CONCACAF Nations League

CONCACAF Nations League

Organizing body	CONCACAF
Founded	2018 (2018)
Region	North America, Central America and the Caribbean
Number of teams	41
Qualifier for	CONCACAF Gold Cup CONMEBOL Copa América
Current champion(s)	United States (3rd title)
Most successful team(s)	United States (3 titles)
Website	concacaf.com/nations-league
2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League

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 November 2017. 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 8 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.

Adjustment from 2023–24

On 28 February 2023, CONCACAF announced a format change for the 2023–24 season of the CONCACAF Nations League. As a result, no teams will be relegated from the 2022–23 season.

The size of League A will be increased from 12 to 16 teams, and will now feature a quarter-final round. The 12 lowest-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings of March 2023 will enter the group stage, now using a Swiss-system tournament format. The teams will be divided into two groups of six teams, with each team playing four matches against group opponents (two at home and two away). The top four teams will advance to the quarter-finals and will be joined by the four top-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings. The teams advancing from the group stage will be drawn into ties against the top-ranked teams, which will be played on a two-legged home-and-away basis.

League B will remain unchanged, featuring sixteen teams divided into four groups of four. Each team will play six matches in a double round-robin home-and-away format (three at home and three away). Following the format change, League C will be reduced from 13 to nine teams and four to three groups. Teams will be divided into three groups of three teams, with each team playing four matches in a double round-robin home-and-away format (two at home and two away).

Promotion and relegation will resume for the 2023–24 season, with the fifth and sixth-placed teams in League A and the fourth-placed teams in League B being relegated for the next season. The group winners of Leagues B and C will be promoted, as will the best second-placed team of League C.

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.

Results

Finals

Ed.	Season	Host		Final				Third place play-off
				Winners	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
1	2019–20 Finals	United States		United States	3–2 (a.e.t.) Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado	Mexico		Honduras	2–2 (5–4 p) Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado	Costa Rica
2	2022–23 Finals			United States	2–0 Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada	Canada		Mexico	1–0 Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada	Panama
3	2023–24 Finals			United States	2–0 AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas	Mexico		Jamaica	1–0 AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas	Panama
4	2024–25 Finals

Performances by team

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place
United States	3 (2021, 2023, 2024)
Mexico		2 (2021, 2024)	1 (2023)
Canada		1 (2023)
Honduras			1 (2021)
Jamaica			1 (2024)
Panama				2 (2023, 2024)
Costa Rica				1 (2021)

• Italic: hosts

Team performances by season

•  1  – Champions
•  2  – Runners-up
•  3  – Third place
•  4  – Fourth place
• – Promoted
• – No movement
• – Relegated
• Q – Qualified for upcoming CONCACAF Nations League Finals
•    – Hosts of CONCACAF Nations League Finals

National Team	Seasons in league			Season
				2019–20		2022–23		2023–24		2024–25
	A	B	C	LG	M	LG	M	LG	M	LG	M
Anguilla	-	-	4	C		C		C		C
Antigua and Barbuda	-	3	-	B		B		B	TBD	TBD
Aruba	-	2	2	B		C		C		B
Bahamas	-	2	1	C		B		B	TBD	TBD
Barbados	-	2	2	C		B		B		C
Belize	-	3	1	B		B		B		C
Bermuda	1	3	-	A		B		B		B
Bonaire	-	1	3	C		C		C		B
British Virgin Islands	-	-	4	C		C		C		C
Canada	4	-	-	A		A	2	A		A
Cayman Islands	-	-	4	C		C		C		C
Costa Rica	4	-	-	A	4	A		A		A
Cuba	3	1	-	A		B		A		A
Curaçao	3	1	-	A		A		A		B
Dominica	-	2	2	B		C		C		B
Dominican Republic	-	4	-	B		B		B		B
El Salvador	2	2	-	B		A		A		B
French Guiana	1	3	-	B		B		B		A
Grenada	2	2	-	B		A		A		B
Guadeloupe	1	2	1	C		B		B		A
Guatemala	2	1	1	C		B		A		A
Guyana	1	3	-	B		B		B		A
Haiti	2	2	-	A		B		A		B
Honduras	4	-	-	A	3	A		A		A
Jamaica	3	1	-	B		A		A	3	A
Martinique	4	-	-	A		A		A		A
Mexico	4	-	-	A	2	A	3	A	2	A
Montserrat	-	4	-	B		B		B		B
Nicaragua	1	3	-	B		B		B		A
Panama	4	-	-	A		A	4	A	4	A
Puerto Rico	-	2	2	C		C		B		B
Saint Kitts and Nevis	-	2	2	B		C		B		C
Saint Lucia	-	3	1	B		C		B		B
Saint Martin	-	1	3	C		C		C		B
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	-	4	-	B		B		B		B
Sint Maarten	-	2	2	C		C		B		B
Suriname	3	1	-	B		A		A		A
Trinidad and Tobago	3	1	-	A		B		A		A
Turks and Caicos Islands	-	-	4	C		C		C		C
United States	4	-	-	A	1	A	1	A	1	A
U.S. Virgin Islands	-	-	4	C		C		C		C

Broadcasters

CONCACAF

Country/region	Broadcaster		Ref.
	Free	Pay
Aruba	Telearuba
Canada		OneSoccer
Caribbean		Flow
El Salvador	TCS	Millicom
Guatemala	RTVG
Nicaragua	Viva Nicaragua
Honduras	TVC
Costa Rica	Repretel
	Teletica
	Multimedios TV
Mexico	TV Azteca
	TelevisaUnivision
Curaçao	TeleCuraçao
Jamaica	CVM (delayed)
Panama	RPC-TV
	TVN
	TVMax
Suriname	ATV
	STVS
United States	CBS	Paramount+ (English)
		CBS Sports Network (English, finals only)
	Univision (Spanish)	VIX

International

All matches are streamed through CONCACAF's streaming service CONCACAF GO.

Country/region	Broadcaster		Ref.
	Free	Pay
Balkan countries Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Slovenia		Sport Klub
Brunei		Astro SuperSport
Malaysia
Netherlands		ESPN
South America

Awards

Edition	Best Player	Top scorer	Best Goalkeeper	Best young player	Fair Play Award	Ref
2019-20	Weston McKennie	Gleofilo Vlijter	Luis López		Barbados
2022-23	Christian Pulisic	Gerwin Lake	Matt Turner		Panama
2023-24	Gio Reyna	Omari Glasgow	Matt Turner	Omari Glasgow	Panama

See also

• UEFA Nations League
• UEFA Women's Nations League
• CONCACAF W Gold Cup – women's tournament with a similar format

External links

• Official website