Can MLS Teams Play in the Champions League?

Can Major League Soccer (MLS) teams compete in the UEFA Champions League? The short answer is no – MLS clubs are part of the CONCACAF confederation (North/Central America), not UEFA. Only teams from UEFA member associations can enter Europe’s Champions League. This article explains the rules and geography behind that restriction, then shows where MLS teams do play: the CONCACAF Champions Cup and other international club tournaments. We’ll cover MLS Champions League eligibility, how MLS clubs qualify for CONCACAF competitions, and related international tournaments (Club World Cup, Campeones Cup, etc.).

Table of Contents

Why MLS Teams Cannot Join the UEFA Champions League

UEFA’s Champions League is strictly a European competition. By soccer tournament rules, only clubs from UEFA’s 55 national associations may enter. MLS teams (based in the USA and Canada) are not in UEFA. They belong to CONCACAF (the North/Central American confederation), so they cannot play in UEFA’s club championship. In other words, it’s a matter of geography and membership.

UEFA Membership Required: The UEFA Champions League is open only to clubs from UEFA member federations. Since MLS clubs are under the U.S./Canada Soccer Federations in CONCACAF, they are ineligible.
Separate Confederations: CONCACAF and UEFA run entirely separate tournaments. Just as European clubs cannot play in CONCACAF’s Champions Cup, MLS clubs cannot play in UEFA’s Champions League.
No Cross-Entry: Changing confederations would be required for an MLS team to join the Champions League – essentially impossible under current rules. (As soccer writer Connor Smith notes, “only teams based in Europe have been able to compete in the Champions League”.)

In short, MLS teams cannot qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Instead, they compete in the top club tournament for CONCACAF. This regional competition was known as the CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023) and is now called the CONCACAF Champions Cup. (The CONCACAF Champions Cup is North America’s equivalent of the Champions League.)

CONCACAF Champions Cup: MLS’s Continental Championship

Image: MLS players competing in an international club match, highlighting MLS teams in CONCACAF competitions rather than the UEFA Champions League.

Because MLS teams can’t play in Europe’s Champions League, their “international club stage” is the CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly Champions League). This tournament, founded in 1962, pits the region’s best teams against each other. U.S. and Canadian clubs enter through their domestic leagues and cups, while Mexican and Central/Caribbean teams also qualify.

Key points about MLS in the CONCACAF Champions Cup:

Historic Participation: MLS clubs have played in every Champions Cup/League season since MLS began. In fact, D.C. United won CONCACAF’s club championship in 1998 and 2000 (when it was called the Champions Cup). Seattle Sounders FC won the modern Champions Cup in 2022, becoming the first MLS side to lift the trophy in over two decades. Several MLS teams have reached finals: for example, Columbus Crew were runners-up in 2024 (losing to Pachuca), and others like Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, and LAFC have made finals as well. Overall, however, Mexican Liga MX clubs have dominated (roughly two-thirds of all titles), with MLS teams capturing three Champions Cup trophies to date.
Expanded Tournament (2023+): In 2023 CONCACAF revamped and rebranded the competition as the Champions Cup, expanding it to 27 teams. MLSsoccer.com notes that up to 10 MLS teams can now qualify by various methods, with at least five guaranteed spots. For the 2025 Champions Cup, for example, 10 MLS clubs qualified through MLS league positions, domestic cups, and new Leagues Cup slots. This is a record number, reflecting MLS’s growing influence in the region.

How MLS Teams Qualify for the Champions Cup

MLS clubs earn berths to the CONCACAF Champions Cup through their performance in various competitions: MLS league standings, domestic cups, and regional tournaments. Common qualifying paths include:

MLS Cup Champion: The MLS Cup (playoff) winner gets a Champions Cup berth. For 2024, LA Galaxy (MLS Cup 2024 champions) earned a 2025 Champions Cup spot.
Supporters’ Shield Winner: The team with the best regular-season record (Supporters’ Shield) qualifies. In 2025, FC Cincinnati (2024 Supporters’ Shield winner) and Inter Miami (as Shield winner) took two MLS slots.
Conference Winners and Standings: If the top team in one conference has already qualified (say via Supporters’ Shield), the next best teams by overall points fill additional spots. For 2025, Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders earned spots through high MLS standings.
U.S. Open Cup: The U.S. Open Cup champion usually qualifies. In cases where the champion already has a slot, the runner-up gets in. For 2025, Sporting Kansas City qualified as a stand-in from the 2024 U.S. Open Cup (they were finalists).
Canadian Championship: Canadian MLS teams (Toronto FC, CF Montréal, Vancouver Whitecaps) qualify only via the Canadian Championship (not via MLS standings). Vancouver won the 2024 Canadian Championship to earn a Champions Cup slot. (Canada Soccer governs that cup, so a Canadian MLS club must win it to reach CONCACAF competition.)
Leagues Cup (MLS vs. Liga MX): In 2023, CONCACAF introduced the Leagues Cup, a tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams. The Leagues Cup champion and runner-up also qualify for the Champions Cup. In 2025, Columbus Crew (2024 Leagues Cup champion) and LAFC (runner-up) qualified via this path (as noted in CONCACAF’s expanded criteria).

