MIAMI — The Vancouver Whitecaps drew Central FC and Major League Soccer rival Sporting Kansas City on Monday night for the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Vancouver will face both Central FC, from Trinidad and Tobago, and Sporting Kansas City twice, once at home and once away, between August and October. The top team in the group will advance to the knockout stages, which start in early 2017.
The group stage schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Whitecaps, who played in the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time last season, earned Canada’s lone entry in the tournament after winning last year’s Amway Canadian Championship.
The CONCACAF Champions League is a 24-team competition between the top clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the CCL qualifies for the annual FIFA Club World Cup, where they compete against the top teams from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceana, and Europe.
Barcelona are the reigning Club World Cup champions.
Vancouver didn’t advance to the knockout round last year after going 1-2-1 in the group stage.
Mexican powerhouse Club America are the two-time defending CONCACAF champions, but didn’t qualify for this year’s tournament.
An MLS team has never won the CCL although Montreal reached the final in 2014-15.
