Seattle Sounders’ breakthrough the top SCCL story of 2022

MIAMI, Florida – Since the beginning of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League era in 2008-09, no team from Major League Soccer (MLS) had ever won the tournament until 2022 when the Seattle Sounders captured the title with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Mexican side Pumas.

As part of Concacaf’s countdown of the best 22 moments from 2022 in the region, here are the top stories from the past year in the SCCL.

Seattle Sounders become first MLS team to win SCCL

History was made in many ways when the Seattle Sounders defeated Mexican club Pumas in the Final of the 2022 SCCL. Not only did the Sounders become the first ever team from MLS to win the SCCL in the Champions League era, but they were the first team from the United States since 2000 to be crowned champions of Concacaf.

The journey started with a commanding 5-0 win over Motagua of Honduras in the Round of 16, followed by a sparkling 4-1 victory versus Mexico’s Club Leon in the quarterfinals. Seattle then defeated fellow MLS side New York City FC 4-2 in the semifinals to earn their Final date with Pumas.

Down 2-0 deep in the second half of the first leg in Mexico City, the Sounders rallied with a pair of late goals through Nicolas Lodeiro to earn a 2-2 draw. Raul Ruidiaz then struck for a brace to lead the way in a 3-0 second leg win to give Seattle the coveted crown.

As the years go on, more teams from MLS will ultimately win the SCCL, but Seattle will always be able to say that they were the first ones to do it.

Seattle fans break SCCL attendance record

The second leg of the 2022 SCCL Final will not only be remembered for Seattle’s history-making title conquest, but also for the mark posted by their loyal fans. An incredible 68,741 fans packed into Seattle’s Lumen Field for the return leg against Pumas and those faithful followers were rewarded with a championship celebration.

The attendance number set a record for the most attended SCCL match ever, breaking the previous record of the 66,208 spectators who witnessed the second leg of the 2014-15 SCCL semifinals in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca between Club America of Mexico and Herediano of Costa Rica.

Pumas overcome 3-0 deficit to eliminate New England Revolution

There have been many great comebacks in the history of the SCCL, but any team would be hard-pressed to top the one achieved by Pumas in their quarterfinal series with the New England Revolution.

On a cold and snowy night in New England in the first leg, the Revolution emerged with a 3-0 victory to give themselves a healthy advantage going into the second leg in Mexico City. But Pumas responded with aplomb, as a pair of goals from 2022 SCCL Top Scorer Juan Dinenno helped Pumas even the series at 3-3 by the hour mark.

That scoreline held until the final whistle, meaning matters were settled in a penalty shootout. Veteran Pumas GK Alfredo Talavera helped get the job done with a key save in a 4-3 win, making it just the second time in SCCL history that a team had rallied from a 3-0 first leg deficit to win a series.

Atlas, Orlando City, Austin FC and Violette qualify for first SCCL

The 2022 SCCL saw two clubs make their first ever appearances in the tournament (Forge FC, Santos de Guapiles) and in 2023 that number will double to four teams making their SCCL debut: Atlas (MEX), Orlando City SC (USA), Austin FC (USA) and Violette (HAI).

For Atlas, a club founded in 1916, they qualified after winning their first Mexican league title since 1951 when they took home the 2021 Apertura. Atlas then followed that up by becoming back-to-back Liga MX champions by winning the 2022 Clausura crown. The 2023 SCCL marks their first ever appearance in Concacaf competition.

Orlando City qualified for their first SCCL by virtue of being the champion of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup when they defeated the Sacramento Republic in the Final. While this will mark Orlando City’s first time in the tournament, Orlando’s Exploria Stadium was the site for the resumption of the 2020 tournament when Tigres of Mexico defeated MLS side Los Angeles FC in the Final.

Austin FC became the 20^th different team from the U.S. to qualify for the SCCL when they finished in second place in the MLS Western Conference during the 2022 regular season. They join the ranks of clubs such as Los Angeles FC and Atlanta United as U.S.-based teams to debut in the SCCL in just their third season.

The fourth and final SCCL debutante in 2023 is a familiar name in the annals of Concacaf history. 1984 Concacaf Champions Cup winners Violette of Haiti will make their first foray in the SCCL after winning the 2022 Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship. Violette topped Cibao FC of the Dominican Republic in a dramatic penalty shootout to capture the Caribbean crown and punch their first SCCL ticket.