MIAMI, Florida – Without fail, the Concacaf Champions Cup Draw produces match-ups that are full of intrigue, and for the 2024 tournament, the Round One pairing of Mexican giants Chivas and Canadian Premier League side Forge FC fits that to a tee.

The Guadalajara-based club are rich with Concacaf history, having won the inaugural Champions Cup in 1962 before claiming their second crown in 2018 in their last previous appearance.

The historic Mexican club will now embark on their ninth Champions Cup campaign against a Forge FC team that had not even played its first domestic season when Chivas won their last Concacaf title.

Yet in their short history since their first CPL game in 2019, Forge has quickly made a lot of headway in both domestic and continental competition. Championships in the CPL led to berths in three straight editions of the Concacaf League from 2019-21.

In each edition of the Concacaf League, Forge advanced at least one round, and in the 2021 tournament they made a spirited run to the semifinals, qualifying for the 2022 Champions Cup along the way.

With that, Forge became the first team from the CPL to qualify for the Champions Cup, drawing six-time Concacaf champions Cruz Azul in the 2022 Round of 16.

Despite succumbing to a 4-1 aggregate defeat in that 2022 Champions Cup Round of 16, Forge certainly held their own against La Maquina. A narrow 1-0 loss at home in the first leg was followed by an exciting second leg during which Forge scored their first ever Champions Cup goal when David Choiniere found the back of the net in the first half.

While they suffered a 3-1 loss in the second leg at the historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, many observers came away impressed by the unfazed effort produced by the young side.

In their second Champions Cup appearance in 2024, Forge will get a crack at another giant of Liga MX in the form of Chivas.

Even though Chivas have vast experience when it comes to Champions Cup competition, only once have they ever faced Canadian opposition, and it came in memorable fashion.

It was the 2018 Champions Cup Final that pitted Chivas against Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), producing a two-legged series to remember.

Chivas pocketed a 2-1 victory in the first leg in Toronto thanks to a late goal from Alan Pulido, but Toronto FC rebounded with authority in the second leg in Guadalajara with a 2-1 win to make for a 3-3 final on aggregate.

That resulted in a penalty shootout to decide the champions, and Chivas were perfect from the spot, converting all four attempts to win 4-2 in spot kicks and earn a second Concacaf crown.

Suffice to say, the last time either Chivas or Forge appeared in the Champions Cup, they went up against opponents from Canada and Mexico, respectively, giving these two some common ground heading into what should be a very entertaining 180 minutes of football next month.