The CONCACAF Champions Cup draw is Wednesday. What FC Cincinnati fans need to know

Now more than ever before, Major League Soccer is a true, yearlong, 365-day proposition. The calendar of events for one season bleeds into the next, and for the high-achieving clubs like 2023 FC Cincinnati, there isn't much of an offseason.

As evidence to that point, FC Cincinnati will begin to see its 2024 campaign take shape Wednesday when the draw for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup is staged, which will see the club's first two competitive matches of the new season placed on the calendar.

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The draw is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX Sports 2, Tubi, and TUDN.

The 2024 Champions Cup was known as the Champions League until a rebrand and competition overhaul was unveiled in June. The 2024 tournament will be the 59th edition of the premier men's club competition for CONCACAF, a region within FIFA that oversees soccer in North and Central America, and the Caribbean. The competition's first four rounds (round one, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals), all include home and away play, while the final is played as a single-leg match scheduled for June 2.

The Champions Cup is one of several feeder tournaments that links club soccer across the globe, culminating with the FIFA Club World Cup. In 2025, the Club World Cup will be staged in the U.S.

The Club World Cup is a distant thought. For now, FC Cincinnati will learn its first-round opponent via a random drawing.

Teams will be separated into two groups, or "pots," and FCC, which is in Pot One, will face one of: Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), St. Louis City SC (MLS), CS Herediano (Costa Rica), Comunicaciones FC (Guatemala), CA Independiente (Panama), Cavalry FC (Canada), Forge FC (Canada), Real Estelí FC (Nicaragua), Moca FC (Dominican Republic) and Cavalier FC (Jamaica).

As the No. 14-ranked club out of 185 teams throughout CONCACAF, FC Cincinnati was placed in Pot One with other higher-ranked qualifying clubs. The lower-ranked qualifiers will be in Pot Two.

Pot 1 (eight best-ranked non-seeded clubs): Philadelphia Union, Deportivo Toluca, CD Guadalajara, Orlando City SC, Nashville SC, FC Cincinnati, New England Revolution, and Houston Dynamo FC.

Pot 2 (11 lowest-ranked non-seeded clubs): Vancouver, Deportivo Saprissa, St. Louis, CS Herediano, Comunicaciones FC, CA Independiente, Cavalry FC, Forge FC, Real Estelí FC, Moca FC and Cavalier FC.

At the time of the draw Wednesday, FC Cincinnati will be 11 days removed from the final match of its 2023 season, the Dec. 2 Eastern Conference final loss at TQL Stadium to Columbus Crew.

The Champions Cup first round is scheduled for Feb. 6-8 (week one), Feb. 13-15 (week two), Feb. 20-22 (week three) and Feb. 27-29 (week four).

On Dec. 20, MLS is scheduled to unveil its full, 34-match regular season schedule for 2024. That will also likely outline the postseason dates for next year.

Chris Albright wins MLS Sporting Executive of the Year

FC Cincinnati claimed one final individual postseason honor, this one for its general manager. Chris Albright was named the MLS Sporting Executive of the Year, an award presented annually to one MLS club’s chief soccer officer, general manager, or head sporting executive.

Albright oversaw and helped orchestrate FC Cincinnati's best-ever season in 2023. Beyond being the best season ever for FCC, the club produced one of the MLS best regular-season performances in recent memory.

In 2023, FC Cincinnati claimed the Supporters' Shield, the fan-managed trophy presented to the club with the best regular-season record each season. The Shield is considered by many to be one one of the two best domestic accomplishments an MLS team can achieve in a given year, and a growing number in the MLS community see it as the pinnacle achievement.

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The Shield brought with it FC Cincinnati's berth to the 2024 Champions Cup, a new frontier on which the club could achieve greatly. Through 2023, just participating in the Champions Cup and representing MLS in the continental competition was considered a major honor, although it remains to be seen how participation will be viewed going forward − 10 MLS clubs now qualify for the expanded tournament.

After winning the Shield, FC Cincinnati was favored to win MLS Cup and narrowly fell short in the 3-2 loss to eventual MLS Cup champion Columbus.

Albright is credited with the hiring of coaches, roster maneuvering and culture-building that allowed FC Cincinnati to reach the aforementioned heights of the past year.

The award for Albright marks the 11th and final major individual honor for FC Cincinnati after its best-ever campaign. The club also claimed 2023 Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player (Luciano Acosta), the Defender of the Year (Matt Miazga), two Best XI honors (Acosta and Miazga), Goal of the Year (Acosta), Save of the Year (Roman Celentano), and the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year (Pat Noonan).

During the season, Acosta, Miazga and Alvaro Barreal were named MLS All-Stars.

After not having any all-star selections during the first three years of FC Cincinnati's MLS history, the club has had five under Albright to go along with four total Best XI selections. Four of the five players honored as all-stars arrived to the club at least one season prior to Albright being hired by FCC, which points to their development under him and the coaching staff Albright helped assemble.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What FC Cincinnati fans need to know about CONCACAF Champions Cup