The road to Caribbean glory now has a map as the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) dropped the official draw for the 2026 CFU Club Shield on Friday, unleashing a 22-team, straight-knockout for regional supremacy. With Trinidad and Tobago set to host the eighth edition from July 23 to August 2, the stakes have never been higher with the champions and runners-up punching their tickets to the 2026 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, putting them within striking distance of the continent’s premier Champions Cup.
The first round kicks off July 23-24, with the Round of 16 following on July 25-26. The quarterfinals land on July 28, the semifinals on July 31, and the final on August 2.
Twelve lower-ranked clubs were thrown into the first-round blender. The draw split them into two pots: Pot 1 will see the likes of St Paul’s United FC (St. Kitts and Nevis), Elite Sports Club (Cayman Islands), SWA Sharks FC (Turks and Caicos), Dublanc FC (Dominica), La Cleary (Saint Lucia) and North Leeward Predators FC (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
Pot 2 features St. John’s Sports Club (Grenada), Slingerz Football Club (Guyana), SCSA Eagles (Sint Maarten), Roaring Lions FC (Anguilla), Helenites SC (U.S. Virgin Islands) and Virgin Gorda United Club (British Virgin Islands)
The opening matchups will see Dublanc FC (DMA) vs. St. John’s Sports Club (GRN), followed by SWA Sharks FC (TCA) vs. Slingerz Football Club (GUY), La Cleary (LCA) vs. Roaring Lions FC (AIA), North Leeward Predators FC (VIN) vs. SCSA Eagles (SMA), St Paul’s United FC (SKN) vs. Helenites SC (VIR), Elite Sports Club (CAY) vs. Virgin Gorda United Club (VGB).
While the first-round survivors scrap for survival, eight heavyweights have already booked their seats at the Round of 16 table. The CFU granted byes to the Caribbean’s five professional league representatives and the three highest-ranked amateur clubs.
They are Mount Pleasant FC (Jamaica), Baltimore SC (Haiti), Delfines del Este FC (Dominican Republic), SV Robinhood (Suriname) and Prisons Service FC (Trinidad and Tobago)
Top amateur byes have also been granted to Inter Willemstad (Curaçao), Metropolitan FA (Puerto Rico), SV Britannia (Aruba)
They will be joined in Pot 3 for the Round of 16 draw by two additional clubs: Weymouth Wales FC (Barbados) and All Saints’ United (Antigua and Barbuda), plus the six first-round winners.