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2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A

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2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A
Tournament details
DatesGroup phase:
7 September – 17 October 2023
Quarter-finals:
16–21 November 2023
Nations League Finals:
21–24 March 2024
Teams16
Final positions
Champions United States (3rd title)
Runners-up Mexico
Third place Jamaica
Fourth place Panama
Relegated Curaçao
 El Salvador
 Grenada
 Haiti
Tournament statistics
Matches played36
Goals scored101 (2.81 per match)
Top scorer(s)Jamaica Shamar Nicholson
(5 goals)

The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A was the top division of the 2023–24 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the third season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The initial group stage was held from 7 September 2023 to 17 October 2023.[1][2]

League A culminated with the 2024 CONCACAF Nations League Finals in March 2024 to crown the champions of the CONCACAF Nations League.[3]

This edition of the CONCACAF Nations League A served to determine the six CONCACAF representatives that qualified as guests for the 2024 Copa América in the United States. The four quarter-finals winners and two play-in winners between the four quarter-finals losers qualified to the CONMEBOL tournament.[4]

Format

Starting from this edition, League A was increased from twelve to sixteen teams and a new quarter-final round was introduced. The group stage became two groups of six teams instead of the four groups of three teams of previous editions, and four teams received a direct bye to the quarter-finals. The twelve lowest-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings as of March 2023 entered the group stage and were divided into two groups of six teams, with each team playing four matches against group opponents (two at home and two away) on a Swiss-system format. The top two teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals, and were joined by the four top-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings as of March 2023. The quarter-finals were played on a two-legged home-and-away basis, with the four winners advancing to the Nations League Finals and qualifying directly to the 2024 Copa América, while the four losers played two single-legged play-in matches for the last two berths to the CONMEBOL tournament.[3]

The Nations League Finals retained its previous format of a semi-final round, third place play-off and final match to determine the champions.

Teams

A total of sixteen national teams contested League A, including the twelve sides from the 2022–23 season and four promoted from the 2022–23 League B. As a result of the expansion to 16 teams, there were no relegated teams last season, so the twelve teams from the 2022–23 season remained in League A for this edition.

Team changes

The following were the team changes of League A from the 2022–23 season:

Incoming
Promoted from
Nations League B

Nicaragua originally qualified for promotion to League A as League B Group C winners, but they were disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player. As a result, they were replaced by Trinidad and Tobago on 12 June 2023, and Nicaragua replaced Trinidad and Tobago in League B.[5]

Teams promoted from League B

Cuba, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago returned to League A after a one-season absence. Guatemala reached the top division of the CONCACAF Nations League for the first time after starting in League C in the inaugural edition and moving up from League B the previous season.

Seeding

The pots were confirmed on 2 May 2023, with the lowest twelve League A ranked teams, based on the CONCACAF Rankings as of 31 March 2023, being split into six pots of two teams. The top four ranked teams (Mexico, the United States, Canada and Costa Rica) were directly seeded in the quarter-finals.[6]

Pot Team Pts Rank
1  Panama 1,695 5
 Haiti 1,482 6
2  Jamaica 1,479 7
 Guatemala 1,405 8
3  Honduras 1,403 9
 El Salvador 1,330 10
4  Martinique 1,246 12
 Cuba 1,176 13
5  Curaçao 1,171 14
 Suriname 1,079 16
6  Trinidad and Tobago 1,254 11
 Grenada 791 25

Draw

The group stage draw was held on 16 May 2023, 19:00 EDT, in Miami, Florida, United States[3][7] where the twelve involved teams were drawn into two groups of six. The draw began by randomly selecting a team from Pot 1 and placing them in Group A and then selecting the remaining team from Pot 1 and placing them in Group B. The draw continued with the same procedure done for the remaining pots.

The draw resulted in the following groups:[8]

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Panama
A2  Guatemala
A3  El Salvador
A4  Martinique
A5  Curaçao
A6  Trinidad and Tobago
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Haiti
B2  Jamaica
B3  Honduras
B4  Cuba
B5  Suriname
B6  Grenada

Group stage

The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 6 July 2023.[1][2] All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).[9][10][11][12]

