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CONCACAF Nations League draw and the US Implications

By Jaime Broitman

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 27: Nations League before a Concacaf Nations League game between El Salvador and USMNT at Exploria Stadium on March 27, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 27: Nations League before a Concacaf Nations League game between El Salvador and USMNT at Exploria Stadium on March 27, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /
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On May 16th, CONCACAF will have its draw for the newest iteration of the CONCACAF Nations League. Unlike the previous editions: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica and Canada will not be in the first round as they are seeded into the quarterfinals.

In League A, there would be sixteen national teams but four would be seeded into the quarterfinals. The four teams that are excluded are the aforementioned United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada. The other twelve are: Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Martinique, Cuba, Curaçao, Suriname, Nicaragua and Grenada. These twelve teams would be drawn into two groups but it won’t be the regular home and away format, rather it would be four games in a Swiss-style format. These four games would be split between two home and two away games. My guess would be that the teams in pot 1 (Panama and Haiti) would host the teams in pot 2 (Jamaica and Guatemala) and pot 3 (Honduras and El Salvador) while playing away to the teams in pot 4 (Martinique and Cuba) as well as pot 5 (Curaçao and Suriname). The worst of the two groups would go down to League B, while the two group winners and the two runner ups would qualify to the quarterfinals.

The first round which excludes the four teams seeded into the quarterfinals between the September and October FIFA windows while the quarterfinals would be in the November FIFA window. In November, the winners of the quarterfinals would be automatically in to the 2024 Copa America while the losers would play each other to see who gets the last two spots.

League B is the only league to not have a revamp. This league would be comprised of 16 teams, in which the groups would be made of four national teams each. The teams in this league for this editions are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Monserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten and Trinidad and Tobago. As the format for this league wasn’t overhauled it would be the standard group winners are going to be promoted and the losers would be relegated.

League C would be comprised of nine teams in which the three group winners and the three group runner ups will be promoted. The teams in this league are: Anguilla, Aruba, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Saint Martin, Turks and Caicos Islands and US Virgin Islands.

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