[1] All four Mexican teams topped their groups and reached the semi-finals, with Pachuca winning the final against Cruz Azul with a 2–2 aggregate score, via the away goals rule.

[4] Also, in response to fixture congestion during the previous year's tournament, the Central American representatives that qualify via split seasons will no longer play-off solely to determine which team will gain entry into the group stage.

For those that don't, total points over both seasons, followed by other tiebreakers, will determine which team enters the group stage without playing extra matches.

[6] The spot vacated by Belize was awarded to Honduras, increasing their total to three qualified clubs, due to their association's teams' superior performance in the 2008–09 Champions League.

A second bid was reallocated on June 9 when it was determined that Real Estelí of Nicaragua did not have a suitable venue to host a CONCACAF club match.

Thus, the bid was awarded to a third team from Costa Rica, Herediano, the highest non-champion from the combined 2008 Invierno and 2009 Verano seasons.

Initially, there was a tie between Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala, based upon the results of the 2008–09 Champions League, for the reallocated Nicaraguan bid.

On July 10, 2009 CONCACAF announced that Luís Ángel Firpo of El Salvador was invited to take the place of Chalatenango due to Chalatengo's failure to sign and return the required participation agreement.

2 Berth originally awarded to Nicaragua (Real Estelí), was rescinded after a failed stadium inspection by CONCACAF officials.