Group A

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Panama Trinidad and Tobago Martinique Guatemala Curaçao El Salvador
1  Panama 4 3 1 0 9 2 +7 10 Advance to quarter-finals — — 3–0 3–0 — —
2  Trinidad and Tobago 4 3 0 1 10 9 +1 9 — — — 3–2 1–0 —
3  Martinique 4 2 1 1 2 3 −1 7 — — — — 1–0 1–0
4  Guatemala 4 1 1 2 5 7 −2 4 1–1 — — — — 2–0
5  Curaçao (R) 4 1 0 3 6 7 −1 3 Relegation to League B 1–2 5–3 — — — —
6  El Salvador (R) 4 0 1 3 2 6 −4 1 — 2–3 0–0 — — —
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Trinidad and Tobago 1–0 Curaçao
James 87' Report
Attendance: 5,181[13]
Panama 3–0 Martinique
 Report
Attendance: 3,145[14]
Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)
Guatemala 2–0 El Salvador
 Report
Attendance: 18,313[15]
Martinique 1–0 Curaçao
Labeau 48' Report
Attendance: 913[17]
Guatemala 1–1 Panama
Santis 71' Report Davis 7' (pen.)
Attendance: 18,313[18]
El Salvador 2–3 Trinidad and Tobago
 Report
Curaçao 1–2 Panama
Janga 90+4' Report
Martinique 1–0 El Salvador
Marajo 23' Report
Attendance: 877[19]
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)
Trinidad and Tobago 3–2 Guatemala
 Report
Panama 3–0 Guatemala
 Report
Attendance: 13,536[20]
El Salvador 0–0 Martinique
Report
Attendance: 5,605[21]
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)
Curaçao 5–3 Trinidad and Tobago
 Report
Attendance: 1,043[22]

Group B

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation Jamaica Honduras Suriname Cuba Haiti Grenada
1  Jamaica 4 3 1 0 10 5 +5 10 Advance to quarter-finals — 1–0 — — 2–2 —
2  Honduras 4 2 1 1 8 1 +7 7 — — — 4–0 — 4–0
3  Suriname 4 1 2 1 6 3 +3 5 — — — — 1–1 4–0
4  Cuba 4 1 2 1 1 4 −3 5 — 0–0 1–0 — — —
5  Haiti (R) 4 0 3 1 5 6 −1 3 Relegation to League B 2–3 — — 0–0 — —
6  Grenada (R) 4 0 1 3 2 13 −11 1 1–4 — 1–1 — — —
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Haiti 0–0 Cuba
Report
Attendance: 550[24]
Grenada 1–1 Suriname
Lewis 85' Report Te Vrede 87'
Attendance: 2,994[25]
Jamaica 1–0 Honduras
D. Gray 64' Report
Attendance: 3,800[26]
Cuba 1–0 Suriname
Pozo 21' Report
Attendance: 3,500[27]
Jamaica 2–2 Haiti
 Report Deedson 12', 15'
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)
Honduras 4–0 Grenada
 Report
Suriname 1–1 Haiti
Haps 17' Report Cantave 51'
Attendance: 2,553[28]
Grenada 1–4 Jamaica
Williams 30' Report
Attendance: 4,394[29]
Cuba 0–0 Honduras
Report
Haiti 2–3 Jamaica
Pierrot 15', 87' Report
Honduras 4–0 Cuba
 Report
Attendance: 10,899[32]
Suriname 4–0 Grenada
 Report
Attendance: 1,285[33]

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals pairings were determined based on the CONCACAF Rankings published after the October 2023 FIFA Match Window for the four pre-seeded teams and the group stage results for the winners and runners-up of each group.[4]

Seeded teams
Pos Team Rank[a] Pts
1  Mexico 1 1,967
2  United States 2 1,909
3  Canada 4 1,729
4  Costa Rica 5 1,676
  1. ^ CONCACAF rankings (as of 18 October 2023)[34]
Group stage winners and runners-up
Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Panama 4 3 1 0 9 2 +7 10
2  Jamaica 4 3 1 0 10 5 +5 10
3  Trinidad and Tobago 4 3 0 1 10 9 +1 9
4  Honduras 4 2 1 1 8 1 +7 7
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

The match-ups were as follows:

  • Quarter-final 1 (QF1): Fourth-ranked seeded team vs. Best-ranked group winner
  • Quarter-final 2 (QF2): Third-ranked seeded team vs. Next best-ranked group winner
  • Quarter-final 3 (QF3): Second-ranked seeded team vs. Best-ranked group runner-up
  • Quarter-final 4 (QF4): First-ranked seeded team vs. Next best-ranked group runner-up

Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs being decided by the four pre-seeded teams that received a direct bye to the quarter-finals (Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States).[35] If the aggregate score is level at the end of the second leg the away goals rule would be applied. If away goals were also equal, then 30 minutes of extra time would be played without taking into account the away goals rule during this time. If still tied after extra time, the tie would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Winners advanced to the Nations League Finals and qualified for the 2024 Copa América, while losers advanced to the Copa América qualifying play-offs.

