By Canadian Press

Whitecaps to face Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in CONCACAF Champions Cup

Dec 10, 2024 | 5:37 PM

The Vancouver Whitecaps were drawn on Tuesday to face Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, while the Canadian Premier League’s Cavalry FC and Forge FC were paired with tough Mexican opposition in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Calgary’s Cavalry will face Pumas UNAM, while Hamilton’s Forge takes on Monterrey.

Pumas, which currently stands fourth in the Liga MX standings, has won CONCACAF’s elite club competition three times (1980, ’82 and ’89) while Monterrey, fifth in Liga MX, has lifted the trophy five times (2011, ’12, ’13, ’19 and ’21).

“Pumas is one of the biggest clubs in Mexico with a terrific and storied history,” Cavalry coach and GM Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said in a statement. “That’s exactly what this tournament is all about, to put yourself in against the very best of CONCACAF. We are excited for the opportunity to play against them.”

In Saprissa, the Whitecaps meet the last non-Mexican and American team to win the competition (in 2005, also in 1993 and ’95).

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The three Canadian clubs find themselves in the bottom of one half of the tournament draw, meaning only one can make it as far as the semifinal. Vancouver and Forge could meet in the round of 16.

The first round kicks off in February, with the round of 16 in March, the quarterfinals and semifinals in April and the final on June 1.

Tuesday’s draw was held in Miami with former Mexican international Oribe Peralta and U.S international Jonathan Bornstein as draw assistants with TV personality Lindsay Casinelli hosting.

The 60th edition of CONCACAF’s elite club competition features seven-time tournament winner Club America as well as eight more former Champions Cup winners.

The Whitecaps qualified by virtue of winning the Canadian Championship while Calvary booked its ticket by winning the CPL championship and Forge by finishing atop the CPL regular season-standings.

All three Canadian sides also took part in the 2024 competition, losing in the first round. Vancouver was beaten by Tigres UANL, while Cavalry fell to Orlando City and Forge to Guadalajara. Due to the Alberta winter, Cavalry played its 2024 home leg in Langford, B.C.

Mexico’s Pachuca won the 2024 tournament, defeating the Columbus Crew 3-0 in the final.

Twenty-seven clubs are entered in the tournament, which covers five rounds. The first four rounds (first round, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals) feature home-and-away play with the final a single-leg match.

CONCACAF’s three regional cup winners — Columbus (Leagues Cup), Costa Rica’s Alajuelense (Central American Cup) and Jamaica’s Cavalier FC (Caribbean Cup) — and Liga MX champion Club America and MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy received a bye to the round of 16.

The Vancouver-Saprissa winner will meet either Forge or Monterrey in the round of 16. The Cavalry-Pumas winner takes on Alajuelense, which won the tournament in 1986 and ’04)

Mexico’s Monterrey, Tigres UANL and Cruz Azul were seeded in the first round as the three highest-ranked clubs,

The other 19 teams were placed into two pots for the draw with Vancouver in Pot 1, which featured the top clubs among those remaining, along with Los Angeles FC, Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders, FC Cincinnati and Real Salt Lake and Mexico’s Pumas UNAM and CD Guadalajara.

Cavalry and Forge were in Pot 2, which contained the 11 lowest-ranked clubs, along with the Colorado Rapids, Sporting Kansas City, Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa and CS Herediano, Honduras’ FC Motagua, Guatemala’s Antigua GFC, Nicaragua’s Real Estelí FC, the Dominican Republic’s Cibao FC, and Haiti’s Real Hope FA.

Toronto FC and Montreal have both made it as far as the final in the past, with Toronto losing to Mexico’s Guadalajara in a penalty shootout in 2018 and Montreal beaten by Club America in 2014-15.

In addition to crowning the confederation club champion, the CONCACAF Champions Cup is the sole path through which clubs in North and Central America and the Caribbean can qualify for the expanded 32-club FIFA Club World Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

First Round

Los Angeles FC (U.S.) vs. Colorado Rapids (U.S.), Inter Miami CF (U.SA) vs. Sporting Kansas City (U.S.), CF Monterrey (Mexico) vs. Forge FC (Canada), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Canada) vs. Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), Pumas UNAM (Mexico) vs. Cavalry FC (Canada), CD Guadalajara (Mexico) vs. Cibao FC (Dominican Republic), Cruz Azul (Mexico) vs. Real Hope FA (Haiti), Seattle Sounders FC (U.S.) vs. Antigua GFC (Guatemala), Tigres UANL (Mexico) vs. Real Estelí FC (Nicaragua), FC Cincinnati (U.S.) vs. FC Motagua (Honduras), Real Salt Lake (U.S.) vs. CS Herediano (Costa Rica).

CONCACAF Champions Cup Entries

How They Got Here

Canadian Championship (1): Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Canada).

Canadian Premier League (2): Cavalry FC (CAN) and Forge FC (Canada).

CONCACAF Caribbean Cup (3): Cavalier FC (Jamaica), Cibao FC (Dominican Republic) and Real Hope FA (Haiti).

CONCACAF Central American Cup (6): Antigua GFC (Guatemala), CS Herediano (Costa Rica), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), FC Motagua (Honduras), LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica) and Real Estelí FC (Nicaragua).

Leagues Cup (3): Colorado Rapids (U.S.), Columbus Crew (U.S.), and Los Angeles FC (U.S.).

Liga MX (6): CD Guadalajara, CF Monterrey, Club America, Cruz Azul, Pumas UNAM and Tigres UANL (all Mexico).

MLS (5): FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF, Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders FC (all U.S.).

U.S. Open Cup (1): Sporting Kansas City (U.S.).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press