CONCACAF Nations League FM Wiki

The **CONCACAF Nations League** (Spanish: *Liga de Naciones CONCACAF*, French: *Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF*) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America. The tournament takes place on dates allocated for international friendlies on the FIFA International Match Calendar. A one-time qualifying tournament took place from September 2018 to March 2019 and the inaugural tournament began in September 2019.

## History and Format

The tournament was announced in January 2018. It is divided into three tiered leagues, A, B, and C, of four groups each, with promotion and relegation between the leagues based on finishing position within groups. The group winners of League A enter a four-team knockout competition to be crowned champion, while the group-winners of Leagues B and C are promoted to the next tier. In Leagues A and B, the four teams at the bottom of the groups are relegated to the next-lower tier. The tournament also determines which national teams qualify for the next edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The format proposals were first formally investigated at the XXXII CONCACAF Ordinary Congress in Oranjestad, Aruba on 30 April 2017 and confirmed by CONCACAF on 16 November 2017. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani stated that the purpose of the competition is to have a regular schedule of international fixtures for CONCACAF's national teams, noting that some teams play fewer than 10 games in a four-year period and needed more competitive games to assist the sport's development in those nations.

### Original Format

The 2019-20 and 2022-23 Editions saw the 41 teams be divided into 3 leagues, League A, B and C. The Hexagonal Teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers automatically went to League A and 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, while the other 34 teams went into the qualifiers, with the exception of Guatemala, who were suspended from FIFA but unsuspended too late to enter the Qualification and consequently automatically placed into League C. The Qualifiers took place from September 2018 to March 2019, with the Top 6 being placed into League A and qualification to the 2019 Gold Cup, then 7th - 10th in the qualifiers were placed in League B and qualified for the 2019 Gold Cup, then 11th - 22nd in the Qualifiers were placed into League B, then 23rd - 34th were placed into League C.

League A featured 12 teams, split into 4 groups of 3, playing a double round robin, the winners of each group advanced to the Nations League Finals and Gold Cup, while second place got Gold Cup qualification, and the relegated sides got a place at Gold Cup Prelims, League B had 16 teams, 4 groups of 4 teams, 1st in each group gets promoted to League A and Gold Cup, runners up get Gold Cup Prelims, and 4th place get relegated to League C. League C had 4 groups of 3/4 teams and first in each group gets promoted to League B and Gold Cup Prelims.

### Adjustments from 2023-24

On the 28th February 2023, CONCACAF confirmed a new format for the CONCACAF Nations League for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 season. League A would expand to 16 teams and would instead of having groups, have one giant league, as well as a quarterfinal stage. Each team would play six games, three home & away. The Top 8 will qualify for Quarterfinals, the bottom four teams would get relegated to League B. The Quarterfinals would be 2 legs, and the winners would advance to the Finals, with the Semi-Finals, Third Place and Final all being one leg. The winners of the Quarterfinals would also qualify for 2024 Copa America, and the losers would go to the Play In, where the four teams, based on ranking, will play against another team once and the 2 winners will also qualify for Copa America. League B remained with 16 teams, and had the same format as League A, with all teams going into one league, all play six games, top four will get promoted to League A and bottom four will get relegated to League C. League C was decreased to 9 teams, there would be 3 groups of 3 teams, and first in each group will get promoted to League B and the best ranked runner up will also get promoted to League B.

For the 2024-25 season, CONCACAF announced that in League A and B each team will play 12 games, 6 home and 6 away. They announced this on the 16th November 2023. In a statement, CONCACAF president stated that ''It would be more competitive with 12 games and teams will now have a better chance of competing for promotion or staying up in their respective league, it would also make the race for the Quarterfinals in League A more exciting as it could be more open.''

## Trophy

The CONCACAF Nations League trophy was unveiled eight days before the inaugural Nations League Finals. The trophy represents all 41 CONCACAF national associations and is made of silver-plated brass and stone. The trophy weighs 8 kg (18 lb) and is 52 cm (20 in) tall.

## Seasons

Each season of the CONCACAF Nations League is typically played from September to November (league phase), and March or June of the following year (Nations League Finals of League A). An exception was made in the 2022–23 season when the league phase was played from June 2022 to March 2023, due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup played in Qatar at the end of the year.

The 2024-25 season will see the league phase for League A and B run from September 2024 to March 2025 with the QFs in early June and then the finals at the same time as the Gold Cup Prelims.

## Results

### Finals

 **1** | 2019-20*Finals* | Canada
 BC Place Stadium
Vancouver
 **2** | 2022-23*Finals* | Mexico
 Estadio Azteca
Mexico City
 **3** | 2023-24*Finals* | USA
Inglewood

## References

1. ↑ CONCACAF announce new tournament to replace International Friendlies
2. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League: All you need to know about the new tournament
3. ↑ What is the CONCACAF Nations League? How does it affect the Gold Cup?
4. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League: All You Need to Know - How this will benefit teams
5. ↑ Guatemala to be placed in League C following FIFA Suspension
6. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League Qualifiers: How each team qualifies for the leagues
7. ↑ How CONCACAF nations qualify for Gold Cup
8. ↑ CNL - How it works
9. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League: The key changes in the new format
10. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League: Format Change Overview
11. ↑ CNL: Game expansion for 2024-25 season
12. ↑ CONCACAF Nations League: The Trophy