The 2021 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2021 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 56th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament, which usually starts in mid-February each year, was started in April, and concluded with the final in October, which was played as a single-leg match hosted by the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds.
Mexican club Tigres UANL were the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title. Monterrey, also from Mexico, won their fifth CONCACAF Champions League title, defeating fellow Mexican club América in the final to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.
As of 2025, this is the last final to have featured two Mexican teams.
A total of 16 teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League:
Therefore, teams from between 6 and 10 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The nine direct berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU), which consisted of three member associations, were allocated as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.
For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. For the Apertura tournament, the playoff winners and runners-up qualified, while for the Clausura tournament, no playoffs were held due to the league's suspension; the two highest ranked teams in the regular season at the time of suspension instead qualified. If there were any teams which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.
For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, two through the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and two through its domestic cup competitions:
If there were any teams which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, or conference regular season (not applicable for 2021 CONCACAF Champions League), the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record not yet qualified.
For Canada, the champions of the Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awarded the Voyageurs Cup, were originally set to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. However, the final between Forge FC, champions of the Canadian Premier League, and Toronto FC could not be scheduled in time for the start of the tournament, and so it was then agreed upon that Toronto FC would be Canada's representative. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. Moreover, the champions of the Canadian Premier League qualified for the CONCACAF League, meaning a second team from Canada (and a tenth team from North America) could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consisted of seven member associations, had to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the CONCACAF League. A total of 18 teams from Central America qualified for the CONCACAF League through their domestic leagues. As all but four teams in the CONCACAF League were from Central America, between two and six teams from Central America could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consisted of 31 member associations, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League either as champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament, or through the CONCACAF League. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship had been open to teams from professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season.
Another three teams from the Caribbean qualified for the CONCACAF League, which were the runners-up and third-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and the champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament which was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season. Therefore, between one and four teams from the Caribbean could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Besides the ten direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 22 teams (1 from North America, 18 from Central America, and 3 from the Caribbean) qualified for the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from July to November prior to the CONCACAF Champions League. The top six teams of the CONCACAF League (champions, runners-up, both losing semi-finalists and two play-in round winners) qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.
The following 16 teams (from eight associations) qualified for the tournament.
In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008âÂÂ09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
The draw for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 10 February 2021, 19:00 EST (), at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States.
The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" (Pot A and Pot B) contained the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 were assigned a bracket position from Pot A and the teams from Pot 2 were assigned a bracket position from Pot B. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replaced a team from another association.
The seeding of teams were based on the CONCACAF Club Index. The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, was based on the on-field performance of the teams that had occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:
The slots were assigned by the following rules:
The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:
In the CONCACAF Champions League, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which is played as a single-leg match.
The schedule of the competition is as follows.
Times are Eastern Daylight Time, i.e., , as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses).
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In the round of 16, the matchups were decided by draw: R16-1 through R16-8. The teams from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the second leg.
The first legs were played on 6âÂÂ8 April, and the second legs were played on 13âÂÂ15 April 2021.
Cruz Azul won 8âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Toronto FC won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Monterrey won 6âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Columbus Crew SC won 5âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Philadelphia Union won 5âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Atlanta United FC won 2âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
2âÂÂ2 on aggregate. América won on away goals.
Portland Timbers won 7âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:
The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5, and 7 hosted the second leg.
The first legs were played on 27âÂÂ28 April, and the second legs were played on 4âÂÂ5 May 2021.
Cruz Azul won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Monterrey won 5âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Philadelphia Union won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
América won 4âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:
The semi-finalists in each tie which had the better performance in previous rounds hosted the second leg. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude>
The first legs were played on 11âÂÂ12 August, and the second legs were played on 15âÂÂ16 September 2021.
Monterrey won 5âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
América won 4âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
The match was played on 28 October 2021.