Miami (Friday, January 11, 2019) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) conducted the official draw for the 2019 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield, at the Concacaf headquarters, in Miami, FL.
The second edition of the tournament, which will be hosted in Curacao from April 5-15 and is part of the expanded Concacaf Club Competition Platform, will feature the participation of clubs from 13 different Caribbean Associations. Through this competition, the participating clubs continue working with Concacaf towards a long-term vision to professionalize the club game across the region.
The draw, which sorted the clubs into three groups of three and one group of four for the first round of the competition, was conducted by Concacaf’s Director of Development, Jason Roberts.
The groups for the 2019 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield are as follows:
After round-robin play, each group winners and runner-up will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will automatically qualify to the semifinals. The two finalists will dispute the final on Monday, April 15, 2019. The complete schedule will be released in the coming months.
The winner of the 2019 Concacaf Caribbean Shield, provided said team fulfills the Concacaf Regional Club Licensing criteria, will have the opportunity to face the fourth-place finisher of the 2019 Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship in a playoff match to determine the fourth Caribbean representative in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League.
In the inaugural edition of the Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield, Club Franciscain of Martinique was crowned champion with a 2-1 victory over Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe. The Martinique club continued its outstanding 2018 international season by edging Trinidad and Tobago’s Central FC 2-1 in the Flow Caribbean Club Championship playoff to secure a spot in its first-ever Scotiabank Concacaf League, where it eventually fell to Nicaraguan side Walter Ferretti in penalties.