Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
How did Toronto qualify when they were 8th in the East in 2011?
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The US is given 4 spots (LA, Dallas, Colorado, and Seattle), while Canada is given 1 spot.
The US gives out the spots for MLS Supporters Shield champion (best record in regular season - LA), MLS Cup Champion (playoff winner - Colorado), MLS Cup runner up (Dallas), and the winner of the US open cup (tournament with teams from all 5 divisions of US soccer - Seattle).
Canada holds a similar tournament featuring all the pro teams (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton). The winner gets Canada's single spot in the Champions League. But unlike some of the US spots, who go straight to the group round, the Canadian spot has to play a 2-game preliminary round to qualify to the group stage. This has been the format since 2008.
So Toronto FC was seeded first in last years Canadian Championship. They beat FC Edmonton 3-0, 1-0, and advanced to the final. They played Vancouver in the final, and tied 1-1, and won 2-1 (Vancouver was winning 1-0, but the match had to be canceled from weather, and restarted 0-0).
They then played Nicaraguan team Real Esteli in the prelim stage, winning 2-1, 2-1.
In the group stage Toronto FC went 3-1-2, beating FC Dallas at home 3-0 in the last game to advance ahead of them as one of the top two teams of the group, along with Mexican team UNAM.
Toronto FC then drew the LA Galaxy for the quarters.
Here is a bit of history on how Canadian teams have done:
2008 - Montreal - quarter finals
2009 - Toronto - preliminary round
2010 - Toronto - group stage
2011 - Toronto -