User:Quidster4040/sandbox/2020–21 NAFU Regions League
 Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles will host the final. | |
| Dates | September 2020 (qualifying) October 2020 – March 2021 (competition proper) |
|---|---|
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Guadalajara (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Necaxa |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 35 (2.06 per match) |
| Attendance | 83,485 (4,911 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | José Juan Macías (5 goals) |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
The 2020–21 NAFU Regions League was the second edition of the NAFU Regions League a quaternary association club football tournament for CONCACAF teams located in the North American Football Union countries. Twenty-five teams from 10 NAFU nations competed in the tournament. The qualification rounds began on 27 June 2019 and concluded on 18 July 2019. Group stage was played from 1 August 2019 to 24 October 2019. In February and March 2020 the knockout rounds were played, culminating with the final on 10 March 2020.
The tournament was heavily altered due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Qualification was anticipated to begin in late June 2020 but was postponed to September 2020. The group stage was reduced from six matches in an home-and-home series to three matches will all teams competing against each other on a neutral predetermined site to create a "bubble" environment to protect players from the virus. The knockout stage will be played in February and March 2021, with the final being held at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. The final will be held at the stadium with or without fans regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The play-off round of the tournament served as a "test case" with stadium capacity open at 20 percent of capacity.
Teams
[edit]| Association | Team | Qualifying method | App (Last) | Previous Best (Last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico
|
Necaxa | 2019–20 Liga MX 7th place | 1st | — |
| Morelia | 2019–20 Liga MX 8th place | 1st | — | |
 United States
|
D.C. United | 2019 MLS 10th place | 2nd | Runners-up (2019–20) |
| Portland Timbers | 2019 MLS 11th place | 2nd | Group stage (2019–20) |
| Association | Team | Qualifying method | App (Last) | Previous Best (Last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canada
|
Forge | 2019 CPL Fall season 2nd place | 1st | — |
| York9 | 2019 CPL Fall season 3rd place | 2nd | Preliminary round (2019–20) | |
| Pacific | 2019 CPL Fall season 4th place | 2nd | Play-off round (2019–20) | |
| Mexico
|
Guadalajara | 2019–20 Liga MX 9th place | 1st | — |
| Pachuca | 2019–20 Liga MX 10th place | 1st | — | |
| Oaxaca | 2019–20 Ascenso MX Apertura champions | 1st | — | |
| Zacatecas | 2019–20 Ascenso MX best aggregate record | 2nd | Preliminary round (2019–20) | |
| United States
|
New York Red Bulls | 2019 MLS 12th place | 1st | — |
| Louisville City | 2019 USLC runner-up | 2nd | Play-off round (2019–20) | |
| Phoenix Rising | 2019 USLC regular season winner | 2nd | Preliminary round (2019–20) | |
| Greenville Triumph | 2019 USL1 runner-up | 1st | — |
| Association | Team | Qualifying method | App (Last) | Previous Best (Last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada
|
Valour | 2019 CPL Fall season 5th place | 1st | — |
 Cascadia
|
Seattle Hibernian | 2019 Pacific Coast Soccer League 5th place | 2nd | Qualification semifinals (2019–20) |
| FC Tigers Vancouver | 2019 Pacific Coast Soccer League 6th place | 1st | — | |
 Quebec
|
Fabrose | 2019 PLSQ 4th place | 1st | — |
 Acadiana
|
Tallahassee | 2019 GCPL season 5th place | 1st | — |
Associations that did not enter a team
[edit]Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the following countries did not enter a team.
Schedule
[edit]The revised schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the NAFU headquarters in New York City, United States, unless stated otherwise).
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | PR Matchday 1 | 5 August 2020 | 10 September 2020 | |
| PR Matchday 2 | 13 September 2020 | |||
| PR Matchday 3 | 16 September 2020 | |||
| PR Matchday 4 | 19 September 2020 | |||
| PR Matchday 5 | 22 September 2020 | |||
| First qualifying round | 24 September 2020 | |||
| Play-off round | 1 October 2020 | |||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 24 September 2020 (Mexico City) |
31 October 2020 | |
| Matchday 2 | 3 November 2020 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 7 November 2020 | |||
| Knockout phase | Semi-finals | 10 March 2021 | 17 March 2021 | |
| Final | 23 April 2021 at Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles | |||
Qualification
[edit]- Main article: 2020–21 NAFU Regions League qualification round
Preliminary round
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VAL | HBR | TGR | FBR | TAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valour (A)
|
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 | Play-off round | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | Seattle Hibernian
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 7 | 2–4 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | FC Tigers Vancouver
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | 0–5 | 2–3 | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | Fabrose
|
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | — | ||
| 5 | Tallahassee
|
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |
First qualifying round
[edit]The first qualifying round was played in a single leg on 24 September 2020.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific
|
1–0 | Oaxaca
|
| York9
|
0–3 | Phoenix Rising
|
| Zacatecas
|
1–0 | Louisville City
|
| Greenville Triumph
|
2–2 (5–4 p) | Valour
|
Play-off round
[edit]The play-off qualifying round was played in a single leg on 30 September and 1 October 2020.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Guadalajara
|
4–1 | Greenville Triumph
|
| New York Red Bulls
|
3–0 | Pacific
|
| Pachuca
|
0–1 | Phoenix Rising
|
| Forge
|
2–1 | Zacatecas
|
Group stage
[edit]Group A
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D.C. United
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | Advance to Knockout stage and 2021 CONCACAF Regions League |
| 2 | New York Red Bulls
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Morelia
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Forge
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 |
Matches
[edit]| Morelia | 1–3 | New York Red Bulls |
|---|---|---|
Sandoval  46' |
Report | Barlow 21' Valot 27'Fernandez 57' |
| New York Red Bulls | 1–2 | D.C. United |
|---|---|---|
| Stroud 38' |
Report | Flores 77' Yow 83' |
| D.C. United | 0–0 | Morelia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Forge | 0–2 | New York Red Bulls |
|---|---|---|
| Report | White 9' Kaku 47' |
Group B
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalajara
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage and 2021 CONCACAF Regions League |
| 2 | Necaxa
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Portland Timbers
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Phoenix Rising
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 |
Matches
[edit]| Phoenix Rising | 0–2 | Portland Timbers |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Necaxa | 1–0 | Guadalajara |
|---|---|---|
| Arce 81' |
Report |
| Phoenix Rising | 1–1 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Guadalajara | 3–2 | Portland Timbers |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Guadalajara | 2–1 | Phoenix Rising |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Portland Timbers | 0–0 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Knockout stage
[edit]Bracket
[edit]| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| D.C. United
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Necaxa
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Necaxa
| 0 | ||||||||
| Guadalajara
| 1 | ||||||||
| Guadalajara
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| New York Red Bulls
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Semifinals
[edit]Summary
[edit]Matches
[edit]| Necaxa | 1–0 | D.C. United |
|---|---|---|
| Ian 85' |
Report |
| D.C. United | 1–1 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Necaxa won 2–1 on aggregate.
| New York Red Bulls | 0–2 | Guadalajara |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Guadalajara | 1–0 | New York Red Bulls |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Guadalajara won 3–0 on aggregate.
Final
[edit]| Necaxa | 0–1 | Guadalajara |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Briseño 78' |