A total of 16 teams participated in the CONCACAF Champions League: • Ten teams which directly qualified for the tournament: •
North American Zone: 9 teams (from three associations) •
Caribbean Zone: 1 team (from one association) • Six teams qualified through the
CONCACAF League (from between two and six associations) Therefore, teams from between 6 and 10 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.
North America The nine direct berths for the
North American Football Union (NAFU), which consisted of three member associations, were allocated as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada. For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the
Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla (playoff) tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament. For the United States, four teams qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, three through the
Major League Soccer (MLS) season and one through its domestic cup competition: • The champions of the
2019 MLS Cup, the championship match of the
MLS Cup Playoffs • The champions of the
Supporters' Shield, awarded to the team with the best MLS regular season record • The MLS regular season champions of either the
Eastern Conference or
Western Conference which were not the Supporters' Shield champions • The champions of the
2019 U.S. Open Cup If there was any team which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, or conference regular season, the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record not yet qualified. For Canada, the champions of the
2019 Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awards the
Voyageurs Cup, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs. Moreover, a team from the
Canadian Premier League qualified for the CONCACAF League, meaning a second team from Canada (and a tenth team from North America) could potentially qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Central America Teams from the
Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which consisted of seven member associations, had to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through the CONCACAF League. A total of eighteen teams from Central America qualified for the CONCACAF League through their domestic leagues. As all but four teams in the CONCACAF League were from Central America, between two and six teams from Central America could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
Caribbean Teams from the
Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consisted of 31 member associations, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League either as champions of the
CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament, or through the CONCACAF League. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship was open to teams from professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season. Another three teams from the Caribbean qualified for the CONCACAF League, which were the runners-up and third-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, and the winners of a playoff between the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship and the champions of the
CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, the second-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament which was open to teams from non-professional leagues, where they could qualify as champions of their respective association's league in the previous season. Therefore, between one and four teams from the Caribbean could qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.
CONCACAF League Besides the ten direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 22 teams (1 from North America, 18 from Central America, and 3 from the Caribbean) qualified for the
CONCACAF League, a tournament held from July to November prior to the CONCACAF Champions League. The top six teams of the CONCACAF League, i.e., champions, runners-up, both losing semi-finalists, and best two losing quarter-finalists, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. ==Teams==