In summary, MLS teams have multiple “paths to Champions Cup”: winning MLS titles, top league finishes, and domestic cups, plus new regional cups. This structure ensures the best MLS teams face off on the continental stage.

MLS Success and Statistics

Champions Cup Winners: Only three MLS teams have ever won the top continental trophy. D.C. United (1998, 2000) and Los Angeles Galaxy (2000) did so in the original Champions Cup era, and Seattle Sounders FC broke a long drought by winning in 2022.
Runners-Up: Several MLS clubs have come close. Columbus Crew (2023 MLS Cup champions) were 2024 finalists. Real Salt Lake (2011), CF Montréal (2015), Toronto FC (2018), LAFC (2020, 2023), and Columbus (2024) all lost in finals to Mexican teams.
Club World Cup Qualification: By winning the 2022 Champions Cup, Seattle Sounders became the first MLS team to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup (the global tournament for club champions). This means their continental success opened the door to an expanded Club World Cup field starting in 2025 (where Seattle will represent CONCACAF).

Overall, MLS teams regularly compete in CONCACAF’s Champions Cup, but they have far fewer titles than Liga MX teams. Still, MLS clubs aim to improve: for example, 10 MLS clubs qualified for the 2025 edition, a sign of growing competitiveness.

Other International Club Competitions for MLS Teams

Beyond the Champions Cup, MLS teams participate in a few other international tournaments (though none as prestigious as the UEFA Champions League):

FIFA Club World Cup: Starting in 2025, FIFA will expand the Club World Cup to 32 teams. CONCACAF’s entrant is the Champions Cup winner. Thus, MLS clubs can play on the world stage by winning CONCACAF. (As noted, Seattle’s 2022 win earned them entry.)
FIFA Intercontinental Cup: FIFA has revived a one-off “Derby of the Americas” (sometimes called the Intercontinental Cup) featuring the Champions League winner vs. the Copa Libertadores winner. In 2025 it will include a match between the 2024 Champions Cup winner (Pachuca) and 2024 UEFA Champions League winner (Real Madrid). This is a new intercontinental contest, but MLS teams can only reach it by first winning CONCACAF.
Campeones Cup: This is an annual single-match competition between the MLS Cup champion and the Liga MX Campeón de Campeones champion. It’s a showcase event but doesn’t lead to further qualification. For example, Columbus Crew (2023 MLS Cup winners) played Pachuca (2022 Liga MX winner) in the 2023 Campeones Cup.
Leagues Cup: As mentioned, the Leagues Cup pits all MLS teams against Liga MX teams in a joint tournament. Since 2023 it also provides Champions Cup berths. The Leagues Cup itself is an international trophy (won by Columbus Crew in 2024), but it’s mainly a CONCACAF-level competition.
International Friendlies/Tournaments: In the past, MLS clubs and U.S. teams have occasionally played high-profile friendlies or invitational tournaments against European teams (e.g. International Champions Cup), but these are exhibitions, not official Champions League matches.

What MLS teams have not played: MLS clubs have never played in the UEFA Champions League or Copa Libertadores (South America’s Champions League). Unlike Liga MX, which used to send teams to Copa Libertadores, MLS has no path into CONMEBOL tournaments. There is no official intercontinental club league that includes both CONCACAF and UEFA teams beyond the Club World Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can an MLS team ever qualify for the UEFA Champions League?
A: No. The UEFA Champions League is exclusively for clubs from UEFA’s member associations. MLS teams, as CONCACAF clubs, are not eligible. The only way a U.S./Canada team could enter would be by joining a European league (no MLS team has done this).

Q: What international competition do MLS teams actually play in?
A: The top international competition for MLS clubs is the CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly called the CONCACAF Champions League). Top MLS teams earn berths based on MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, domestic cups, and Leagues Cup performances. There they face the best teams from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Q: How can MLS teams reach the FIFA Club World Cup?
A: Only by winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup. CONCACAF’s Champion qualifies for the Club World Cup. Seattle Sounders FC did so by winning in 2022. MLS teams cannot qualify for Club World Cup through any other route.

Q: Have any MLS teams ever won a continental championship?
A: Yes. D.C. United won CONCACAF’s club title in 1998 and 2000, and Seattle Sounders FC won it in 2022. Those are the only three MLS titles in the competition’s history.

Q: Could MLS join CONMEBOL or UEFA in the future?
A: It’s extremely unlikely. CONMEBOL tournaments (like Copa Libertadores) have only occasionally included Mexican teams in the past, but MLS has never been invited. Joining UEFA would require fundamental changes (e.g. re-affiliation of U.S. Soccer), which is not on the agenda. In practice, MLS teams will continue to play in CONCACAF competitions.

Conclusion: Can MLS Teams Play in the Champions League?

In conclusion, MLS teams cannot play in the UEFA Champions League, because they’re not part of Europe’s soccer confederation. Instead, they compete in CONCACAF’s Champions Cup (and related tournaments) as their top international stage. This means MLS Champions League eligibility comes down to CONCACAF qualification rules, not Europe’s. MLS clubs can still gain continental glory – for example, D.C. United and Seattle Sounders won CONCACAF titles in 1998–2000 and 2022 – but they do so in North America’s tournament, not Europe’s.