| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United States | 
| City | Washington, D.C. | 
| Dates | August 13–24 | 
| Teams | 8 (from 6 associations) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Cruz Azul (5th title) | 
| Runners-up |  Los Angeles Galaxy | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 8 | 
| Goals scored | 27 (3.38 per match) | 
The 1997 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 33rd edition of the annual international club football competition, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club champion of the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean).
The teams were split into three zones (North, Central and Caribbean). The North American zone qualified three teams direct into the quarterfinals and two teams played a play-off for the fourth spot in the quarterfinals. The Central American zone played a regional tournament to get three spots in the quarterfinal. The winner of the Caribbean zone got a place in the quarterfinals.
1997 was the first year that teams from the United States' premier league, Major League Soccer, took part in the Champions' Cup. The competitors in the MLS Cup, both winner and runner-up, were each given berths in the tournament.
All but two of the eight games played in the final tournament were played in Washington, D.C.. The final was won by Cruz Azul, who captured their fifth Champions' Cup title with a 5–3 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.[1][2] The Galaxy were the first American club to reach the final of a Champions' Cup since 1984.
Preliminary Regional playoffs
North American Zone
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | 
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Galaxy  | 4–1 |  Santos Laguna | 
| July 30, 1997 | Los Angeles Galaxy   | 4–1 |  Santos Laguna | Los Angeles | 
| Mauricio Cienfuegos  64' Eduardo Hurtado  65' Martín Machón  80' Welton Mello  84' | Nicolás Ramírez  70' | Stadium: Rose Bowl | 
- Los Angeles Galaxy advance to the quarterfinal.
Central American Zone
Preliminary round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.F.C. Euro Kickers  | 5–6 |  Diriangén FC | 4–2 | 1–4 | 
| A.F.C. Euro Kickers   | 4–2 |  Diriangén FC | Estadio Artes y Oficios | |
| Jorge Bovell    José Ardines   Wilchard  | Sergio Gago  Harry Cruz  | 
| June 9, 1997 | Diriangén FC   | 4–1 (6–5 agg.) |  A.F.C. Euro Kickers | Cacique Diriangén Stadium | 
| Jose Maria Bermudez    Sergio Gago   Lester González  | José Ardines  | 
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS Cartaginés  | 9–2 |  Tauro | 5–0 | 4–2 | 
| FAS  | 2–2 (3–5 pen) |  CSD Comunicaciones | 1–1 | 1–1 | 
| Xelajú MC  | 2–0 |  Real Verdes | 0–0 | 2–0 | 
| Juventus  | 4–2 | .svg.png.webp) Real CD España | 0–1 | 4–1 | 
| Luis Ángel Firpo  | 3–1 | .svg.png.webp) Olimpia | 0–0 | 3–1 | 
| Diriangén FC  | 4–5 |  Alajuelense | 3–2 | 1–3 | 
| CS Cartaginés   | 5–0 |  Tauro | Cartago, Costa Rica | |
| Jewisson Bennett    Heriberto Quirós    Norman Gómez  | Nil | Stadium: José Rafael"Fello"Meza Ivancovich Stadium | 
| Tauro   | 2–4 (2–8 agg.) |  CS Cartaginés | Panama City, Panama | |
| Gustavo Lagarcha    | Heriberto Quirós    Cristian Mena   Norman Gómez  | Stadium: Rommel Fernández Stadium | 
| FAS   | 1–1 |  CSD Comunicaciones | ||
| Guillermo Rivera  | Milton "Tyson" Núñez  | 
| CSD Comunicaciones   | 1–1 (2–2 (pen agg.) |  FAS | ||
| Everaldo Valencia  | Carlos Villareal  | 
| Real Verdes   | 0–0 |  Xelajú MC | ||
| Nil | Nil | 
| June 2, 1997 | Xelajú MC   | 2–0 (2–0 agg.) |  Real Verdes | San Ignacio’s Norman Broaster Stadium | 
| Gustavo Benzomo   Cesar Trujillo  | Nil | 
| Real CD España .svg.png.webp)  | 1–0 |  Juventus | ||
| Guillermo Gómez  62' | Nil | 
| May 29, 1997 | Juventus   | 4–1 (4–2 agg.) | .svg.png.webp) Real CD España | Francisco Morazán Stadium | 
| David McCaulay  2' Norman Nuñez  29' Norman Nuñez  45' John McAllet  52' | Orbin Cabrera  88' | 
| Luis Ángel Firpo   | 0–0 | .svg.png.webp) Olimpia | Usulután, El Salvador | |
| 28 May 1997 | Nil | Nil | Stadium: Estadio Sergio Torres, Usulután Attendance: 6,000 | 
| June 4, 1997 | Olimpia .svg.png.webp)  | 1–3 (1–3 agg.) |  Luis Ángel Firpo | |
| Wilmer Velasquez  24' | Fabio de Freitas  38' Juan Gámez  43' Percival Piggott  60' | 
| 22 June 1997 | Diriangén FC   | 3–2 |  Alajuelense | Dirimbia, Nicaragua | 
| Tyrone Acevedo  22' José María Bermúdez  27' Léster González  68' | Josef Miso  14' Ronald Chaves  58' | Stadium: Estadio Cacique Diriangén | 
| Alajuelense   | 3–1 (5–4 agg.) |  Diriangén FC | Alajuela, Costa Rica | |
| Luis Diego Arnaez  Ronald Chavez   Harold Wallace  |  | Stadium: Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium | 
