CONCACAF Nations League: What We Learned

The CONCACAF Nations League finals initially pitted United States vs Honduras and Mexico vs Costa Rica in a test to see where North America’s powerhouses stood. Going back to 2010, they occupied 9 of the 10 spots allotted to the region in the last 3 World Cups. The pecking order within those 4 was reinforced by USA and Mexico coming out victorious, though the final matchup on June 6 saw the Stars and Stripes win their first competitive match over El Tri since 2013. Now that the dust has settled, what have we learned about CONCACAF’s top nations and who from the chase pack is closest to challenging them?

United States: Dawn of a New Era

For a contingent of Americans taking Europe by storm including Christian Pulisic, John Brooks, Zach Steffen, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, and Tyler Adams, this has been a season to remember. But questions remained regarding their ability to play together and holes elsewhere in the roster needed to be filled. Narrow but gritty wins over Honduras and Mexico likely didn’t change Gregg Berhalter’s reputation among USMNT supporters, but it did instill a belief in this collective unit being capable of great things. Some players such as Jackson Yueill, Kellyn Acosta, Tim Ream, and Mark McKenzie struggled with the pressure on, but others rose to the challenge. None more so than Ethan Horvath, Steffen’s understudy, being called into action. He stole the show with his goalkeeping heroics, while Pulisic provided a star shining moment and iconic picture of his own. Even though this is just the CONCACAF Nations League, it’s tough to debate United States being the team to beat in this region.

Mexico: Time to Adapt to New Surroundings

Mexico expect to beat CONCACAF opponents regularly, including USA because it reinforces, in their mind, their rightful place as kings of the region. However, they needed Guillermo Ochoa’s heroics to beat Costa Rica on penalties. Their offense got going against the United States but both times their rivals responded, and the game became a tense affair. It was a frustrating night for Hirving Lozano following a  frustrating season with Napoli as they missed out on Champions League, a competition a player of his talent should be playing in. The hole at striker is more dire for Mexico than the USA, with Raul Jimenez’s injury not being adequately filled by Lozano or Uriel Antuna and prompting recruitment of newly Mexico National Team eligible Rogelio Funes Mori. Another concern is the reliance on Hector Moreno and Andres Guardado (the latter’s decisive penalty getting saved by Horvath). Hector Herrera is another veteran presence that while at times had a good game, he almost got himself sent off. Mexico are at a crossroads right now, and Tata Martino has his work cut out for him to find the right mix of players to guide El Tri beyond their Round of 16 wall at the next World Cup.

Costa Rica: Leaders of Central America

Costa Rica’s quarterfinal run at the 2014 World Cup feels like ages ago, but one thing that hasn’t changed for Los Ticos is they remain a tough nut to crack. This was true even without Keylor Navas in net, who was unavailable for the CONCACAF Nations League finals due to injury. Perhaps that was a let off for Mexico, but Leonel Moreira was no slouch either. Familiar faces leading this current Costa Rica side include Bryan Ruiz wearing the captain’s armband, ex Arsenal player Joel Campbell, Celso Borges, and Francisco Calvo. All of them are at or near their peak, with some current MLS players such as Randall Leal and Allan Cruz in their mid 20s representing the younger players of the squad seeing action. Despite a solid effort, Costa Rica couldn’t reverse their fortunes from the famous snow game they dueled the United States in during the 2014 World Cup cycle in Colorado, but manager Ronald Gonzalez Brenes will look at it as a disappointment if his side fail to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. In a small consolation, Costa Rica did beat Honduras on penalties in the third place match.

Honduras: Right on Their Tails

On paper, Honduras appeared to be a distant fourth from this CONCACAF quarter in terms of talent. On the field, this was only true in the sense that a better team could’ve punished the United States more with the amount of times they turned the ball over to the Central Americans. Honduras still earned those turnovers. This was a typical CONCACAF performance, and being able to keep USA scoreless until the 11th hour will give them confidence in their abilities to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Although goalkeeper Luis Lopez is somewhat unknown stateside due to the brevity of his loan spells at LAFC and Orange County SC, he made himself known as a wall that no player besides Jordan Siebatcheu was able to get past. MLS still has its footprints all over Fabian Coito’s Catrachos with former Dynamo striker Alberth Elis causing the US’s defense problems and current Dynamo ageless wonder Maynor Figueroa still captain. A loss to Central American rivals Costa Rica did relegate them to 4th, but they are still in the mix as far as CONCACAF’s top teams go.

The Field: Inspiring Hope in Their Homelands

Canada and Jamaica remain the most intriguing opponents given the familiarity of many of their key players, including players who have made a name for themselves in Europe like Canada’s Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David and Jamaica’s Leon Bailey and Michael Hector. Jamaica is the 5th CONCACAF nation along with the aforementioned quarter to have a bye to the final round of World Cup Qualification. At the time of writing, El Salvador, Canada, Curacao, Panama, Haiti, and Saint Kitts and Nevis are at the top of their groups in the second qualifying stage. Saint Kitts have clinched first place, while Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua are the closest challengers to the rest of those nations respectively. While I still retain Canada and Jamaica are the most likely to pip a Honduras or Costa Rica (or one of the big two if they’re not careful, as they are aware from past cycles) to a World Cup spot, the growth of other smaller teams is apparent and the Gold Cup’s expansion to 16 teams will give fans across the continent and opportunity to see this confederation’s progress.