The CONCACAF Nations League is in its second version with the competitors that includes each nationwide group in North America. The USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada stand out because the top-ranked groups within the area, and favorites for the title.
CONCACAF is the identify given to the group of soccer-playing nations in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (the acronym stands for “Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Affiliation Soccer”).
There are a number of tournaments for males’s, girls’s and youth nationwide groups organized by CONCACAF with the Nations League being one of many newest additions to the soccer calendar.
The USA will likely be seeking to defend its Nations League trophy after claiming the inaugural version of the competitors in a last in opposition to Mexico. However there are a bunch of different smaller, lesser-known nations that will likely be hoping to spring some upsets that might set them up properly for future tournaments.
Because the CONCACAF area will get set to host the World Cup in 2026 (in USA, Mexico, and Canada), there has by no means been a greater alternative for much less heralded nations to earn a coveted spot within the expanded 48-team World Cup discipline. The CONCACAF Nations League is a crucial proving floor for these international locations.
MORE: Mexico transfer nearer to reaching the Nations League last 4
What’s the CONCACAF Nations League?
The CONCACAF Nations League is the North American model of a match that was began in Europe in 2018.
The European soccer physique, UEFA, launched the Nations League as a aggressive substitute for the hefty quantity of friendlies that European nations had been enjoying merely to fill the schedule between the World Cup and European Championships.
CONCACAF noticed this and basically copied it starting in 2019. The USA was topped champion of the primary version after profitable the June 2021 last.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the inaugural version, however the intent is to finish the Nations League in a two-year window, filling within the hole between the World Cup (performed each 4 years) and the North American championship for nationwide groups known as the Gold Cup (performed each two years in odd-numbered years).
CONCACAF Nations League format
The CONCACAF Nations League is damaged down into “leagues” or tiers, which separate the nations based mostly on relative power: League A (prime tier), League B (mid-tier), League C (lowest tier).
The very first version of the Nations League took each nation’s FIFA world rating into consideration, and since then groups have been shifting up and down tiers based mostly on efficiency. The Nations League champion for any version can solely come from groups competing within the prime tier (League A).
All 41 nations that kind a part of the CONCACAF area discover themselves in considered one of three tiers: 12 in League A, 16 international locations in League B, and the remaining 13 international locations in League C.
In every tier, the taking part nations are drawn into teams which sees them enjoying round-robin with residence and away matches in opposition to different opponents within the group. There’s a reward for profitable the group, and there are additionally penalties for ending final.
The primary-place group finishers in League A face off for the match title, whereas the group winners in League B and League C earn promotion as much as the upper tier.
The last-place group finishers in League A and League B are demoted (relegated) to the decrease tier.
CONCACAF Nations League winners
Because the competitors continues to be comparatively new, there has solely been one accomplished CONCACAF Nations League match up to now.
Within the 2019/20 last, the primary within the competitors’s historical past, the CONCACAF Nations League produced a mouth-watering last between rivals USA and Mexico that was finally performed in June 2021 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
The fixture lived as much as the hype, because it was stage 2-2 after 90 minutes of motion. Christian Pulisic scored the profitable objective in extra-time, a 114th-minute penalty, which gave america the match’s first title.
MORE: Why the primary USA vs. Mexico Nations League last was so epic
CONCACAF Nations League A schedule, fixtures 2022/23
For the 2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League, the top-tier League A pool options World Cup members USA, Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica among the many 12 groups.
The group of dozen nations additionally consists of the 4 promoted groups who gained their League B teams within the earlier version of the competitors: Jamaica, El Salvador, Suriname, and Grenada.
Solely the group winners transfer on to the Nations League semifinals (June 15) and last (June 18) which is able to happen in Las Vegas.
If groups are stage on factors, the primary tiebreakers are (a) general objective distinction, and (b) general objectives scored in that order. If groups are nonetheless stage, head-to-head matchups will then be taken into consideration per official match guidelines (web page 21).
Group A standings
Pos
Nation
Pts
W-L-D
GD
1.
Mexico
7
2-0-1
+5
2.
Jamaica
5
1-0-2
+2
3.
Suriname
1
0-2-1
-7
Group A fixtures
Group B standings
Pos
Nation
Pts
W-L-D
GD
1.
Panama
7
2-0-1
+7
2.
Costa Rica
6
2-1-0
+1
3.
Martinique
1
0-2-1
-7
Group B fixtures
Date
Match
Time (ET)
Jun. 2, 2022
Panama 2-0 Costa Rica
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 5, 2022
Costa Rica 2-0 Martinique
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 9, 2022
Panama 5-0 Martinique
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 12, 2022
Martinique 0-0 Panama
HIGHLIGHTS
Mar. 25, 2023
Martinique 1-2 Costa Rica
HIGHLIGHTS
Mar. 28, 2023
Costa Rica vs. Panama
22:00
Group C standings
Pos
Nation
Pts
W-L-D
GD
1.
Canada
6
2-1-0
+5
2.
Honduras
6
2-1-0
+1
3.
Curacao
3
1-2-0
-4
Group C fixtures
Date
Match
Time (ET)
Jun. 3, 2022
Curacao 0-1 Honduras
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 6, 2022
Honduras 1-2 Curacao
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 9, 2022
Canada 4-0 Curacao
HIGHLIGHTS
Jun. 13, 2022
Honduras 2-1 Canada
HIGHLIGHTS
Mar. 25, 2023
Curacao 0-2 Canada
HIGHLIGHTS
Mar. 28, 2023
Canada vs. Honduras
20:00
Group D standings
Pos
Nation
Pts
W-L-D
GD
1.
United States
7
2-0-1
+11
2.
El Salvador
5
1-0-2
+2
3.
Grenada
1
0-3-1
-13
Group D fixtures
2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League B & C groups
League B
Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, and Bermuda had been relegated from League A to League B after ending in final place of their group within the final version (2019/20).
Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Barbados, and Bahamas had been promoted from League C to League B after topping their respective teams within the final version.
Crew
2022/23
Group
FIFA rank
Antigua & Barbuda
A
131
Bahamas
C
203
Barbados
A
166
Belize
D
176
Bermuda
B
169
Cuba
A
168
Dominican Republic
D
152
French Guiana
D
—
Guadeloupe
A
—
Guatemala
D
119
Guyana
B
171
Haiti
B
87
Monserrat
B
179
Nicaragua
C
142
St. Vincent & Grenadines
C
178
Trinidad & Tobago
C
104
League C
Aruba, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia had been relegated from League B to League C after ending final of their group within the final version of the Nations League (2019/20).
Crew
2022/23
Group
FIFA rating
Anguilla
C
210
Aruba
B
202
Bonaire
A
—
British Virgin Islands
D
209
Cayman Islands
D
194
Dominica
C
184
Puerto Rico
D
170
Sint Maarten
A
—
St. Kitts & Nevis
B
140
St. Lucia
C
172
St. Martin
B
—
Turks & Caicos
A
206
U.S. Virgin Islands
A
208