User:Rylesbourne/sandbox/2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League

The 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League was the debut season of the CONCACAF Confederations League, a tertiary competition for teams that do not qualify for the SuperLiga or the Champions League.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualification rounds began in September 2020 with matches between teams in the same nation played as often as possible to minimize trael.

Ahead of the tournament, several countries announced they would not send their teams to the tournament due to concerns of COVID-19 in the United States. This included the Corn Islands, the Crasqui Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Greenland, Iroquois, Montserrat, Navajo, Nueva Esparta, Nunavut, Saba, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Sint Eustatius.

Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States was scheduled to host the final, which was scheduled for 6 May 2021. It was moved to nearby Heinz Field and played on the same date. The two Mexican clubs that qualified for the tournament reached the final, UNAM and UANL. UNAM won the final, 3–1.

Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
 * 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.: League position
 * CW: Cup winners
 * LC: League Cup/League Playoffs winners
 * AP-1: Apertura winner
 * CL-1: Clausura winner
 * AP-2: Apertura runner-up
 * CL-2: Clausura runner-up
 * Abd: Team position at the time of abandonment of the league due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Notes

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City, United States, unless stated otherwise). 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 17 June 2020.

All qualifying matches, including the play-off round, will be played as single leg matches. Qualifying matches were to be held in pods where teams from the same countries were scheduled to play against each other as often as possible to minimize international travel. Per CONCACAF, all group stages matches will be played at "bubble sites". Knockout round mathces would be held at the home grounds of the finalists. The group stage was reduced from six matches to three, with all three group stage matches played at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida behind closed doors.

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows (all draws held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City, United States, unless stated otherwise).

Qualifying rounds

 * Main: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League qualifying phase and play-off round

First qualifying round
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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Second qualifying round

 * +Champions Path


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 * +Main Path


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Third qualifying round

 * +Champions Path


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 * +Main Path


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Play-off round

 * +Champions Path


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 * +Main Path


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Group stage

 * Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League group stage

Knockout stage

 * ''Main article: 2020–21 CONCACAF Confederations League knockout phase

Preliminary knockout round
The preliminary knockout round featured the eight fourth place finishers from the 2020–21 CONCACAF Champions League group stage and the eight third place finishers from the 2020–21 CONCACAF SuperLiga group stage. The tournament saw a return to the two-legged series with the first legs played on 18 February 2021 and the second legs played on 25 February 2021.


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Second round
The second round featured the eight winners from the preliminary knockout round and the eight second place finishers from the group stage. The tournament saw a return to the two-legged series with the first legs played on 4 March 2021 and the second legs played on 11 March 2021.


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Round of 16
The round of 16 (third round) featured the eight second round winners and the eight group stage winners. The first legs were played on 25 March 2021 and the second legs were played on 8 April 2021.


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Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals featured the eight round of 16 winners. The first legs were played on 28 April 2021 and the second legs were played on 5 May 2021.


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Semifinals
The semifinals featured the four quarter-final winners. The first legs were played on 20 May 2021 and the second legs were played on 27 May 2021.


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Final
The final was played on 9 June 2021