the case of Nicaragua and Belize, by winning the Scotiabank CONCACAF League.

How is the Scotiabank CONCACAF League champion reflected in the allocation?
The Scotiabank CONCACAF League (SCL) champion, as the last entrant into the CONCACAF Champions League, is allocated the 16th slot in the Index.  As the SCL winner accumulates points in coming seasons, those results will be taken into account in future rankings.

Will the rankings change in future years?
The ranking is a rolling average of performance over a five-year period.  Each year, the allocation slots will be updated and, if necessary, changes will be made to the pots per the ranking.