2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup

The 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup is the first season of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF.[1]

2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Tournament details
DatesPreliminary round:
15 August 2024
Competition proper:
20 August 2024 – 25 May 2025
TeamsCompetition proper: 10
Total: 11 (from 7 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played20
Goals scored92 (4.6 per match)
Top scorer(s)Portugal Ana Dias
Mexico María Sánchez
(4 goals each)
All statistics correct as of 17 October 2024.

Format

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On 12 March 2024, CONCACAF announced the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. The tournament will feature eleven teams from seven CONCACAF member associations. The winner of a preliminary round match between a club from Canada and El Salvador will join the remaining nine teams in the group stage. In the group stage, teams will be split into two groups of five teams. Teams will face each other in a single round-robin format, with each team playing two matches at home and two matches away in August, September and October 2024. The top two clubs from each group will advance to the knockout stage, played at a centralized location in May 2025. The knockout stage will feature semi-finals, a third place play-off and a final to determine the champions of the competition. The tournament is intended to provide a pathway for a future FIFA Women's Club World Cup which FIFA has committed to launching in the future.[1][2]

Tiebreakers

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Teams in the group stage are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[3]

  1. Goal difference in all group matches;
  2. Goals scored in all group matches;
  3. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  4. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  5. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  6. Lower number of disciplinary points (single yellow card = 1 point, double yellow card = 3 points, direct red card = 4 points, direct red card after single yellow card = 5 points);
  7. Drawing of lots.

Association team allocation

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CONCACAF allocated spots to seven of their member associations, based on eligibility criteria. Each association has one spot in the tournament, with the exception of Mexico and the United States, which have three.[1]

Distribution

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The following is the access list for the 2024–25 season.[1]

Access list for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Round Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round
(2 teams)
  • 1 team from Canada
  • 1 team from El Salvador
Group stage
(10 teams)
  • 1 team from Costa Rica
  • 1 team from Jamaica
  • 3 teams from Mexico
  • 1 team from Panama
  • 3 teams from the United States
  • 1 winner from the preliminary round
Knockout phase
(4 teams)
  • 2 group winners from the group stage
  • 2 group runners-up from the group stage

Teams

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Teams will qualify through their domestic leagues based on sporting merit. The qualification criteria, confirmed on 24 April 2024,[4] were proposed by each member association and ratified by CONCACAF.[1]

Qualified teams for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Association Team Qualification method
Teams entering in group stage
  Costa Rica
(1 berth)
Alajuelense 2023 Costa Rican Women's Premier Division Apertura [es] and Clausura [es] champions
  Jamaica
(1 berth)
Frazsiers Whip 2022–23 Jamaica Women's Premier League champions
  Mexico
(3 berths)
UANL 2023 Liga MX Femenil Apertura champions
Monterrey 2024 Liga MX Femenil Clausura champions
América Best runner-up of the 2023–24 Liga MX Femenil season based on accumulated points during the regular phase
  Panama
(1 berth)
Santa Fe Liga de Fútbol Femenino Apertura 2024 [es] champions
  United States
(3 berths)
NJ/NY Gotham FC 2023 National Women's Soccer League champions
San Diego Wave FC 2023 National Women's Soccer League Shield winners
Portland Thorns FC 2023 National Women's Soccer League Shield runners-up
Teams entering in preliminary round
  Canada
(1 berth)
Whitecaps FC Girls Elite 2023 League1 Canada Inter-Provincial Championship champions
  El Salvador
(1 berth)
Alianza 2023–24 Primera División Femenina de El Salvador Apertura–Clausura play-off winners

Seeding

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The pots were confirmed on 7 May 2024, with the qualifying teams being split into six pots of two teams.[5]

Pot Team
1   Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
  Alianza
2   NJ/NY Gotham FC
  San Diego Wave FC
3   Portland Thorns FC
  UANL
4   América
  Monterrey
5   Alajuelense
  Santa Fe
6   Frazsiers Whip
Preliminary round winner

Draw

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The draw for the group stage was held on 6 June 2024 at 20:00 EDT (UTC−4).[2][5][6] A team was randomly drawn from Pot 1, consisting of the two Preliminary Round teams, to determine the host of the Preliminary Round match. Then, the ten Group Stage teams (the nine direct qualifiers for the Group Stage plus the as-then-unknown winner of the Preliminary Round) were drawn into two groups of five. The Group Stage draw began by randomly selecting a team from Pot 2 and placing them into Group A and then selecting the remaining team from Pot 2 and placing them into Group B. The Group Stage draw continued with the same procedure done for the remaining pots.

