Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union side will continue their Concacaf Champions Cup campaign this week, hoping to put a poor start to the new Major League Soccer season behind them as they face one of the region’s top clubs.
The 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, the 61st edition of the region’s premier men’s club competition, continues with the Round of 16 kicking off on Tuesday.
It features the 11 teams that advanced from the first round, including Philadelphia, who had an easy triumph over Trinidad & Tobago’s Defence Force, and five clubs who are entering the competition in the second round as pre-seeded teams.
Former Bafana Bafana fullback Carnell is in his second season as coach of Philadelphia, who go up against Club América, the popularly supported Mexican side who have won the continental competition seven times.
The Concacaf Champions Cup is for the clubs in the Caribbean, Central and North American region, and this year’s winner,
to be decided in the final on May 30, will go to the next edition of the Club World Cup in 2029, as well as the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Union host Club América on Tuesday in the first leg of their tie, with the return match in Mexico City next Wednesday, 18 March.
Carnell’s team have surprisingly lost their opening three games in the new MLS season, two of them at home. It is in stark contrast to the last campaign, where they finished the regular season in top place.
Philadelphia’s South African defender, Olwethu Makhanya, is available to play after he missed their home loss at the weekend to San Jose Earthquakes through suspension.
The 21-year-old centre back, called up to the Bafana Bafana preliminary squad for the first time on Monday, was sent off in the 2-1 home loss to New York City on 1 March.