Twenty-seven teams qualified for the tournament, with five of them earning direct qualification to the round of 16. The remaining twenty-two teams entered in round one. In addition to national league competitions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, 12 of 27 berths were determined by international competitions, including the revamped North American zonal competition, the
2023 Leagues Cup (three), and the existing regional or zonal championships in the Caribbean and Central America, the
CONCACAF Caribbean Cup (three) and
CONCACAF Central American Cup (six), respectively. Unlike in previous years, the three MLS teams based in Canada were eligible to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup through slots allocated to MLS (five), in addition to the slot for the Canadian Championship winners, while two
Canadian Premier League teams qualified automatically for the first time. The United States-only
2023 U.S. Open Cup knockout competition and the Canada-only equivalent, the
2023 Canadian Championship, provided one berth each. The winners of the three zonal championships, along with the winner of
MLS Cup 2023 and the highest-scored champion from the
2022–23 Liga MX season, received the five byes into the round of 16.
Distribution A total of 27 teams (from 10 associations) qualified for the tournament. •
North American Zone: 18 teams (from 3 associations) •
Central American Zone: 6 teams (from 4 associations) •
Caribbean Zone: 3 teams (from 3 associations) Five teams received a bye into the round of 16. • The champion of the regional competitions for each of
CONCACAF's constituent zones; North American, Central American and Caribbean • The champions of
Liga MX of Mexico and
Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada (Liga MX had a split Clausura and Apertura system, so the champion team with the higher aggregate points took this place. However, if one team wins both Apertura and Clausura, they took that slot.) The remaining 22 teams entered in round one. • The runners-up and third-place team from the MLS–Liga MX
Leagues Cup • The runners-up and third-place team from the
Caribbean Cup • The runners-up, remaining semi-finalists, and two play-in winners from the
Central American Cup • The
U.S. Open Cup champion • The
Canadian Championship winner • The
Canadian Premier League regular season winner and playoff champion • The winner with the lower point total, two runners-up, and the two best next clubs by season aggregate from
Liga MX • The
MLS Supporters' Shield winner • The remaining MLS Conference regular-season leader, and the next two teams in the Supporters' Shield table ==Teams==