CONCACAF Champions Cup First Round - Review | OneFootball

The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the ultimate prize for any club in Central or North America. A competition that Mexican sides love and Club América, in particular, happens to be the record winners, lifting the trophy eight times. but it has been nine years since they were last crowned champions of the region.

It's no secret that Mexican clubs have dominated CONCACAF since the turn of the century. Of the 24 editions, only four times was there a champion from outside of the jurisdiction. LA Galaxy won the first Champions Cup of the century to stop Honduran club Olimpia from becoming the first winner from the country in 20 years. Alajuelense won an all-Costa Rican affair in 2004, whilst Saprissa overcame their finals blues by going one better to beat Pumas a year later. The most recent non-Mexican winners were in 2022 as Pumas were on the end of another finals defeat, falling short to the Seattle Sounders.

In recent years, Leon and Pachuca became the latest clubs to continue this theme, ending the hopes of MLS sides like LAFC who were unable to win their first ever title in 2023 before the Columbus Crew suffered a 3-0 loss to Los Tuzos in last year's final.

Now rolls over the class of 2025, all hoping for a chance of silverware. Club America are back again, this time as 16-time Liga MX champions, winning a third consecutive league title. As champions, they automatical reach the second round.

Monterrey double, Los Rayados and Tigres enter the fray at the first round with the former heading to Canada to meet Forge FC as the latter were Nicaragua-bound for a two-legged affair with Real Esteli.

Cruz Azul may be dealing with internal issues after the sudden exit of Martín Anselmi, but their league form has taken an upturn in time for their meeting with Haitian side Real Hope FC. As for their capital city counterparts, Pumas, they headed north of the border, joining Monterrey for a first-round tie with Calvary FC.

Chivas are a side trying to find its feet with new manager Oscar Garcia but they were drawn against Cibao of the Dominican Republic.

Results

The (brackets) indicate the aggregate score, over the two legs.

Cruz Azul stamped its authority on the first-round draw with Real Hope. La Máquina avoided any doubt in the first leg with Angel Sepulveda on the scoresheet to seal a comfortable win before hitting the Haitian side for five in the return fixture.

Los Rayados also controlled its tie against Forge with Nelson Deossa and Jordi Cortizo on target before a German Berterame double confirmed their passage into the next round.

Chivas made hard work, narrowly avoiding a historic defeat in the first league in the Dominican Republic when Luis Gabriel Rey scored a 90+10' equaliser to cancel out a Juan Díaz opener which gave the home side the lead within the first 60 seconds. Los Rojiblancos learned their lesson in the second leg with a more assured display, Fernando Beltrán, Javier Hernández and Armando González were involved to avoid embarrassment.

Tigres followed in the same fate as Club America, with the Nicaraguan side earning first-leg wins over Mexican sides for a second year in a row. Back at the Universitario, Tigres bounced back and scored in the first two minutes through Jonathan Herrera and took charge of the tie ten minutes later when Diego Laínez netted. Veljko Paunovic's side never looked back and settled the tie with five minutes left when Juan Pablo Vigon helped his side avoid a historic loss.

Pumas suffered a loss on the road to Calvary, a result that provided the first-ever Canadian win against a Mexican side in a competitive fixture. Like Tigres, they were forced to overturn a deficit in the reverse meeting but Pumas fans would need to wait until the second half as Ignacio Pussetto missed a penalty deep into the first half. The breakthrough came via Guillermo Martinez who netted a brace, with a long-range effort sealing the victory for Gustavo Lema's side.

MLS sides kicked start their first-round endeavours next week as Inter Miami, Colorado, LAFC, Seattle Sounders and Cincinnati FC are all involved.