| Tourney Name: | CONCACAF Champions League |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Other Titles: | 2021 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League |
| Size: | 250px |
| Caption: | Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe hosted the final |
| Dates: | 6 April – 28 October |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Associations: | 8 |
| Champion Other: | Monterrey |
| Count: | 5 |
| Second Other: | América |
| Matches: | 29 |
| Goals: | 79 |
| Top Scorer: |  Kacper Przybyłko |
| Player: |  Rogelio Funes Mori |
| Goalkeeper: | Guillermo Ochoa |
| Young Player: | Federico Viñas |
| Fair Play: | Monterrey |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2021 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 56th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[1]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament, which usually starts in mid-February each year, was started in April, and concluded with the final in October, which was played as a single-leg match hosted by the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds.[2]
Mexican club Tigres UANL were the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title. Monterrey, also from Mexico, won their fifth CONCACAF Champions League title, defeating fellow Mexican club América in the final to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.
A total of 16 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League:
9 teams (from three associations)
1 team (from one association)
Therefore, teams from between 6 and 10 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The nine direct berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU), which consisted of three member associations, were allocated as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.
For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. For the Apertura tournament, the playoff winners and runners-up qualified, while for the Clausura tournament, no playoffs were held due to the league's suspension; the two highest ranked teams in the regular season at the time of suspension instead qualified. If there were any teams which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.
For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, two through the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and two through its domestic cup competitions:
If there were any teams which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, or conference regular season (not applicable for 2021 CONCACAF Champions League), the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record not yet qualified.
For Canada, the champions of the Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awarded the Voyageurs Cup, were originally set to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. However, the final between Forge FC, champions of the Canadian Premier League, and Toronto FC could not be scheduled in time for the start of the tournament, and so it was then agreed upon that Toronto FC would be Canada's representative. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. Moreover, the champions of the Canadian Premier League qualified for the CONCACAF League, meaning a second team from Canada (and a tenth team from North America) could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consisted of seven member associations, had to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the CONCACAF League. A total of 18 teams from Central America qualified for the CONCACAF League through their domestic leagues. As all but four teams in the CONCACAF League were from Central America, between two and six teams from Central America could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consisted of 31 member associations, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League either as champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament, or through the CONCACAF League. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship had been open to teams from professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season.[3]
Another three teams from the Caribbean qualified for the CONCACAF League, which were 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, the second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament which was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season. Therefore, between one and four teams from the Caribbean could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Besides the ten direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 22 teams (1 from North America, 18 from Central America, and 3 from the Caribbean) qualified for the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from July to November prior to the CONCACAF Champions League.[4] The top six teams of the CONCACAF League (champions, runners-up, both losing semi-finalists and two play-in round winners) qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.
The following 16 teams (from eight associations) qualified for the tournament.
9 teams (from three associations)
5 teams (from three associations), all of them qualified through the 2020 CONCACAF League
2 teams (from two associations), one of them qualified through the 2020 CONCACAF League
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 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
| width=15% | Association | width=15% | Team | width=48% | Qualifying method | width=8% | width=14% | Previous best | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterrey | 2019 Apertura champions | 6th | Champions | ||||||
| Cruz Azul | 2020 Clausura regular season first place at time of suspension | 7th | Champions | ||||||
| América | 2019 Apertura runners-up | 6th | Champions | ||||||
| León | 2020 Clausura regular season second place at time of suspension | 3rd | Round of 16 | ||||||
| Columbus Crew SC | 2020 MLS Cup champions | 3rd | Quarter-finals | ||||||
| Philadelphia Union | 2020 MLS Supporters' Shield champions | 1st | Debut | ||||||
| Portland Timbers | MLS is Back Tournament champions | 3rd | Group stage | ||||||
| Atlanta United FC | 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions | 3rd | Quarter-finals | ||||||
| Toronto FC | 2020 Canadian Championship finalists | 7th | Runners-up | ||||||
| Atlético Pantoja | Best ranked team of 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship group stage | 2nd | Round of 16 |
| width=15% | Association | width=15% | Team | width=48% | Qualifying method | width=8% | width=14% | Previous best | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alajuelense | 2020 CONCACAF League champions (1st overall) | 6th | Semi-finals | ||||||
| Saprissa | 2020 CONCACAF League runners-up (2nd overall) | 10th | Semi-finals | ||||||
| Olimpia | 2020 CONCACAF League better ranked losing semi-finalists (3rd overall) | 12th | Semi-finals | ||||||
| Marathón | 2020 CONCACAF League worse ranked play-in round winners (6th overall) | 6th | Quarter-finals | ||||||
| Arcahaie | 2020 CONCACAF League worse ranked losing semi-finalists (4th overall) | 1st | Debut | ||||||
| Real Estelí | 2020 CONCACAF League better ranked play-in round winners (5th overall) | 7th | Group stage |
The draw for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 10 February 2021, 19:00 EST (UTC−5), at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, United States.[2] [5]
The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" (Pot A and Pot B) contained the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 were assigned a bracket position from Pot A and the teams from Pot 2 were assigned a bracket position from Pot B. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replaced a team from another association.
