The Colorado Rapids will start their 2022 campaign far from the friendly confines of Commerce City.
On Wednesday, just hours after Major League Soccer announced its 2022 regular season schedule, the Rapids drew Comunicaciones FC of Guatemala for the 2022 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. The games will be played across two legs from Feb. 15-17 and Feb. 22-24. Broadcast times and the official dates will be announced at a later time.
Comunicaciones is a powerhouse in Guatemalan soccer, and the country’s most historic club, having won the Guatemalan league 30 times. On Tuesday, they won the Concacaf League, the second-most prestigious continental competition in the region. Even winning the league 30 times, this will be their first appearance in the Champions League.
The Rapids, as a result of being the higher seed, will host the return match in late February, but will have to travel to Guatemala City for the first leg. It will be a difficult environment to open the season in, as Comunicaciones play at Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, which holds a capacity of more than 26,000, the largest stadium in the country and home to the Guatemalan national team.
Colorado was one of 16 clubs to qualify from across the region, and the highest eight seeds were reserved for Pot 1, while the bottom eight were reserved for Pot 2. Rankings were based on the 2022 SCCL Rankings. Teams who qualified included clubs from the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti. The Rapids were placed into Pot 1, as a result of winning the MLS Western Conference.
Other MLS clubs that qualified for the tournament include New England Revolution, New York City FC, CF Montreal and the Seattle Sounders. As per Concacaf rules, the Rapids could not face any Major League Soccer team from the United States in the Round of 16.
Historically, the competition has been dominated by Mexican teams, as teams from Liga MX have lifted the trophy in each of the last 16 finals. MLS has made the Champions League a priority in recent seasons. Clubs have participated since its current form in 2009-09, but no MLS team has won the competition, with four teams reaching the final only to lose.
The winner of the Champions League gets an automatic berth to the FIFA Club World Cup competition, which puts every regional champion from various FIFA regions in a knockout tournament.
The Rapids avoided avoided two of the more dangerous teams from Pot B who were eligible to be drawn — Santos Laguna of Liga MX and Costa Rican power Saprissa.
The other draws from the Round of 16 are as follows:
- Club Leon (MEX) vs. CD Guastatoya (GUA)
- Seattle Sounders (USA) vs. CF Motagua (HON)
- New York City FC (USA) vs. Santos de Guàpiles (CR)
- Pumas (MEX) vs. Deportivo Saprissa (CR)
- New England Revolution (USA) vs. Cavaly AS (HAI)
- CF Montreal (CAN) vs. Santos Laguna (MEX)
- Cruz Azul (MEX) vs. Forge FC Hamilton (CAN)
It is the third time in club history the Rapids have qualified for the Champions League. They also reached the qualifying rounds of the 1998 Concacaf Champions Cup, the precursor to the Champions League. The two other appearances came in 2011 (group stage) and ’18 (Round of 16) after the tournament was re-formatted.
