Columbus Crew, Robinhood move up in Concacaf Club Rankings

MIAMI, Florida – The latest edition of the Concacaf Club Rankings (CCR) is out, and with domestic leagues coming to a close and the Concacaf Central American Cup and Concacaf Caribbean Cup both concluded, there has been movement in the Rankings.

Among the biggest movers over the last month were a pair of newly crowned champions: 2023 MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew and 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup champions Robinhood of Suriname.

The Confederation launched a revamped rankings system earlier this year, with clubs gaining points for results in official domestic league matches, regional cup matches and Concacaf Champions Cup play.

The CCR determines draw seedings and pots for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. The Draw for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup took place on Wednesday. The rankings used for the Champions Cup Draw were published on Monday.

Further detail explaining the rankings and how clubs earn points can be found here: Concacaf launches new ranking system for region’s clubs and leagues.

Club America retain top spot

Mexican giants and seven-time Concacaf Champions Cup winners Club America retained their spot atop the Rankings for the second straight month. Club America marched their way to the Final of the 2023 Liga MX Apertura, eliminating 2023 Champions Cup winners Club Leon and Atletico San Luis along the way with respective 4-2 and 5-2 aggregate victories. Club America will face Tigres in the Final.                                                                                                                       

MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew vault into Top 10

For the first time, the Columbus Crew are in the Top 10 thanks to their 2-1 victory over Los Angeles FC in the Final of 2023 MLS Cup, earning the Crew their third MLS crown. Columbus vaulted into ninth-place in the Rankings.

The top four remained the same, with Club America, Monterrey, Tigres and Club Leon. The Philadelphia Union and Toluca swapped places, with the Union rising to fifth and Toluca dropping to sixth. There was also a change in places between Pachuca and Chivas, with Pachuca edging ahead in seventh and Chivas in eighth. Columbus and 2023 MLS Cup runners-up LAFC rounded out the Top 10.

Eight of the Top 10 clubs are qualified for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup: Club America, Monterrey, Tigres, Philadelphia Union, Toluca, Pachuca, Chivas and Columbus Crew.

Saprissa surge past Alajuelense in Central American Top 10

There was a shake-up in the Central American Top 10. Honduran giants Olimpia maintained their spot as the top Central American side and 39^th overall, but coming in second in the region and 44^th overall was Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, who surged past domestic rivals Alajuelense, who fell to third in Central America and 46^th overall. Saprissa did so on the strength of reaching the Costa Rican final, while Alajuelense were eliminated in the semifinals by Herediano.

Herediano (49^th) and Comunicaciones of Guatemala (52^nd) remained fourth and fifth in the region, while newly-minted Panamanian champions CAI (53^rd) re-took the sixth spot in front of seventh-place Municipal of Guatemala (56^th). Rounding out the Central American Top 10 was Motagua of Honduras (57^th), Guatemala’s Antigua GFC (58^th) and Tauro of Panama (59^th).

Robinhood keep climbing in Caribbean

2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup champions Robinhood of Suriname made another big move in the Caribbean Top 10, picking up another eight points to go from sixth to fourth in the region and 100^th overall.

Haiti’s Violette (68^th) kept their lead as the top Caribbean club, with no change in the second and third Caribbean spots by Cibao FC of the Dominican Republic (92^nd) and Jamaican side Mount Pleasant (99^th). Following Robinhood is Haitian club Arcahaie in fifth (106^th), while Caribbean Cup finalists Cavalier of Jamaica are sixth (108^th), one spot ahead of Caribbean Cup Third-Place Series winners Moca of the Dominican Republic (109^th). The rest of the Caribbean Top 10 is rounded out by Trinidad and Tobago’s Defence Force (110th), ASC of Haiti (113th) and Jamaican club Arnett Gardens (114th).

Robinhood earn mantle of biggest mover up the Rankings

Robinhood’s 2023 could not have ended any better. The Surinamese club captured the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield and then used that momentum to win the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, the exclamation point being a 3-0 win against Cavalier of Jamaica in the Final, moving Robinhood a whopping eight spots up in the overall Rankings from 108^th in November to 100^th in December. Since October, Robinhood have climbed 14 spots in the overall Rankings.

Other big movers included 2023 Liga MX Apertura semifinalists Atletico San Luis up eight spots to 22^nd overall and Jocoro of El Salvador up eight spots to 125^th.

Robinhood register biggest upset win

Robinhood’s 3-0 aggregate victory over Cavalier in the Final of the 2023 Caribbean Cup also went down as the biggest upset win over the course of the last month. Heading into the Final, Robinhood were 110^th overall while Cavalier were 100^th, but now Robinhood have moved past Cavalier with their victory into 100^th, while Cavalier fell to 108^th.