The official draw for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup will be conducted on Tuesday night, when the 27 competing sides — including Canadian Premier League clubs Cavalry FC and Forge FC — will learn their path to the final.
Cavalry and Forge, who qualified for this tournament as the CPL’s playoff champion and regular season title winner, respectively, have both been placed into Pot 2, and can be drawn against a pool of 11 clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX.
Of the 27 qualified teams, five will receive byes to the round of 16: MLS Cup winners LA Galaxy, Leagues Cup winners Columbus Crew, highest-ranking Liga MX champions Club América, Concacaf Central American Cup winners Alajuelense, and Concacaf Caribbean Cup winners Cavalier.
The remaining 22 teams are entered in the draw for the first round, and split into two pots of 11 based on the latest Concacaf Club Rankings. The three highest-ranked teams in Pot 1 — in this case Monterrey, Tigres and Cruz Azul, all of Liga MX — will be pre-seeded into specific spots in the bracket where they would not play a team with a bye should they advance to the round of 16.
The first-round pots are as follows:
Pot 1 |
Pot 2 |
||
| Club | Ranking | Club | Ranking |
| Monterrey (MEX) | 3 | Colorado Rapids (USA) | 31 |
| Tigres UANL (MEX) | 4 | Sporting Kansas City (USA) | 39 |
| Cruz Azul (MEX) | 5 | Saprissa (CRC) | 48 |
| Los Angeles FC (USA) | 6 | Herediano (CRC) | 51 |
| Inter Miami CF (USA) | 7 | Cavalry FC (CAN) | 52 |
| Seattle Sounders FC (USA) | 11 | Motagua (HON) | 54 |
| Pumas UNAM (MEX) | 13 | Antigua GFC (GUA) | 55 |
| CD Guadalajara (MEX) | 14 | Forge FC (CAN) | 56 |
| FC Cincinnati (USA) | 16 | Real Estelí (NCA) | 69 |
| Real Salt Lake (USA) | 18 | Cibao FC (DOM) | 80 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN) | 28 | Real Hope FA (HAI) | 110 |
The field of teams in Pot 1 includes five of the top clubs in Mexico, as well as Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, a similarly star-studded Los Angeles FC, and Canadian Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps.
All matchups in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup — the second edition in this format — will be two-legged home-and-away ties, with the tournament kicking off in early February and going until the final on June 1.
The 2025 competition will be the second consecutive year the CPL has been represented by Cavalry and Forge. In 2024, Cavalry took on MLS side Orlando City SC while Forge played Mexican giants Guadalajara in the first round.
This year’s draw will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. ET.
Join the CPL’s Charlie O’Connor-Clarke and Mitchell Tierney live on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET for immediate reaction to the full draw, featuring guests from both Cavalry and Forge.