Second round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juventus  | 2–8 |  CSD Comunicaciones | 0–3 | 2–5 | 
| Xelajú MC  | 2–3 |  C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo | 2–1 | 0–2 | 
| CS Cartaginés  | 2–1 |  L.D. Alajuelense | 2–1 | – | 
- Comunicaciones, Luis Ángel Firpo and Cartaginés advance to the quarterfinal. Cartaginés vs Alajuelense played in one leg in San José.[3]
| June 22, 1997 | Juventus   | 0–3 |  CSD Comunicaciones | Belize | 
| Nil | Julio Rodas   Castro  (o.g.) Rigoberto Gómez  | Stadium: People’s Stadium in Orange Walk | 
| June 28, 1997 | CSD Comunicaciones   | 5–2 (8–2 agg.) |  Juventus | Guatemala City, Guatemala | 
| Rigoberto Gómez    Nicolas Suazo   Byron Perez   TBD  | Norman Núñez   | Stadium: Cementos Progreso Stadium | 
| Xelajú MC   | 2–1 |  C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo | ||
| Posse   Mora  | Raul Toro  | 
| C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo   | 2–0 (3–2 agg.) |  Xelajú MC | ||
| Raul Toro   Israel Castro  | Nil | 
| CS Cartaginés   | 2–1 (2–1 agg.) |  L.D. Alajuelense | ||
| Sergio Morales    | Luis Diego Arnáez  | 
Caribbean Zone
CFU Club Championship final
| 2 August 1997 | United Petrotrin   | 2–1 |  Seba United | 
- United Petrotrin advance to the quarterfinal
Quarterfinal Qualified teams
North American zone
- Major League Soccer:
 D.C. United – 1996 MLS Cup winner D.C. United – 1996 MLS Cup winner
 Los Angeles Galaxy – preliminary round winner (1996 MLS Cup runner-up) Los Angeles Galaxy – preliminary round winner (1996 MLS Cup runner-up)
- Primera División de México:
 Guadalajara – 1997 Verano winner Guadalajara – 1997 Verano winner
 Cruz Azul – 1996 CONCACAF Champions Cup title holder Cruz Azul – 1996 CONCACAF Champions Cup title holder
Central American zone
- Central American Qualifiers: C.S. Cartaginés – Second Round Series winner C.S. Cartaginés – Second Round Series winner C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo – Second Round Series winner C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo – Second Round Series winner CSD Comunicaciones – Second Round Series winner CSD Comunicaciones – Second Round Series winner
Caribbean zone
- Caribbean Football Union (CFU): United Petrotrin – 1997 CFU Club Championship winner United Petrotrin – 1997 CFU Club Championship winner
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
|  D.C. United | 1 | |||||||||
|  United Petrotrin | 0 | |||||||||
|  D.C. United | 0 | |||||||||
|  Los Angeles Galaxy | 1 | |||||||||
|  Los Angeles Galaxy | 2 | |||||||||
|  Luis Ángel Firpo | 0 | |||||||||
|  Los Angeles Galaxy | 3 | |||||||||
|  Cruz Azul | 5 | |||||||||
|  Guadalajara | 1 | |||||||||
|  Cartaginés | 0 | |||||||||
|  Guadalajara | 2 | |||||||||
|  Cruz Azul | 3 | Third place | ||||||||
|  Cruz Azul | 5 | |||||||||
|  Comunicaciones | 0 | |||||||||
|  D.C. United | 2 | |||||||||
|  Guadalajara | 2 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Los Angeles Galaxy  | 2–0 |  C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo | 
|---|---|---|
| Welton  45' Hurtado  78' | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
| D.C. United  | 1–0 |  United Petrotrin | 
|---|---|---|
| Etcheverry  84' | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
| Cruz Azul  | 5–0 |  CSD Comunicaciones | 
|---|---|---|
| Galindo  5', 57' Yegros  42' Hermosillo  56' Palencia  78' | 
| Guadalajara  | 1–0 |  C.S. Cartaginés | 
|---|---|---|
| Robles  34' | 
Semi-finals
| D.C. United  | 0–1 |  Los Angeles Galaxy | 
|---|---|---|
| Jones  10' | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
| Guadalajara  | 2–3 |  Cruz Azul | 
|---|---|---|
| Sánchez  86' (pen.) Martínez  90' | Sánchez  26' (o.g.) Yegros  36' Adomaitis  77' | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
Third place match
| D.C. United  | 2–2 |  Guadalajara | 
|---|---|---|
| Díaz Arce  40' Iroha  89' | Acosta  55' Sánchez  86' (pen.) | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
- Third place was shared.
Final
| Los Angeles Galaxy  | 3–5 |  Cruz Azul | 
|---|---|---|
| Hurtado  8', 14' Campos  78' | Galindo  30' (pen.) Rodríguez  31' Adomaitis  36' Hermosillo  62', 66' | 
Washington, D.C. – United States
| Team details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 
 
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Champion
| CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1997 Winners | 
|---|
|  | 
| Cruz Azul Fifth title | 
References
- ↑ Copa de Campeones 1997 on the RSSSF
- ↑ "Copa de la Campeones de la Concacaf 1997" on Reino Azul (blogsite), 20 Oct 2014
- ↑ "Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF 1997".






















