MLS teams are a big part of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It was formerly called CONCACAF Champions League from 2008 to 2023 and was called the Champions Cup before 2008.
This year, four MLS teams remain in the competition as the quarterfinals second legs on Tuesday. LA Galaxy and Tigres UANL are deadlocked at zeros, while LAFC holds a 1-0 aggregate lead over Inter Miami. The Vancouver Whitecaps and Pumas UNAM are tied at 1-1. However, Pumas leads on away goals. Meanwhile, Liga MX sides Cruz Azul and Club América are deadlocked at zeros.
The competition began in 1962 and the winner qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA International Cup. Teams from all over North America compete in this annual tournament for CONCACAF supremacy.
While MLS teams regularly compete in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, 39 of the 61 winners have been from Mexico. The most recent winners are Pachuca, who defeated 2023 MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew in the 2024 final.
Club América have won the most CCC titles with six. The most recent one was in 2016 when they beat Mexican rivals Tigres 4-1 on aggregate in a two-legged final. Up until 2024, the finals consisted of two legs. Now the team with the better record in the tournament hosts the final.
Three MLS sides have won the Champions Cup and seven have been runner-ups. LA Galaxy lost to to Cruz Azul in 1997. LAFC lost to Tigres in 2020 and León in 2023. Real Salt Lake were defeated by Monterrey in 2011, then-called Montreal Impact were beaten by Club América in 2015, and Toronto FC’s title dreams were thwarted by Chivas Guadalajara in 2018. (on penalties) As mentioned, the Crew lost to Pachuca last year.
Let’s look back at the three MLS teams that did win CONCACAF’s biggest club prize.
1998 D.C. United
D.C. United has had it rough the last few years. But there was a time when they were on top of CONCACAF. The team from America’s capital was the first American team to win the CCC.
The late 90s saw the rise of denim overalls, baggy pants, industrial rock and nu-metal. They were also an excellent time for D.C. United fans. They won MLS Cup in 1996, (the inaugural one) 1997 and 1999. D.C. also won the Supporters Shield in 1997 and 1999 and the US Open Cup in 1996.
The 1998 CCC was the cherry on top. Led by head coach Bruce Arena, D.C. United got a bye to the knockout round since they won the 1997 MLS Cup. (Worth noting there were only eight teams in the Champions Cup at the time) D.C. crushed Trinidad and Tobago’s Joe Public (now defunct) 8-0 at RFK Stadium. Forward Roy Lassiter (father of CF Montreal’s Ariel Lassiter) scored four of the eight goals.
Lassiter scored two goals in the semi-final over León. In the final, defender George Pope’s 41st-minute goal was enough for D.C.United to beat Deportivo Toluca. What made the win even sweeter was that the tournament took place in Washington D.C. over five days in August. D.C. United enjoyed their continental triumph in front of their fans.
2000 LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy are the most storied club in MLS. They have won six MLS Cups, four Supporters Shields and two US Open Cups.
In 2000, (the year the author of this article was born) LA Galaxy added the Champions Cup to their trophy cabinet. Like D.C. United, it’s the only one they got to this day.
The tournament was played in 2001 and it was held in LA. The Galaxy had to get to the final via penalties. They beat Real España 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in the quarterfinals. Then LA beat D.C. United 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Both goals in normal time were penalties from the Galaxy’s Greg Vanney (yes, the current Galaxy head coach) and D.C.’s Marco Etcheverry.
The final at the LA Memorial Coliseum against Honduran side Olimpia was chippy and intense. Danilo Tosello scored a penalty kick in the 34th minute but Ezra Hendrickson’s header tied it two minutes later. Three minutes later, Cobi Jones put the Galaxy ahead.
But it wasn’t going to be easy. In the 51st minute, Olimpia took the lead. But it was Hendrickson and his love for Bob Marley that got the winner. Hendrickson famously showed off his Marley T-shirt after both of his goals.
For the Galaxy that day, the sun was shining and the weather was sweet.
2022 Seattle Sounders
After the Galaxy’s win in 2000, people wondered when an MLS team would reign supreme in CONCACAF again. It took 22 years.
The Seattle Sounders have been a force since they entered MLS in 2009. They’ve won two MLS Cups, a Supporters Shield and four US Open Cups, including three straight in their first three years in MLS.
Seattle was a team that consistently qualified for the then-called CONCACAF Champions League. But they could never get it done in the tournament. Well, that is until 2022.
But the way they got in the tournament was interesting. Since the US Open Cup was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So the US Soccer Federation gave the extra berth to the highest-ranked US-based club based on their 2021 regular season record that hasn’t already qualified. That was the Sounders as they finished behind the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids for third in the 2021 Supporters Shield race.
Seattle destroyed Honduran side Montagua 5-0 over two legs in the Round of 16. (Though they scored all the goals in the second leg, then got by León 4-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals and then defeated 2021 MLS Cup champions New York City FC 4-2 on aggregate.
Standing in the Sounders way was Pumas. In the intense first leg in Mexico City, (in the pouring rain) Seattle was down 2-0 after 48 minutes thanks to two goals (the first being a penalty which was retaken because Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei was off his line early) Pumas striker Juan Dinenno. But the Sounders stormed back with Raul Ruidiaz’s 73rd-minute penalty kick and Cristian Roldan’s penalty kick deep into stoppage time.
The second leg was at Lumen Field. It was the most attended match in the history of the CONCACAF Champions Cup/League. 68,741 made their voices heard at Lumen Field.
Before halftime, Ruidiaz’s shot went off Pumas defender Diogo’s hand and it fooled Alfredo Talavera. Frei had to come up big in the second half but Ruidiaz and Lodeiro sealed the win in the 80th and 88th minute respectively. On all three goals, it was reported that fans caused movement on a seismometer and they’ve been dubbed the “Rave Quakes.”
The Sounders etched their name into American soccer and CONCACAF lore that night.
Could one of Inter Miami, LAFC, LA Galaxy or the Whitecaps be the next MLS team to win the CCC? We shall see.
