This weekend brings ‘Selection Sunday,’ the official start of the NCAA basketball tournaments and the collective hoops mania they spark across the United States. Dozens of college teams will play hundreds of games over the next three weeks to determine their respective national champions.
March Madness is already underway for North American soccer lovers, though.
After eight breathless Leg 1 matches this week, we’ve reached the halfway point of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup’s Round of 16, in essence, the zenith of this endemically entertaining tournament in terms of sheer number of games, participants and storylines. From here on out, things grow tenser and tighter as the wheat is separated from the chaff.
So it feels like a good moment to take stock of where the nine MLS participants stand.
My colleague J. Sam Jones penned a vital rundown of this nonet (a new vocabulary word for this correspondent!) at the start of the tourney, ranking their prospects from top to bottom, which provides me with my framework here. Who’s rising, who’s fading, who’s holding steady? Let’s go.
- Status: Holding steady – just barely
The Black & Gold fell victim to some Costa Rican catenaccio Tuesday night. LD Alajuelense snuck out of BMO Stadium with a 1-1 draw that forces Son Heung-Min & Co. to travel 2,700 miles south and either win or produce a high-scoring draw in order to advance past the Ticos next week.
Despite a rather absurd 76% of possession, LAFC leaked a first-half goal way, way against the run of play via Minnesota United ex Alejandro Bran, and only a Denis Bouanga equalizer averted complete disaster on home soil. That makes for a jittery situation in a hostile environment on Tuesday.
The Angelenos looked absolutely ferocious in their opening-round destruction of Real España; it’s too early to write them off. Still, an off night is often harshly punished in CCC, and doubly so against LIGA MX giants like Cruz Azul or Monterrey, one of whom awaits LAFC should they overcome Alajuelense.
- Status: Treading water
The Herons are not exactly firing on all cylinders. New Designated Player Germán Berterame hasn’t produced a goal contribution yet in CCC play, and a general sense of frustration was palpable in passages of their recent matches, including Wednesday’s scoreless Leg 1 draw at Nashville SC.
Their usual fluidity has clicked only in fleeting patches; they’re missing Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba more than some might have expected. Having failed to find an away goal in Music City, Miami are vulnerable to a result like 1-1 or 2-2 which would advance Nashville on the away goals rule. And Nu Stadium, their glittering new home, won’t open until next month, so they’ll host NSH at their old place, now shorn of its previous corporate moniker, in Fort Lauderdale.
All that said, IMCF are undefeated since their 3-0 opening day humbling at LAFC. Yes, it will take more, a lot more, to beat their likely quarterfinal opponents, Club América, but Lionel Messi and his mates prioritize CCC highly. Expect them to shift through the gears in March.
- Status: Crashing like Wall Street 1929
Disaster. That’s about all you can say about the Whitecaps’ 3-0 loss to Seattle at BC Place Thursday night. Last year’s CCC finalists are staring early elimination right in the face, despite that being their first L of the season, and it would sting even more at the hands of their Cascadia rivals.
“We made some big mistakes that put us in a very difficult situation,” said coach Jesper Sørensen, who must also wait and hope for good news on the calf issue that prompted an early exit for center back and reigning MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon.
A ‘Caps optimist might seek a sliver of hope in the fact that the Sounders must host the second leg across Washington state in Spokane due to the installation of a grass surface at Lumen Field for this summer's 2026 FIFA World Cup. Yet Sørensen didn’t bite when asked about that postgame, noting the reality that his team must conjure up a flood of goals that will be difficult on any pitch, anywhere.
- Status: Surging
Watching Paul Arriola, Jesus Ferreira et al cleverly slash open VWFC again and again in transition, you’d hardly guess the Rave Green are dealing with one of the longest injury lists in the league.
Thursday night’s W was a banner result, the sort that builds powerful belief inside a locker room – and Brian Schmetzer’s group are already deep and battle-tested, with plenty of experience in knockout situations. (Nine members of the current squad were part of SSFC’s historic run to 2022 ConcaChampions glory, for example.)
