User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga group stage

The 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga group stage is scheduled to begin on 20 September and end on 13 December 2018. A total of 48 teams compete in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga.

Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2018, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

The 48 teams are drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on their 2018 CONCACAF club coefficients.

Moreover, the draw is controlled for teams from the same association in order to split the teams evenly into the two sets of six groups (A–F, G–L) for maximum television coverage. On each matchday, one set of six groups play their matches at 17:00 EDT/EST, while the other set of six groups play their matches at 20:00 EDT/EST, with the two sets of groups alternating between each matchday. The following pairings were announced by CONCACAF after the group stage teams were confirmed:


 * Mexico: Pachuca and Morelia
 * United States: Sporting Kansas City and Columbus Crew
 * Costa Rica: Alajuelense and Limon
 * Panama: San Francisco and Tauro, Arabe Unido and Alianza
 * Canada: Ottawa Fury and Woodbridge Strikers
 * Honduras: Juticalpa and Vida
 * El Salvador: Aguila and FAS
 * Trinidad and Tobago: W Connection and Defence Force
 * Guatemala: Comunicaciones and Guastatoya
 * Nicaragua: Real Esteli and Diriangen
 * Puerto Rico: Caguas and Bayamon
 * Suriname: Robinhood and Inter Moengotapoe
 * Cuba: Camaguey and Villa Clara

The fixtures are decided after the draw, using a computer draw not shown to public, with the following match sequence (Regulations Article 15.02):

Note: Positions for scheduling do not use the seeding pots, e.g., Team 1 is not necessarily the team from Pot 1 in the draw.

There are scheduling restrictions: for example, teams from the same city (e.g., Portland Timbers and FCM Portland) in general are not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday (to avoid them playing at home on the same day, due to logistics and crowd control), and teams from "winter countries" (e.g., Canada) are not scheduled to play at home on the last matchday (due to cold weather).

Teams
Below are the participating teams (with their 2018 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their seeding pot. They include:


 * 17 teams which enter in the group stage
 * 21 winners of the play-off round (8 from Champions Path, 13 from Main Path)
 * 6 losers of the Champions League play-off round (4 from Champions Path, 2 from League Path)
 * 4 League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round


 * Notes

Format
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32, where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams of the Champions League group stage.

Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 16.01):


 * 1) Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
 * 2) Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
 * 3) Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
 * 4) Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
 * 5) If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
 * 6) Goal difference in all group matches;
 * 7) Goals scored in all group matches;
 * 8) Away goals scored in all group matches;
 * 9) Wins in all group matches;
 * 10) Away wins in all group matches;
 * 11) Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
 * 12) CONCACAF club coefficient.