Summary

The first legs were played from 16 to 18 November, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 November 2023.[35]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Costa Rica  1–6  Panama 0–3 1–3
Jamaica  4–4 (a)  Canada 1–2 3–2
United States  4–2  Trinidad and Tobago 3–0 1–2
Honduras  2–2 (2–4 p)  Mexico 2–0 0–2 (a.e.t.)

Matches

The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 6 July 2023.[1][2] All match times are in EST (UTC−5) as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).[36][37]

Costa Rica 0–3 Panama
Report
Attendance: 17,787[38]
Panama 3–1 Costa Rica
 Report Calvo 52'
Attendance: 15,288[39]

Panama won 6–1 on aggregate, advanced to the Finals, and qualified for the 2024 Copa América. Costa Rica advanced to the play-in.

United States 3–0 Trinidad and Tobago
 Report
Attendance: 19,850[40]
Trinidad and Tobago 2–1 United States
 Report Robinson 25'
Attendance: 9,438[41]

United States won 4–2 on aggregate, advanced to the Finals, and qualified to the 2024 Copa América. Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the play-in.

Jamaica 1–2 Canada
Nicholson 56' Report
Attendance: 3,500[43]
Canada 2–3 Jamaica
 Report
Attendance: 17,588[44][45]
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)

4–4 on aggregate. Jamaica won on away goals, advanced to the Finals, and qualified for the 2024 Copa América. Canada advanced to the play-in.

Honduras 2–0 Mexico
 Report
Attendance: 22,444[46]
Mexico 2–0 (a.e.t.) Honduras
 Report
Penalties
 4–2
Attendance: 70,078[47]

2–2 on aggregate. Mexico won 4–2 on penalties, advanced to the Finals, and qualified for the 2024 Copa América. Honduras advanced to the play-in.

Nations League Finals

Main article: 2024 CONCACAF Nations League Finals

Seeding

The four teams were ranked based on their results in both legs of the quarter-finals to determine the semi-final matchups. The first seed played the fourth seed and the second seed played the third seed.[48]

Seed QF Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 1  Panama 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 6
2 3  United States 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 3
3 2  Jamaica 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
4 4  Mexico 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
March 21 – Arlington, TX
 
 
 Panama0
 
March 24 – Arlington, TX
 
 Mexico3
 
 Mexico0
 
March 21 – Arlington, TX
 
 United States2
 
 United States (a.e.t.)3
 
 
 Jamaica1
 
Third place play-off
 
 
March 24 – Arlington, TX
 
 
 Panama0
 
 
 Jamaica1

All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses).[49]

Semi-finals

United States 3–1 (a.e.t.) Jamaica
 Report Leigh 1'
Attendance: 40,926[50]
Panama 0–3 Mexico
Report
Attendance: 40,926[51]

Third place play-off

Panama 0–1 Jamaica
Report Lembikisa 42'

Final

Main article: 2024 CONCACAF Nations League final
Mexico 0–2 United States
Report
Attendance: 59,471
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

Goalscorers

There were 101 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 2.81 goals per match.

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes

  1. ^ The Martinique v Curaçao match, originally scheduled at 16:00 EDT (UTC−4),[9] was rescheduled to 20:00 EDT due to logistical reasons.[16]
  2. ^ Haiti played their home match against Cuba at Estadio Panamericano in San Cristóbal (Dominican Republic) due to the ongoing Haitian crisis.[23]
  3. ^ Cuba played their home match against Honduras at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) instead of their regular stadium Estadio Antonio Maceo which did not meet CONCACAF requirements for hosting the match at night.[30]
  4. ^ Haiti played their home match against Jamaica at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) due to the ongoing Haitian crisis.[31]
  5. ^ The Jamaica–Canada match was postponed from its original start time (17 November at 19:00) due to weather conditions caused by a tropical storm.[42]

