MIAMI, Florida– The 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League Round of 16 kicks into gear this week in what will be the most diverse in terms of clubs in SCL Round of 16 history.

Two years ago, clubs from eight different nations made up the Round of 16 in the inaugural edition of the tournament, which encompassed representatives from both Central America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Belize.

A year later in the 2018 SCL, it was once again clubs from eight different nations composing the first round of the tournament across Central America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Martinique and Belize.

However, it is a different story in 2019, as clubs hailing from nine different nations will be partaking in the Round of 16: Canada, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Suriname, Panama, Jamaica and Nicaragua.

In addition, the regions of North America, Central America and the Caribbean will all be present in the Round of 16, including first-time nations Canada (Forge FC), Guatemala (Comunicaciones, Guastatoya) and Suriname (SV Robinhood), who all have clubs appearing in their first ever SCL.

Taking into account the clubs that featured in the Preliminary Round, 11 nations have been presented in the 2019 SCL, with AS Capoise of Haiti and Belmopan Bandits of Belize participating in the previous round.

There is also a fresh, new look with the 2019 SCL Round of 16, as four of the 16 teams will be playing their first ever SCL match when they kick off the first leg of their Round of 16 tie this week: San Carlos of Costa Rica, Independiente of Panama, Guastatoya of Guatemala and Managua FC of Nicaragua,

With such rich diversity encompassing all parts of the region, the 2019 SCL is serving as the perfect embodiment of Concacaf’s One Concacaf vision.