User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League qualifying phase and play-off round

The 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 16 September and ended on 30 September 2020.

A total of 141 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2020–21 UEFA Confederations League, which includes the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 28 teams in Champions Path and 10 teams in League Path. The winners in the play-off round advanced to the group stage, to join the 10 teams that enter in the group stage.

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

Format
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in North America, the original format to seed teams based on coefficient and not to have teams from the same country/territory play each other was scrapped. Instead, teams were set in pods to minimize travel without consideration of country coefficients, while as many early rounds were attempted to be played between teams in the same nation as possible.

Due to the pandemic, all qualifying rounds were played in a single leg instead of a double legged, aggregate series. Teams with a better record in the domestic league hosted matches.

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City, United States). The tournament would originally have started in June 2020, but had been delayed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America. The new schedule was announced by the CONCACAF Executive Committee on 31 May 2020.

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows (all draws held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 30 August 2020, 13:00 EDT.

Seeding
Teams were not seeded for the qualification round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead as often as possible, teams from the same countries were scheduled against each other to minimize international travel. Because several nations had an odd number of teams entering the tournament, the following list of countries was made to allow for cross-border travel as necessary.

Summary
To minimize travel and to allow for competitive fixtures, clubs from the same countries played against each other. Matches were a single leg played on either 16 September or 17 September 2020. 


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Matches

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League first qualifying round matches

Seeding
Teams were not seeded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead as often as possible, teams from the same countries were scheduled against each other to minimize international travel. Because several nations had an odd number of teams entering the tournament, the following list of countries was made to allow for cross-border travel as necessary.

Summary



 * +Champions Path


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 * +Main Path


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Champions Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League second qualifying round Champions Path matches

Main Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League second qualifying round Main Path matches

Seeding
Teams were not seeded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead as often as possible, teams from the same countries were scheduled against each other to minimize international travel. Because several nations had an odd number of teams entering the tournament, the following list of countries was made to allow for cross-border travel as necessary.

Summary



 * +Champions Path


 * }


 * +Main Path


 * }

Champions Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League third qualifying round Champions Path matches

Main Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League third qualifying round Main Path matches

Seeding
Teams were not seeded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead as often as possible, teams from the same countries were scheduled against each other to minimize international travel. Because several nations had an odd number of teams entering the tournament, the following list of countries was made to allow for cross-border travel as necessary.

Summary

 * +Champions Path


 * }


 * +Main Path


 * }

Champions Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League play-off round Champions Path matches

Main Path

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League play-off round matches (Main Path)