CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) conducted the draw for the 2015/16 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League (SCCL) at the New World Symphony Center on Miami Beach, sorting the 24 participating clubs into eight groups of three for the eighth edition of the continental championship in its current format.
Reigning Champion Club America of Mexico, which captured their sixth CONCACAF Club title in April by defeating Montreal Impact of Canada, headlines Group E.
Finalists in 2011, Real Salt Lake open their third appearance in the CCL in Group G.
Winners of Mexico’s Clausura competition Santos Laguna, were drawn in Group A.
Caribbean Football Union Club Champions Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago headline Group D
CS Herediano, champion of the Costa Rican Summer Tournament and a semi-finalist in the 2014/15 edition of the Champions League, will compete in Group B.
The groups will be contested on a round-robin, home-and-away, four-game format, running August – October. Only the eight first-place teams will progress to the quarterfinals, which will kick-off in early 2016.
The full schedule for the group stage will be announced in the coming weeks.
The groups for the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League, in order of position drawn, are as follows:
Group A: W Connection (Trinidad & Tobago), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), Santos Laguna (Mexico)
Group B: Isidro Metapán (El Salvador), CS Herediano (Costa Rica), Tigres (Mexico)
Group C: Verdes FC (Belize), San Francisco FC (Panama), Queretaro FC (Mexico)
Group D: Central FC (Trinidad & Tobago), CSD Comunicaciones (Guatemala), LA Galaxy (USA)
Group E: CD Walter Ferretti (Nicaragua), CD Motagua (Honduras), Club America (Mexico)
Group F: Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Canada), CD Olimpia (Honduras), Seattle Sounders FC (USA)
Group G: Santa Tecla FC (El Salvador), CSD Municipal (Guatemala), Real Salt Lake (USA)
Group H: Montego Bay United (Jamaica), Arabe Unido (Panama), D.C. United (USA)
It was a good night for the sport, especially after the recent happenings surrounding FIFA. It was just 36 hours ago when media were questioning Ted Howard about CONCACAF and its financials and yesterday Sepp Blatter announces he’ll be stepping down. The list of possible replacements included none other than Ted Howard. Everyone will be following football closely over the next 6 months and we in the USA will be celebrating what’s been dubbed the “summer of soccer”. The Women’s World Cup is being hosted by our neighbors to the North (Canada) and the USA will be hosting 2 major tournaments including the CONCACAF Gold Cup and International Champions Cup.
-KA Evelyn & Andrea Abril