~Soccer Thread~

[Brutus Buckeye]

2021 Concacaf Champions League Final

Monterrey beats America 1-0

Fwiw, they advance to the Fifa Club World Cup with the Champions League winners from the other Continents, which begins in December.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_FIFA_Club_World_Cup

[TyphonInc]

As a Crew fan it's frustrating to see how slim their hopes are of defending the Cup.
I'm rooting for a Crew win this Sunday to get the club to .500 (A win gets them to 13-13-8)

If Crew can win and can get DC, and Montreal and Atlanta, (or New York) all to stumble the good guys can sneak into the playoffs. Let's Go Crew!

[Brutus Buckeye]

2022 Concacaf Champions League 

Canada will have two teams for probably the first time ever, as Forge FC has officially gotten far enough in the 2021 Concacaf League Tournament to qualify for Champions League. 



Kind of amazing that in their third year as a team/league, that they can hang with the best of the best that Central America has to offer. But they did. 

Canada's Primary Champions League spot hasn't been decided yet, but will most likely come down to Toronto vs Montreal once again. Forge can't win the Voyageurs Cup because they were eliminated by Montreal on Penalty Kicks on Oct 27 in the Semifinals. The other Canadian Championship semifinal is tomorrow (Nov 3) between Toronto and Pacific. So the Final will be Montreal vs the Toronto-Pacific winner on a date yet to be determined.

[Brutus Buckeye]

2022 Concacaf Champions League

The entire field has been finalized, other than the MLS

Caribbean

• Cavalry (Haiti)

Central America

• Saprissa (Costa Rica)
• Santos De Guapiles (Costa Rica)
• Guastatoya (Guatemala)
• Comunicaciones (Guatemala)
• Motagua (Honduras)

North America
Mexico

• Leon
• Cruz Azul
• UNAM
• Santos Laguna

Canada

• Forge FC (CPL)
• Voyageurs Cup: Toronto-Montreal winner

USA

• Supporters Shield: New England Revolution
• MLS Cup:
• West Champion:
• US Open Cup Highest Remaining:

[Brutus Buckeye]

MLS 

Every team has one match to go, and they will all be on Sunday





Unfortunately for myself and @TyphonInc the Columbus Crew are all but eliminated at this point. Just for fun I looked up what they need to have happen, and it is quite a bit. 


If the Red Bulls — who currently hold the final playoff spot — lose Sunday at Nashville and the Crew beat Chicago, both teams are tied at 47 points. The first tiebreaker is total wins, which both teams would be tied at 13. The next tiebreaker is goal differential, where the Red Bulls currently have a seven-goal advantage.
The Crew have already scored more goals that the Red Bulls this season — which is the third tiebreaker. So, the Crew need to beat Chicago, and the Red Bulls must lose to Nashville, by a combined seven goals or more in order for the Crew to surpass Red Bulls.
If that somehow happens, the Crew needs Montreal to lose or draw against sixth-place Orlando, as well as a draw or a loss from D.C. United (44 points) at 13th-place Toronto FC.


So on the bright side the final game of the season is a home game against their oldest rival the Chicago Fire. 

Savor it. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

MLS West 

As far as who can win the west, Seattle has Vancouver, a win and they get the #1 seed. If they lose or draw then that potentially opens the door for either Colorado, who plays LAFC, or Kansas City, who plays Salt Lake. 

Of course there could be a tie between any of the two or all three, in which case... wait and see. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Concacaf Champions League

while I was poking around for the 2022 qualifiers, I stumbled across some interesting news. In 2024 the field will expand from 16 clubs to 27.

5 clubs will get an opening round bye

• Liga MX Champion (Mexico)
• MLS Cup Champion (USA/Canada)
• Leagues Cup Champion (Field will be expanded to include the entirety of both MLS and Liga MX)
• Central American Cup Champion (Replaces Concacaf League Tournament)
• Caribbean Cup Champion

The 22 teams that play in the opening round will be selected as follows

• 5 Liga MX clubs: teams 2-6
• 4 MLS clubs: teams 2-5
• US Open Cup Champion
• Canadian Voyageurs Cup Champion
• Top 2 Canadian Premier League clubs
• 5 Central American clubs: teams 2-6 in their Tournament
• 2 Caribbean clubs: teams 2 and 3 in their Tournament

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_CONCACAF_Champions_League

Noteworthy

• the MLS qualifiers no longer exclude the Canadian Clubs
• the CPL is apparently ahead of the USL in prestige, as they get two auto bids with a possible 3rd club, while the USL can only qualify 1 club through the US Open Cup, which is highly unlikely.
• This is not necessarily good news for the USA, as the Canadian clubs could theoretically occupy 3 of the top 5 MLS spots, which means that the USA is only guaranteed 3 spots; one of which could theoretically be occupied by a USL club through the US Open Cup.
• On the flip side, the USA could have a maximum of 7 clubs, all MLS, if they also win the Leagues Cup.

[ELA]

Looks like USMNT is going to be at full health for this next cycle, which is going to go a long way towards whether they qualify.  Home match vs. Mexico, then playing a down Jamaica squad, which has been solid for the past 8 or so years, in Kingston.  Need to get 4 points here.

[rolltidefan]

Looks like USMNT is going to be at full health for this next cycle, which is going to go a long way towards whether they qualify.  Home match vs. Mexico, then playing a down Jamaica squad, which has been solid for the past 8 or so years, in Kingston.  Need to get 4 points here.

still missing reyna to injury and pulisic is just back from injury with very little game action prior to the break. he could be rusty still. also, dest was a late scrap with minor back issues. and brooks not called in but for form not injury.

having said that, we need to get used to 1-2 players missing cause that's be the norm for virtually everyone. almost noone has everyone available all the time.

still a good roster that should get 3-6 points this window. hope pepi doesn't get hurt cause he's all we got up front and center.

[Brutus Buckeye]

The Crew extinguish the Fire with their fire hose. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

2022 Concacaf Champions League

The entire field has been finalized, other than the MLS

Caribbean

• Cavalry (Haiti)

Central America

• Saprissa (Costa Rica)
• Santos De Guapiles (Costa Rica)
• Guastatoya (Guatemala)
• Comunicaciones (Guatemala)
• Motagua (Honduras)

North America
Mexico

• Leon
• Cruz Azul
• UNAM
• Santos Laguna

Canada

• Forge FC (CPL)
• Voyageurs Cup: Toronto-Montreal winner

USA

• Supporters Shield: New England Revolution
• MLS Cup:
• West Champion: Colorado Rapids
• US Open Cup Highest Remaining: Seattle Sounders

Two more MLS spots were settled today, in red; Colorado and Seattle.

Kansas City is in the cat bird seat as the highest remaining club, so they nab USA spot 4 if the MLS Cup is won by them, New England, Colorado, Seattle or Vancouver. 

MLS Cup Bracket

[rolltidefan]

so... mexico... without reyna, pulisic not 100% and not starting, no brooks, no dest... i feel like i *should* feel defeated already, but i'm content. i'm not confident, but i'm not stressing over it either.

aaronson, weah, mckinnie, adams, musah, arob, mrob, pepi, scally... feel like we still have enough quality to pull it out.

[ELA]

So maybe get 2 points out of this window?  Home Mexico, at Jamaica?

Either gut out a pair of draws, or find a way to win one and get 3?

[Brutus Buckeye]