Sounders' CONCACAF Champions League Final Dates, Times Announced

SEATTLE, WA —A day after the Seattle Sounders celebrated reaching the CONCACAF Champions League final for the first time, the team learned on Thursday when the two-legged showpiece event will take place.

CONCACAF, the governing body of soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, announced the first leg of the final between the Sounders and Mexican side Pumas will be played at 10:30 p.m. Pacific on April 27 at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City.

The second leg is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 4 at Lumen Field in Seattle.

Both contests will be broadcast in the U.S. on Fox Sports (English) and TUDN (Spanish).

The Sounders announced that tickets to the second leg would go on sale to the general public at 3 p.m. Thursday on the club's website.

Seattle clinched its spot in the final with Wednesday's 1-1 tie with New York City FC in Harrison, New Jersey. The result meant the Sounders went through 4-2 on aggregate after beating NYCFC 3-1 in the first leg on April 6 in Seattle.

Seattle's Raul Ruidiaz scored a first-half goal to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage —4-1 on aggregate —before NYCFC's Santiago Rodriguez found the net early in the second half.

The Sounders are looking to become the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League title since the tournament was rebranded from the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2008. Mexican teams have won every tournament since the rebranding.

Seattle is the fifth MLS team to reach the final under the current format, joining: Real Salt Lake (2011), CF Montreal (2015), Toronto FC (2018) and LAFC (2020).

The last MLS team to win the confederation's championship was LA Galaxy in 2000.

"It's a trophy the club certainly covets," Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said about winning the Champions League, according to the Associated Press. "I think that's something that we have made public. The constant theme throughout this club, the culture of the club is to win every game, every trophy of a competition."

In addition to lifting a trophy, the winner of the CONCACAF Champions League will represent the region in the next FIFA Club World Cup, which also features the club champions of Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Sounders goalkeeper Sebastian Frei talked about what it would mean to become the first MLS team to win the tournament in its current format.

"There's very select opportunities to make history," Frei said. "There's still one elusive one for MLS. If you can be that one, it's going to be massive for your career, for the franchise, for everybody involved. What a massive opportunity."

With the Champions League final first-leg set for April 27, the Sounders have announced they have rescheduled the April 30 home game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. That contest now will take place on June 14.

Seattle (which has 2 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie in MLS this season) returns to league action at 7 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Inter Miami CF at Lumen Field. The game will be broadcast on FS1.