Schedule

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The schedule of the competition is as follows.[2]

Schedule for 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup
Phase Round Match date
Qualifying Preliminary round 13–15 August 2024
Group stage Matchday 1 20–22 August 2024
Matchday 2 2–5 September 2024
Matchday 3 17–19 September 2024
Matchday 4 1–3 October 2024
Matchday 5 15–17 October 2024
Knockout stage Semi-finals 22 May 2025
Third place play-off 25 May 2025
Final

Preliminary round

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The qualified teams from Canada and El Salvador will participate in the preliminary round, with the winner joining the remaining nine teams in the group stage.[6]

Alianza  0–1  Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
Report
  • Wong   25' (pen.)

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TUA NYJ MON LDA FRA
1   UANL 4 3 1 0 18 6 +12 10 Advance to knockout stage 4–0 3–1
2   NJ/NY Gotham FC 4 2 2 0 21 4 +17 8 4–4 0–0
3   Monterrey 4 2 1 1 8 4 +4 7 3–0 5–0
4   Alajuelense 4 1 0 3 6 10 −4 3 0–4 5–0
5   Frazsiers Whip 4 0 0 4 1 30 −29 0 1–7 0–13
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Alajuelense  5–0  Frazsiers Whip
Report
Referee: Karen Hernández (Mexico)
UANL  4–0  Monterrey
Report

Alajuelense  0–4  NJ/NY Gotham FC
Report
Monterrey  5–0  Frazsiers Whip
Report
Referee: Deily Gomez (Costa Rica)

Frazsiers Whip  1–7  UANL
Report
NJ/NY Gotham FC  0–0  Monterrey
Report
Referee: Odette Hamilton (Jamaica)

Frazsiers Whip  0–13  NJ/NY Gotham FC
Report
Referee: Amairany Garcìa (Mexico)
UANL  3–1  Alajuelense
Report

NJ/NY Gotham FC  4–4  UANL
Report
Referee: Astrid Gramajo (Guatemala)
Monterrey  3–0  Alajuelense
Report

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AME POR SDW WFC SFE
1   América 4 3 0 1 14 3 +11 9 Advance to knockout stage 7–0 5–0
2   Portland Thorns FC 4 3 0 1 13 5 +8 9 3–1 2–1
3   San Diego Wave FC 4 3 0 1 7 3 +4 9 0–1 3–2
4   Whitecaps FC Girls Elite 4 1 0 3 2 16 −14 3 0–6 0–2
5   Santa Fe 4 0 0 4 2 11 −9 0 0–2 1–2
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Santa Fe  0–2  San Diego Wave FC
Report
Attendance: 2,093
Referee: Astrid Gramajo (Guatemala)
América  7–0  Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
Report

Santa Fe  1–2  Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
Murillo   85' (pen.) Report
Referee: Priscila Pérez (Mexico)
Portland Thorns FC  3–1  América
Report Guerrero   53'
Referee: Myriam Marcotte (Canada)

San Diego Wave FC  3–2  Portland Thorns FC
Report
Referee: Merlin Soto (Honduras)
América  5–0  Santa Fe
Report

Whitecaps FC Girls Elite  0–2  San Diego Wave FC
Report
Referee: Aranza Quero (Mexico)
Portland Thorns FC  2–1  Santa Fe
Report Márquez   82'
Referee: Carly Shaw-MacLaren (Canada)

Whitecaps FC Girls Elite  0–6  Portland Thorns FC
Report
Referee: Francia González (Mexico)

Knockout stage

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In the knockout stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
22 May – TBD
 
 
  UANL
 
25 May – TBD
 
  Portland Thorns FC
 
Winner semi-final 1
 
22 May – TBD
 
Winner semi-final 2
 
  América
 
 
  NJ/NY Gotham FC
 
Third place play-off
 
 
25 May – TBD
 
 
Loser semi-final 1
 
 
Loser semi-final 2

Semi-finals

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The semi-finals, third place play-off, and final will be played at a common venue to be determined.

UANL  Semi-final 1  Portland Thorns FC

América  Semi-final 2  NJ/NY Gotham FC

Third place play-off

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Loser semi-final 1vLoser semi-final 2

Final

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Winner semi-final 1vWinner semi-final 2

Goalscorers

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Rank Player Team Goals[7]
1   Ana Dias   Tigres UANL 4
  María Sánchez   San Diego Wave FC
3   Izzy D'Aquila   Portland Thorns FC 3
  Lucía García   Monterrey
  Sarah Luebbert   América
  Stephany Mayor   Tigres UANL
  Kiana Palacios   América
  Yazmeen Ryan   NJ/NY Gotham FC
  Christine Sinclair   Portland Thorns FC
  Lynn Williams   NJ/NY Gotham FC

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "CONCACAF launches region's first official women's continental club competition with annual W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "2024/25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup Draw Scheduled for June 6; match-dates confirmed". CONCACAF. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  3. ^ "2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup Regulations" (PDF). CONCACAF. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  4. ^ "CONCACAF announces qualification criteria for Confederation's 2024/25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b "2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup official draw details announced". CONCACAF. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Draw delivers groups for inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup". CONCACAF. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Stats". CONCACAF. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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