Sporting Kansas City learned its opponents for the 2016-17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League on Monday during the competition’s official draw at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
Sporting Kansas City was placed in Group C alongside fellow MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC qualified for the tournament by winning the 2015 Amway Canadian Championship. The Canadian club will make its second Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League appearance, exiting from the group stage last fall. Whitecaps FC are currently third in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference but have failed to beat Sporting Kansas City in both meetings this season, falling 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park on March 12 and drawing 1-1 at BC Place on April 27. Sporting Kansas City is 5-1-3 all-time against Vancouver, including a current four-game unbeaten streak since the start of 2015.
Trinidadian outfit Central FC booked its second straight appearance in the Soctiabank CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the 2016 CFU Club Championship, defeating W Connection 3-0 in the final on May 1. Founded in 2012, the Sharks were 2014-15 TT Pro League champions and have won two consecutive CFU Club Championship titles. Central FC plays its homes games at the 10,000-seat Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago.
The 2016-17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League will feature the top 24 teams from the North America, Central America and Caribbean region competing for a berth in the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup. The group stage divides the teams into eight groups of three and will be contested in a round-robin, home-and-away, four-game format from August to October with the eight group winners advancing to the knockout round in early 2017.
Exact dates and times, as well as single-game ticket information, for the group stage matches will be announced in the coming weeks. Both CONCACAF Champions League group stage home matches are included in Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Member packages.
One of five MLS teams in the upcoming international tournament, Sporting Kansas City clinched its Champions League berth last September with a penalty shootout victory over the Philadelphia Union in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
Manager Peter Vermes' side will make its third Champions League appearance under the tournament’s current format after reaching the quarterfinals in 2013-14 and bowing out in the 2014-15 group stage. Kansas City also competed in the 2001 Copa Merconorte, the 2002 and 2005 CONCACAF Champions’ Cups, and the 2009 North American Superliga.
2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage
<strong>Group A</strong> |
W Connection (TTO), Honduras Progreso (HND), Pumas (MEX) |
<strong>Group B</strong> |
CD Dragon (SLV), Deportivo Saprissa (CRI), Portland Timbers (USA) |
<strong>Group C</strong> |
Central FC (TTO), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN), <strong>Sporting KC (USA)</strong> |
<strong>Group D</strong> |
Don Bosco (HTI), Arabe Unido (PAN), Monterrey (MEX) |
<strong>Group E</strong> |
Police United (BLZ), Olimpia (HND), Pachuca (MEX) |
<strong>Group F</strong> |
Alianza (SLV), Antigua (GTM), New York Red Bulls (USA) |
<strong>Group G</strong> |
Plaza Amador (PAN), Herediano (CRI), Tigres (MEX) |
<strong>Group H</strong> |
Real Esteli (NIC), Suchitepequez (GTM), FC Dallas (USA) |