The seeding of teams were 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 had 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:
The slots were assigned by the following rules:
The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:[6]
| Pot | Rank | Slot | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Total | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pot 1 | 1 | 120 | Cruz Azul | ||||||
| 2 | 103 | Monterrey | |||||||
| 3 | 92 | América | |||||||
| 4 | 75 | Portland Timbers | |||||||
| 5 | 66 | Toronto FC | |||||||
| 6 | 65 | Philadelphia Union | |||||||
| 7 | 53 | Columbus Crew SC | |||||||
| 8 | 52 | Atlanta United FC | |||||||
| Pot 2 | 9 | 48 | León | ||||||
| 10 | 39 | Saprissa | |||||||
| 11 | 0 | 38 | Marathón | ||||||
| 12 | 36 | Alajuelense | |||||||
| 13 | 35 | Olimpia | |||||||
| 14 | 25 | Atlético Pantoja | |||||||
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Real Estelí | ||||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Arcahaie |
In the CONCACAF Champions League, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which is played as a single-leg match.
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[2] [5]
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | 6–8 April 2021 | 13–15 April 2021 |
| Quarter-finals | 27–28 April 2021 | 4–5 May 2021 |
| Semi-finals | 11–12 August 2021 | 15–16 September 2021 (originally 24–26 August 2021) |
| Final | 28 October 2021 |
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.
The first legs were played on 6–8 April, and the second legs were played on 13–15 April 2021.[7]
|}
Cruz Azul won 8–0 on aggregate.----Toronto FC won 3–2 on aggregate.----Monterrey won 6–1 on aggregate.----Columbus Crew SC won 5–0 on aggregate.----Philadelphia Union won 5–0 on aggregate.----Atlanta United FC won 2–0 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate. América won on away goals.----Portland Timbers won 7–2 on aggregate.
In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:
The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5 and 7 hosted the second leg.
The first legs were played on 27–28 April, and the second legs were played on 4–5 May 2021.[8]
|}
Cruz Azul won 4–1 on aggregate.----Monterrey won 5–2 on aggregate.----Philadelphia Union won 4–1 on aggregate.----América won 4–2 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:
The semi-finalists in each tie which had the better performance in previous rounds hosted the second leg.
The first legs were played on 11–12 August, and the second legs were played on 15–16 September 2021.[9]
|}
Monterrey won 5–1 on aggregate.----América won 4–0 on aggregate.
See main article: 2021 CONCACAF Champions League final. In the final (Winners of SF1 vs. Winners of SF2), the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds hosted the single-leg match.
The match was played on 28 October 2021.
| Rank | Player | Club | By round | Total goals[10] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kacper Przybyłko | Philadelphia Union | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 2 |  Bryan Angulo | Cruz Azul | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||
 Maximiliano Meza | Monterrey | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 4 |  Yimmi Chará | Portland Timbers | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Rogelio Funes Mori | Monterrey | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| Federico Viñas | América | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| 7 | José Alvarado | Monterrey | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
 Anthony Fontana | Philadelphia Union | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Vincent Janssen | Monterrey | 1 | 1 | |||||||
 Jamiro Monteiro | Philadelphia Union | 2 | ||||||||
| Walter Montoya | Cruz Azul | 2 | ||||||||
| Felipe Mora | Portland Timbers | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Fernando Navarro | León | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Diego Valeri | Portland Timbers | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Gyasi Zardes | Columbus Crew SC | 2 | ||||||||
| Award | Player | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball[11] | Rogelio Funes Mori | Monterrey | |
| Golden Boot[12] | Kacper Przybyłko | Philadelphia Union | |
| Golden Glove[13] | Guillermo Ochoa | América | |
| Best Young Player[14] | Federico Viñas | América | |
| Fair Play Award[15] | — | Monterrey |
| Position | Player | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guillermo Ochoa | América | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | Jesús Gallardo | Monterrey | |
| Sebastián Vegas | Monterrey | ||
| Richard Sánchez | América | ||
| align=center rowspan=4 | Jamiro Monteiro | Philadelphia Union | |
 Álvaro Fidalgo | América | ||
| Maximiliano Meza | Monterrey | ||
| Federico Viñas | América | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | Walter Montoya | Cruz Azul | |
| Rogelio Funes Mori | Monterrey | ||
| Kacper Przybyłko | Philadelphia Union |