User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga qualifying phase and play-offs (Main Path)

This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative.

The Main Path of 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga qualifying phase and play-offs is scheduled to begin on 26 June and end on 30 August 2018. A total of 143 teams are expected to compete in the Main Path to decide 13 of the 48 places in the group stage of the 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga.

Times are Eastern Time (UTC&minus;5), as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Teams
The Main Path includes all cup winners and league non-champions which do not qualify directly for the group stage, and consists of the following rounds:
 * Preliminary round (14 teams): 14 teams which enter in this round.
 * First qualifying round (94 teams): 87 teams which enter in this round, and 7 winners of the preliminary round.
 * Second qualifying round (74 teams): 27 teams which enter in this round, and 47 winners of the first qualifying round.
 * Third qualifying round (52 teams): 15 teams which enter in this round (including 2 League Path losers of the Champions League second qualifying round), and 37 winners of the second qualifying round.
 * Play-off round (26 teams): 26 winners of the third qualifying round.

The 13 Main Path winners of the play-off round advance to the group stage to join the 17 teams which enter in the group stage, the 8 Champions Path winners of the play-off round, the 4 Champions Path losers of the Champions League play-off round, the 2 League Path losers of the Champions League play-off round, and the 4 League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.

Below are the participating teams (with their 2018 CONCACAF club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.


 * Notes

Format
Each tie in the Main Path is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.

In the draws for each round, teams are seeded based on their CONCACAF club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round is not known at the time of the draws, the seeding is carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advances to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient is to advance, it simply take the seeding of its defeated opponent. Prior to the draws, CONCACAF may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from the same association, and from associations with political conflicts as decided by CONCACAF, may not be drawn into the same tie.

Schedule
The schedule of the Main Path is as follows (all draws are held at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, United States).

Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 12 June 2018, 13:00 EDT.

Seeding
A total of 14 teams were involved in the preliminary round draw. Seven teams were seeded and seven teams were unseeded. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, and if such a pairing was drawn or was set to be drawn in the final tie, the second team drawn in the current tie would be moved to the next tie.

Summary
The first legs were played on 26 and 28 June, and the second legs were played on 5 July 2018. 


 * }

Matches

 * ''Main article: 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga preliminary round matches (Main Path)

First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 20 June 2018, 12:00 EDT.

Seeding
A total of 94 teams were involved in the first qualifying round draw: the 87 teams entering in this round, and the seven winners of the preliminary round. They were divided into nine groups: seven of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded, and two of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by CONCACAF so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with ten teams and one run for all groups with twelve teams.


 * Notes

Summary



 * }

Matches

 * ''Main article: 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga first qualifying round matches (Main Path)

Seeding
A total of 74 teams were involved in the second qualifying round Main Path draw: 27 teams entering in this round, and the 47 winners of the first qualifying round. They were divided into seven groups: five of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded, and two of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with ten teams and one run for all groups with twelve teams.


 * Notes

Summary
The first legs were played on 26 July, and the second legs will be played on 31 July, 1 and 2 August 2018.


 * }
 * }

Matches

 * ''Main article: 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga second qualifying round matches (Main Path)

Seeding
A total of 52 teams were involved in the third qualifying round Main Path draw: 13 teams entering in this round, the 37 winners of the second qualifying round Main Path, and the two Champions League losers of the second qualifying round League Path. They were divided into five groups: four of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded, and one of twelve teams, where six teams were seeded and six teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with ten teams and one run for all groups with twelve teams.


 * Notes

Summary
The first legs were played on 9 August, and the second legs were played on 16 August 2018.


 * }
 * }

Matches

 * ''Main article: 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga third qualifying round matches (Main Path)

Seeding
A total of 26 teams, all winners of the third qualifying round Main Path, were involved in the play-off round Main Path draw. They were divided into three groups: two of eight teams, where four teams were seeded and four teams were unseeded, and one of ten teams, where five teams were seeded and five teams were unseeded. Numbers were pre-assigned for each team by CONCACAF so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with eight teams and one run for all groups with ten teams.


 * Notes

Summary
The first legs will be played on 23 August 2018 and the second legs will be played on 30 August 2018.


 * }
 * }

Matches

 * ''Main article: 2018–19 CONCACAF SuperLiga play-off round matches (Main Path)