References

  1. ^ a b c "CONCACAF announces schedule for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League presented by Qatar Airways". CONCACAF. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League Match Schedule" (PDF). CONCACAF. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023–2026 cycle". CONCACAF. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b "CONCACAF Nations League Regulations 2023" (PDF). CONCACAF. May 2023 [Approved on 27 April 2023]. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Concacaf Disciplinary Committee decision regarding Nicaragua and the Eligibility of Players" (Press release). CONCACAF. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  6. ^ "CONCACAF confirms details for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League official draw". CONCACAF. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  7. ^ Reidy, Paul (3 May 2023). "Concacaf Nations League 23/24 draw to be staged on 16 May". Diario AS. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Draw delivers groups for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League presented by Qatar Airways". CONCACAF. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Concacaf confirms September schedule for 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League Group Stage matches". Miami: CONCACAF. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  10. ^ "2023-24 Concacaf Nations League match schedule September v5" (PDF). CONCACAF. 31 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Concacaf confirms October schedule for 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League Group Stage matches". Miami: CONCACAF. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  12. ^ "2023-24 Concacaf Nations League match schedule October" (PDF). CONCACAF. 5 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 Curacao (Sep 7, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Panama 3-0 Martinique (Sep 7, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Guatemala 2-0 El Salvador (Sep 7, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  16. ^ Lordinot, Daniel (10 September 2023). "Football : Curaçao vs Martinique, l'affiche de la 2e journée de la ligue des nations à Fort-de-France" [Football : Curaçao vs. Martinique on Matchay 2 of the Nations League in Fort-de-France] (in French). France Info. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Martinique 1-0 Curaçao (Sep 10, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Guatemala 1-1 Panama (Sep 10, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Martinique 1-0 El Salvador (Oct 13, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Panama 3-0 Guatemala (Oct 17, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  21. ^ "El Salvador 0-0 Martinique (Oct 17, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Curacao 5-3 Trinidad and Tobago (Oct 17, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  23. ^ Legupeterson, Alexandre (11 August 2023). "Football : Une belle possibilité s'offre à Haïti pour jouer la Copa America" [Soccer: Haiti's Prospects Brighten for Copa America Participation] (in French). Le Nouvelliste. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  24. ^ "Haiti 0-0 Cuba (Sep 8, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Grenada 1-1 Suriname (Sep 8, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Jamaica 1-0 Honduras (Sep 8, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Cuba 1-0 Suriname (Sep 12, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Suriname 1-1 Haiti (Oct 12, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Grenada 1-4 Jamaica (Oct 12, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Cuba recibirá como local a Honduras en República Dominicana por no contar con luz en su estadio" [Cuba to host Honduras in Dominican Republic due to lack of electricity in its stadium] (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Diario Libre. EFE. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  31. ^ Zulmé, Rodney (4 October 2023). "Haïti jouera à Port of Spain, ses prochains matchs à domicile" [Haiti will play in Port Spain, their next home matches] (in French). TELEMIX. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Honduras 4-0 Cuba (Oct 15, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Suriname 4-0 Grenada (Oct 15, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  34. ^ "Selección de Panamá escala posición en Ranking de Concacaf" (in Spanish). RPC Televisión. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  35. ^ a b "Concacaf confirms 23/24 Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal pairings". Miami: CONCACAF. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Concacaf confirms November schedule for 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League matches". Miami: CONCACAF. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  37. ^ "2023-24 Concacaf Nations League match schedule November" (PDF). CONCACAF. 7 November 2023.
  38. ^ "Panama 3-0 Costa Rica (Nov 16, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  39. ^ "Panama 3-1 Costa Rica (Nov 20, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  40. ^ "U.S. Men's National Team Earns Crucial 3-0 Win against Trinidad and Tobago in First Leg of Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal Round". U.S. Soccer. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  41. ^ "USA 1-2 Trin & Tob (Nov 20, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  42. ^ Morris, Jim (17 November 2023). "Berth to Copa America at stake as Canada takes on Jamaica in CONCACAF Nations League quarters". CBC Sports. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  43. ^ "November 18, 2023 | Kickoff: 10:30AM ET [2023-11] Concacaf Nations League". Canadian Soccer Association. 18 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  44. ^ "November 21, 2023 | Kickoff: 07:30PM ET [2023-11] Concacaf Nations League". Canadian Soccer Association. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  45. ^ "Jamaica 3-2 Canada (Nov 21, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  46. ^ "Honduras 2-0 Mexico (Nov 17, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  47. ^ "Mexico 2-0 Honduras (Nov 21, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  48. ^ "Concacaf confirms Concacaf Nations League Semifinals and Play-In pairings and schedule". CONCACAF. 22 November 2023.
  49. ^ "Tickets now on sale for Concacaf Nations League Play-In matches in Dallas". Miami: CONCACAF. 24 January 2024.
  50. ^ "U.S. Men's National Team advances to 2024 CONCACAF Nations League Final with 3-1 semifinal win over Jamaica". Arlington, Texas: United States Soccer Federation. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  51. ^ "Mexico 3-0 Panama (Mar 21, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
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