The 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup gets underway in February, and three Canadian teams will be going toe-to-toe with some of the top clubs in the region. CanPL.ca will be covering the tournament extensively, with in-depth guides on the CPL teams and their opponents, plus more on the whole tournament. For more of CanPL.ca’s coverage of the Concacaf Champions Cup, click here.
Location (league): San Juan de Tibás, Costa Rica (Liga Promerica)
Date founded: 1935
Appearances in CCC/CCL: 37
Best finish: Champions (1993, 1995, 2005)
First opponent: Vancouver Whitecaps FC
History & Overview
Historical Concacaf giants Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica are back in the Concacaf Champions Cup for a second straight season, as the three-time Champions Cup winners begin their chase for a first triumph since they last lifted the trophy in 2005.
The team with the fifth-most Champions Cup wins in the tournament’s history, Saprissa are always a tough team to beat in this competition, something the Philadelphia Union learned in a thrilling 6-5 extra time aggregate win in last year’s first round.
Having come so close to eliminating the Union in 2024, Saprissa will look to avenge that result this time around against the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2025. There, they’ll look to avoid a first-round exit for the sixth straight edition, having fallen at this stage in their past five Champions Cup appearances.
Yet, that’s the challenge Saprissa faces in Concacaf at the moment – there’s no doubting their standing as a historical giant within Costa Rica and Central America – they currently sit with the most titles in the Costa Rican league’s history with 40, 10 ahead of second-place Herediano – but they’ve often struggled to live up to that status as a giant outside of their country.
Because of that, while they remain a powerhouse in Central America, doing well to emerge from the Central American Cup to earn a place in this tournament, they’ve been unable to impose themselves as much against Liga MX or MLS opposition in recent years, something they’d love to change in this matchup against the Whitecaps.
Armed with a strong squad with a heavy Costa Rican influence, look for them to give trouble to a Whitecaps side who themselves have a lot to prove in this tie.

How they qualified
For a second straight edition, Saprissa qualified for this tournament through the Concacaf Central American Cup, which is the lone way for teams from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua and Belize to reach the Champions Cup under the tournament’s new format, which was put in place in 2024.
Unfortunately for Saprissa, however, they’ve struggled to impose themselves at the Central American Cup as much as they would’ve liked – they were eliminated from the 2023 edition in the quarter-finals, forcing them to qualify for the 2024 Champions Cup via a play-in, and they fell to a similar fate this time around.
After winning their group at the 2024 Central American Cup with nine points from four games, they fell 3-0 on aggregate to Guatemalan side Antigua in the quarter-finals despite entering that tie as the higher-seeded team. Because of that, they were dropped into the play-in game for a second straight year, where they had to beat Guatemalan side Comunicaciones 4-2 on aggregate to qualify for this tournament.
The coach
After their defeat to Antigua in the Central American Cup quarter-finals, Saprissa made a change in their dugout, replacing Costa Rican manager Vladimir Quesada with the Argentine José Giacone, who safely guided Saprissa through their tie against Comunicaciones.
From there, he nearly guided Saprissa to an Apertura title in the first half of the 2024-2025 season, as they fell 3-2 on aggregate to Herediano in the final, narrowly missing out on the chance to win the club’s fifth straight domestic title (they won both the Apertura and Clausura titles in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons).
Stylistically, he’s pushed Saprissa to play more directly, doing well to earn strong offensive results, with his side averaging over 1.6 goals per game in league action in 2024-2025, while allowing just 1.2 goals per game, something he’ll look to carry over to Champions Cup action.
An experienced manager with a long history of success in Costa Rica, where he has already won two titles (one with Herediano and one with Municipal Pérez Zeledón), he’ll now look to find similar success with Saprissa, where he was once the assistant manager over a decade ago near the beginning of his career, making this chapter a reunion of sorts for him.
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3 Key Players
Kendall Waston:
Immediately, there is one name that stands out among Saprissa’s squad, and that’s Waston, who is a player Whitecaps supporters will be very familiar with — Waston spent parts of five seasons with the Whitecaps from 2014 to 2018, which included a stint as club captain, helping lift the Voyageurs Cup in 2015.
Now 37, Waston’s style of play hasn’t changed as a centre-back; he’s a force aerially in both boxes, having played a key role in Saprissa’s defensive success, while also chipping in five goals. That’s why Waston’s career highlight was sending Costa Rica to the 2018 World Cup with a 95th-minute equalizer; his ability to dominate aerially is crucial to what the seven-time Costa Rican champion can bring to the pitch.
Marvin Loría:
Loría is another name Whitecaps supporters will be familiar with. Loría is fresh off returning to a second stint with Saprissa after spending parts of six seasons with one of the Whitecaps biggest rivals, the Portland Timbers, where he made over 100 appearances.
A tricky winger, he’s already scored in his Saprissa debut earlier this year, so look for him to use his experience to help spark their attack in this tie, helping keep the Whitecaps wide players honest. Having never scored more than three goals in a season for the Timbers or Saprissa, he’ll look to be a more consistent threat in the final third this campaign in his return to his old club.
Esteban Alvarado:
Given that Saprissa enter this tie as underdogs, that’ll put pressure on their goalkeeper, Alvarado, who is a veteran goalkeeper who brings loads of experience to his backline.
Having had stints in Europe with AZ Alkmaar and Trabzonspor, he brings nearly 400 games of experience to the table as a professional, so he’ll look to bring a cool head to a side that might have to do their fair share of defending across both ties.
A six-time Costa Rican champion, he won’t be fazed by this challenge, however, so look for him to lead the way with his play from the back.

Recent form
After their strong end to the 2024-2025 Apertura portion, Saprissa got off to a good start in the Clausura, defeating Apertura semi-finalists San Carlos 1-0 in their season opener.
Sitting with a record of 9-4-3 under Giacone, including a record of 8-3-1 in their last 12 games, they look to be a team that has hit their stride under their new manager.
Having made some big signings over the last year, including that of experienced Costa Rican centre back Óscar Duarte last summer, they’ve done some good business this winter to compensate for the loss of winger Luis Díaz to the New England Revolution and the expiry of the high-scoring Javon East’s contract, bringing in Costa Rican wingers Loría and Gerson Torres, as well as Argentine attacker Nicolás Delgadillo, moves they’ll hope can push them to a strong run in the Champions Cup.
Tournament outlook
For Saprissa, the goal will be simple this tournament – try and win a knockout round in this tournament for the first time since 2010-2011, when they reached the semi-finals.
Given their regular participation in this competition, and their history as past winners, they’ll feel confident they can avoid any typical pre-tournament jitters.
Even though the recent heartbreak of the 2024-2025 Apertura final will be fresh in their minds, along with their struggles at the Central American Cup, they must wipe that from their minds as quickly as possible.
Having proved they can go toe-to-toe with a good side like the Philadelphia Union last year, that will be the exact motivation they need to go and try to take care of business against the Whitecaps.
First round schedule
Leg 1: Thursday, Feb. 20
Saprissa vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC — Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San Juan de Tibás, Costa Rica
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Leg 2: Thursday, Feb. 27
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Saprissa — BC Place, Vancouver, B.C.
10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT