Vancouver FC drawn against Mexican giant Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup

Georgios Giakoumakis of Mexico's Cruz Azul, top right, and Ranko Veselinovic of Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps vie for the ball during the CONCACAF Champions Cup final soccer match in Mexico City, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Vancouver FC has drawn seven-time champion Cruz Azul in the first round of the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Vancouver, which will face the Mexican giant in a two-legged series in February, finished last in the Canadian Premier League at 4-15-9. But it qualified for CONCACAF’s elite club competition by making the Canadian Championship final.

While the CONCACAF berth goes to the Canadian Championship winner and Vancouver FC lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 1, the CPL side got the nod because the Whitecaps had already qualified by virtue of their finish in the MLS standings.

The Vancouver FC-Cruz Azul winner will meet either Mexico’s CF Monterrey or Guatemala’s CSD Xelajú MC in the round of 16.

Cruz Azul, which currently stands third in the Liga MX standings at 10-2-5, has faced CPL opposition before. It ousted Forge FC 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 of the 2022 tournament.

Hamilton’s Forge, the CPL’s regular-season leader, is back and will face 2020 champion Tigres UANL of Mexico. The winner will take on either the MLS’s FC Cincinnati or O&M FC from the Dominican Republic.

The Whitecaps, who lost 5-0 to Cruz Azul in the 2025 final on June 1, will play Costa Rica’s CS Cartaginés (Costa Rica), with the winner advancing to meet the Seattle Sounders in the round of 16. It’s the first tournament appearance for the Cartaginés since its 1994 debut.

CPL champion Atletico Ottawa drew Nashville SC, with the winner moving to face MLS champion Inter Miami. Nashville lost to Inter Miami in the round of 16 in 2024, in its only previous tournament appearance.

“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to test ourselves against a whole new level of opposition,” Atletico Ottawa coach Diego Mejia said in a statement. “We proved that we were the best team in the CPL this past season and have continued to raise the standard of soccer in Canada.

“I believe that this team can reach another level and we are hungry to prove ourselves against Nashville SC.”

Nashville qualified for the 2026 edition by winning the U.S. Open Cup.

Five teams in the field of 27 were given byes to the round of 16 as a reward for previous competition wins.

They are Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant (Caribbean Cup champion), Costa Rica’s Alajuelense (Central American Cup), Mexico’s Toluca (Liga MX) and Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders (Leagues Cup) and Inter Miami CF (MLS Cup).

The five will be seeded in the round-of-16 bracket based on the CONCACAF club rankings with Deportivo Toluca FC as No. 1 followed by Inter Miami, Seattle, LD Alajuelense and Mount Pleasant.

The 2026 tournament is scheduled to kick off in early February, with the round of 16 in March, quarterfinals and semifinals in April and May, leading up to the May 30 final. The first four stages are two-legged series with the final a single-leg match.

The winner secures a spot in the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, as well as collecting more than US$5 million in “financial distributions and prize money.”

Cavalry FC of Calgary made history in February when it became the first CPL club to win a Champions Cup game, defeating Pumas UNAM 2-1 in the first leg of their first-round matchup in Langley, B.C. The Mexican side rallied to move on after winning the return leg 2-0.

Forge exited in the first round, losing 5-0 on aggregate to Mexico’s Monterrey.

The Whitecaps dispatched Costa Rica’s Saprissa, Monterrey, Pumas and Inter Miami en route to the final.

It’s the 61st edition of the CONCACAF tournament, which has gone through several changes in format over the years. Cruz Azul and Club America have won the most CONCACAF titles, with seven apiece.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

Draw

First Round

Pumas UNAM (Mexico) vs. San Diego FC (MLS)

L.A. Galaxy (MLS) vs. Sporting San Miguelito (Panama)

Cruz Azul (Mexico) vs. Vancouver FC (CPL)

CF Monterrey (Mexico) vs. CSD Xelajú M.C. (Guatemala)

Los Angeles FC (MLS) vs. Real CD España (Honduras)

Nashville SC (MLS) vs. Atlético Ottawa (CPL)

Club América (Mexico) vs. Club Olimpia Deportivo (Honduras)

Philadelphia Union (MLS) vs. Defence Force FC (Trinidad and Tobago)

Tigres UANL (Mexico) vs. Forge FC (CPL)

FC Cincinnati (MLS) vs. O&M FC (Dominican Republic)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS) vs. CS Cartaginés (Costa Rica)

First-Round Byes: Mount Pleasant (Jamaica, Caribbean Cup champion), Alajuelense (Costa Rica, Central American Cup winner), Toluca (Mexico’s Liga MX champion) and Seattle Sounders (Leagues Cup winner) and Inter Miami CF (MLS Cup champion).

How they qualified

Canadian Championship (1 slot): Vancouver FC (CPL).

Caribbean Cup (3 slots): Defence Force FC (Trinidad and Tobago), O&M FC (Dominican Republic, Mount Pleasant FA (Jamaica).

Central American Cup (6 slots): Club Olimpia Deportivo (Honduras), CSD Xelajú M.C. (Guatemala), CS Cartaginés (Costa Rica), LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica), Real CD España (Honduras), Sporting San Miguelito (Panama).

Canadian Premier League (2 slots): Atlético Ottawa, Forge FC.

Leagues Cup (2 slots): L.A. Galaxy (MLS), Seattle Sounders FC (MLS).

Liga MX (6 slots): CF Monterrey, Club América, Cruz Azul, Deportivo Toluca FC, Pumas UNAM, Tigres UANL.

MLS (6 slots): FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF, Los Angeles FC, Philadelphia Union, San Diego FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

U.S. Open Cup (1 slot): Nashville SC (MLS).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press