Sporting Kansas City will face Mexican club Deportivo Toluca in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champion League Round of 16, with the two-legged series set to take place in late February.
Concacaf conducted the official 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League draw on Monday at the Univision Deportes Studios in Miami, determining the eight Round of 16 matchups in a fixed bracket. Sporting KC will host Toluca in the first leg of the aggregate-goal series at Children’s Mercy Park before traveling to Mexico for the return leg.
Exact dates and kickoff times for both Round of 16 games will be announced in the coming days. Tickets for the match in Kansas City are included in 2019 Sporting KC Season Ticket Member packages and will become available to the general public in the near term at SeatGeek.com.
The Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League is the premier club competition in the Concacaf region, involving the best teams from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The 11th edition of the prestigious championship will feature a two-legged, home-and-away format with a fixed bracket from the Round of 16 through the Finals. The Round of 16 is slated for late February and the Quarterfinals for March, while the Semifinals and Finals will unfold in April.
Sporting KC will make their fourth appearance in the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League—their first since 2016-17 and their first since the tournament restructured to the 16-team, two-legged knockout format that debuted in 2018. Manager Peter Vermes led his side to its best finish in the competition when Sporting KC reached the 2013-14 Quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Cruz Azul.
Coming off a record-breaking MLS campaign that saw the club finish atop the 2018 Western Conference regular season standings, Sporting KC qualified for the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League as winners of the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Sporting KC earned a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls in a thrilling final at Children’s Mercy Park to claim their fourth major championship since 2012.
Toluca were finalists in the 2013-14 Concacaf Champions League and qualified for the 2019 competition as runners-up in the 2018 Liga MX Clausura. The Red Devils recently finished seventh in the 2018 Liga MX Apertura with a record of 8-7-2 and last week fell to Club America in the quarterfinals of the Liga MX championship stage. Forward Alexis Vega scored a team-best six goals during the Apertura season, while midfielder Luis Enrique Quinones finished third in Liga MX with five assists.
Founded in 1917, Toluca have won 10 first-division titles and were crowned Concacaf Champions’ Cup winners in 1968 and 2003. The Red Devils are led by Argentine manager Hernan Cristante and play their home matches at the 30,000-seat Estadio Nemesio Diez in Toluca, located less than 40 miles west of Mexico City in south-central Mexico.
Sporting KC are 2-6-2 all time against Mexican opposition, including a 2-2-2 mark on American soil and a 0-4-0 record in Mexico. Next year’s Round of 16 will mark the first time these clubs have met.
2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Schedule Windows
- Round of 16 Leg 1: Feb. 19-21
- Round of 16 Leg 2: Feb. 26-28
- Quarterfinal Leg 1: March 5-7
- Quarterfinal Leg 2: March 12-14
- Semifinal Leg 1: April 2-4
- Semifinal Leg 2: April 9-11
- Final Leg 1: April 23-25
- Final Leg 2: April 30-May 2