Should they hold serve in Leg 2, Seattle have every reason to feel confident in the quarters, be it against FC Cincinnati or Tigres UANL. Speaking of Cincy…
- Status: On the up, surprisingly
Arguably the only Leg 1 result more shocking than the Sounders’ win over VWFC was previously-slumping Cincy’s 3-0 ambush of Tigres, a perennial trophy hunter in both LIGA MX and CCC. Long famed for their savvy and steel, Los Felinos looked uncharacteristically jittery at TQL Stadium and the Fighting Garys pounced, spearheaded by Kévin Denkey in what might rank as his best performance in FCC colors.
Typically, Tigres just don’t allow themselves to get stuck behind the 8-ball with results like this, and their rage was evident:
One of North America’s true oddball characters, Nahuel is telling on himself a bit there, as he was directly at fault for Cincy’s field-tilting opener. Expect a ferocious welcome on Thursday – their Estadio Universitario home isn't called El Volcán ('The Volcano') for nothing. But with Evander working his way back to fitness and Roman Celentano looking superb in goal, we like FCC’s chances.
- Status: Bright but fading, like guitar reverb wash-out at Blackbird Studio
Had NSH scored just one goal at home against Miami, we’d feel a lot different about their CCC hopes.
The second-most productive attack in MLS so far this season failed to do so, however. So now, in order to advance, they must search out some scoring at IMCF’s house in Fort Lauderdale, where the Boys in Gold have only scored five goals in their last seven visits, none of them victories.
To be fair, coach B.J. Callaghan clearly emphasized defensive solidity against Messi and friends, and 0-0 in Leg 1 means Nashville can advance with a scoring draw next week. It’s a tall order, particularly the part about keeping Messi in check for two straight games. We’ll call that statistically unlikely, and if NSH fans want to use this section to play the ‘no one believes in us’ card, well, knock yourselves out.
- Status: Growing, cautiously
Early opponents Sporting San Miguelito (Panama) and Jamaican outfit Mount Pleasant do not exactly represent a murderers’ row for the Gs to vanquish. And the loss of DP winger Joe Paintsil to what appeared to be a hamstring injury in last weekend’s league defeat at Colorado is a hefty setback.
Still, the Brazilian attacking pair of Gabriel Pec and João Klauss are developing a nice chemistry, and we like what homegrown young’uns Harbor Miller and Rubén Ramos brought to the table in the 3-0 Leg 1 win over Mt. Pleasant that puts them in good stead to manage their Leg 2 trip to Jamaica.
Compromise position: We won’t really know what this Galaxy are made of until the quarterfinals, when they’d tangle with either San Diego or Toluca.
Sometimes a cup run can provide a useful distraction from league struggles. And make no mistake, Philly are struggling badly in MLS play, with three straight losses and just one goal, a penalty kick, across those 270-plus minutes, which has dialed up the pressure around their weekend visit to Atlanta United.
Alas, Tuesday’s Leg 1 home loss to Club América effectively wrecked any Union hopes of a left-field CCC adventure. The DOOP squad’s demolition derby style made Las Águilas uncomfortable for long stretches, yet Philly’s composure deserted them in the final third and as a result, they need an away win in Mexico City’s thin air next week if they are to advance.
History shows that to be the hardest task on the continent.
¡Arriba Los Niños! SDFC’s breathless 3-2 win over back-to-back reigning LIGA MX champs Toluca was the most compelling, chaotic, Concacaf-y game of the week, and it gives them a very real chance to complete the job in central Mexico on Wednesday.
An early red card/penalty kick combo from Marcus Ingvartsen’s error looked to have doomed San Diego, only for them to rattle off three goals despite playing with 10 men. Even a second red/PK setback involving key defender Manu Duah couldn’t deny them victory, though Duah’s absence may yet prove quite costly in Leg 2.
All in all, SDFC showed they’re made of sterner stuff, and that inspires confidence. Mikey Varas’ game model – and his players’ brave, committed execution of it – seems to keep them in contention in every game, no matter what. Can they survive Toluca’s quality, intensity and 8,727-foot (2,660 meters) altitude advantage? We’ll be staying up late to find out.
