The CONCACAF Champions League is an annual club football competition organized by the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football. It features teams from the top professional leagues in the CONCACAF region, including the United States, Mexico, Canada, and various Central American and Caribbean countries. The 2023 CONCACAF Champions League will be the 58th edition of the tournament and the winner will earn the right to play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The tournament currently uses a knockout format and 16 teams will participate this year but without Seattle Sounders FC, the current holders of the tournament who will not be able to defend their title. In this article, we will have a look at the stadiums that will host this tournament.
CONCACAF 2023 Champions League stadiums
BMO Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC which is qualified as the current MLS champions. It opened in 2018 with a 22,000-seat capacity.
The Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés is a multi-purpose stadium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It has a capacity of 34,000 and was built in 1948. The stadium was the home of the Honduran national football team for many years. It now serves as the home of Motagua and Olimpia, who qualified for the competition through the 2022 CONCACAF League, with Olimpia being the champions.
The Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was built on January 31, 1960, with a maximum capacity of 56,713 spectators. It is the third-largest Mexican football stadium and has hosted two World Cups. Since 1960, it has been home to Atlas FC of the Mexican Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022 champions.
The Francisco Morazán Stadium is located in the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It was built in 1938 and has an 18,000-seat capacity. It is the home of Real Epsania, who were semi-finalists in the 2022 CONCACAF League.
The Estadio León is a football stadium with a seating capacity of 31,297 built in 1967 in León, Mexico. It hosted matches for the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and also hosted football matches during the 1968 Summer Olympics. It is home to Club Atletico Leon who qualified for the competition as the runners-up in Mexican Apertura 2021.
The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is a football stadium in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Since 1940 it is the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. It holds a capacity of 17,895 people and is named after the former Barcelona player Alejandro Morera Soto. Alajuelense is the 2022 CONCACAF League runners-up, something that allowed them to play in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League.
The Estadio Universitario is a football stadium located in Monterrey, Mexico. The stadium has a 41,615-seat capacity and hosted 4 games in the 1986 World Cup. It was built in 1967 and since then it is the home stadium of Tigres. Tigres was the best-ranked team on the aggregate table in Mexico which includes the Apertura 2021 and the Clausura 2022 championships.
The Estadio Cuscatlán is a football stadium in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. It opened in 1976 with a capacity of 53,400 spectators, making it the largest stadium in Central America and the Caribbean. The stadium is home to Alianza FC, the 5th best team in the 2022 Concacaf League, a competition in which the Mexican and the MLS soccer clubs are not taking part.
The Subaru Park is a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania. It opened on June 27, 2010, with an 18,500-seat capacity and since then it serves as the home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. Philadelphia Union participates in the competition as the 2022 MLS Eastern Conference regular season champions.
The Stadium Olmpico Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez is located in Panama City and it is the largest stadium in Panama with a current capacity of 32,000 spectators. Opened in 1970, it was originally named Estadio Revolución. It now bears the name of the legendary Panamanian footballer Rommel Fernández who died in a car accident in 1993. It is home to Tauro FC which was ranked as the 6th best team in the 2022 CONCACAF League.
The BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, Canada, and serves as the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps. When opened in 1983, BC Place was originally an indoor structure with an air-supported roof. Following the 2010 Winter Olympics, the inflatable roof was replaced with a retractable roof. The capacity of the stadium is 54,405 and this number is reduced to 22,120 for soccer matches. Vancouver Whitecaps were the 2022 Canadian championship winners, thus gaining their participation in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
The Stade Sylvio Cator is a multi-purpose stadium in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is the largest stadium in the country with a 20,000 seats capacity. It is the home ground of Violette AC, the champions of the 2022 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship.
The Q2 Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located in Austin, Texas. It opened in 2021 with 20,738 seat capacity and was ready for the first year of Austin FC in Major League Soccer. The team was qualified for CONCACAF Champions League as the higher-ranked team in the 2022 MLS that wasn’t already qualified.
The Exploria Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Orlando, Florida. It opened in 2017 to serve as the home of Orlando City FC who are part of the MLS since 2015. The stadium’s capacity is 25,500. Orlando gained their ticket for the CONCACAF Champions League as the 2022 U.S. Open Cup champions,
The Estadio Hidalgo is a football stadium in Pachuca, Mexico. It opened in 1993 and has a capacity of 30,000. It is used mostly for football games and is the home of C.F. Pachuca. Pachuca qualified to the competition as the Mexican Clausura 2022 runners-up.
