the inclusion of Canadian teams in MLS, they cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and if a Canadian-based MLS team win the Supporters' Shield or play in the MLS Cup final, the Champions League place is allocated to the US-based team with the best MLS regular season record who has failed to otherwise qualify. Central America Twelve clubs from the Central American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. If one or more clubs is precluded, it is supplanted by a club from another Central American federation. The reallocation would be based on results from previous Champions League tournaments. For the Central American representatives that qualify via split seasons, in nations that play a playoff to determine a national champion, the winner gains the nation's top spot. In nations that don't utilize such methods, total points over both seasons, followed by other tiebreakers, determine which team gains the nation's top spot. The pots of the teams are as follows: The top teams from the leagues of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama are placed in Pot A. The top team from the league of El Salvador, and the second teams from the leagues of Costa Rica and Honduras are placed in Pot B. The second teams from the leagues of Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, and the sole representatives from the leagues of Nicaragua and Belize are placed in Pot C. Caribbean Three berths in Pot C are allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament for clubs from nations of the Caribbean Football Union. In order for a Caribbean club to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they would need to finish as the champion (or in some cases, runner-up) in their respective nation's top league in the previous season. If any Caribbean club is precluded, it is supplanted by the fourth-place finisher from the CFU Club Championship. Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament. Notes * Number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008). † Because Belize does not have a stadium which meets CONCACAF'S minimum standards for the Champions League, the spot normally reserved for the champions of Belize was reallocated to El Salvador, since it was the only Central