CONCACAF Nations League

[matty]

8 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

That is typical in Spanish speaking world, where acronyms and such become words. So I wonder if it is to unify the graphics.

The typographic work is classic modernism.

 

Was thinking that too. I would say it's either than or an attempt to make a softer presentation.

Edited February 18, 2018 by matty

[Kurt-MTL]

14 hours ago, harrycoyster said:

So Canada and Jamaica will need to fend off the likes of Curacao, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Martinique to get into the top league. We're gonna need a good team doctor...

Not to worry, I'm sure Herdman will have a whole complement of doctors for the squad; and sports psychologists (gotta mentally prepare for those mean crowds), and data analytics officers (because there's definitely a pattern to be found in how many times the ball is out of play), and MOST importantly a "systems-based approach" to get the team ready...

[Lou]

Nicaragua's La Prensa reported:

"The Concacaf Nations League is the new competition of this body that will serve to qualify for the next World Cup and Gold Cup. The 41 teams will be divided into 3 groups: At level A, the best 12 countries in the CONCACAF ranking. at B there will be 16 and at C there will be 13. Nicaragua currently occupies 13th place."

The current FIFA rankings have Canada as 11th. 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

2 minutes ago, Lou said:

Nicaragua's La Prensa reported:

"The Concacaf Nations League is the new competition of this body that will serve to qualify for the next World Cup and Gold Cup. The 41 teams will be divided into 3 groups: At level A, the best 12 countries in the CONCACAF ranking. at B there will be 16 and at C there will be 13. Nicaragua currently occupies 13th place."

The current FIFA rankings have Canada as 11th. 

I'm surprised the top division is 12.  I was fully expecting 8

[matty]

Just now, CanadianSoccerFan said:

I'm surprised the top division is 12.  I was fully expecting 8

Yea seems a little odd numbers wise.

[Initial B]

Well, Since Concacaf is guaranteed 3 spots in the WC, assuming 3 groups of 4 in Group A means the top team in each group would qualify for the WC 2022. However, for WC2026 there are supposed to be 6 spots for Concacaf, so the top three could automatically qualify and the second places in Group A could have a home and away playoff against the top nations in each of the 3 Group B divisions. The third and fourth place teams in Group A will have already played the winners and been found wanting, and the Group B winners will have had to defeat all the other teams in their division for the right of advancement. The Group C nations obviously are not good enough to even be considered for WC places. 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

Mexican and US fans are going to lose their collective sh!t when they find out it's 12 teams.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Initial B said:

Well, Since Concacaf is guaranteed 3 spots in the WC, assuming 3 groups of 4 in Group A means the top team in each group would qualify for the WC 2022.

 

I certainly hope this is not how they do this. This would give no chance for the lesser nations at qualifying. Everyone should be given a shot.

[matty]

5 hours ago, Initial B said:

Well, Since Concacaf is guaranteed 3 spots in the WC, assuming 3 groups of 4 in Group A means the top team in each group would qualify for the WC 2022. However, for WC2026 there are supposed to be 6 spots for Concacaf, so the top three could automatically qualify and the second places in Group A could have a home and away playoff against the top nations in each of the 3 Group B divisions. The third and fourth place teams in Group A will have already played the winners and been found wanting, and the Group B winners will have had to defeat all the other teams in their division for the right of advancement. The Group C nations obviously are not good enough to even be considered for WC places. 

Even with 12, I, right now, can't see the biggies (US and Mexico) letting they're big money games go for playing 2 home games against weaker draws because the biggie is drawn apart. It also only creates a 4 game group stage, which is a waste for many at that level, especially if it wastes a window. I'd guess they try to make sure the US (at least) gets a Jamaica and a Haiti and a Panama to play.

A big thing to consider is this tourney will start in September, so it's afe to say it'll occupy the 3 end of year windows (Sept, Oct, Nov) and 2 new year windows (March, June). I'd say it's likely the top tier teams are getting at least 6 games

Edited February 19, 2018 by matty

[matty]

Here's an article we all missed from January that claims the groups themselves will be announced in March http://islandstats.com/sport.asp?sport=2&assoc=1&newsid=42554

If this and the other reports are true we'll likely know Canada's schedule for the final 3 windows of the year very soon.

[harrycoyster]

I kinda don't like that it's a 12 team top division broken up into 3 groups....that's basically the Gold Cup. It also means the second division is going to be awful.

[Rheo]

Didn't they say that the league was going to be used for the seeding for World Cup qualifying, not as the actual qualifying?

[BuzzAndSting]

1 hour ago, Rheo said:

Didn't they say that the league was going to be used for the seeding for World Cup qualifying, not as the actual qualifying?

Yes, that’s what we’ve heard before.

[Rheo]

13 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Yes, that’s what we’ve heard before.

Thanks, thought so.  Just some of the talk had me wondering if I remembered wrong

[CanadianSoccerFan]

3 hours ago, Rheo said:

Didn't they say that the league was going to be used for the seeding for World Cup qualifying, not as the actual qualifying?

Latest reports are that there will be a preliminary competition between Sept 2018 and March 2019 to determine seeding with the competition proper beginning in Sept 2019. The 6 hex teams are exempt from the preliminary round and the competition proper will be used to determine World Cup qualification.  

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by CanadianSoccerFan

[soccer.shocker]

1 hour ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Latest reports are that there will be a preliminary competition between Sept 2018 and March 2019 to determine seeding with the competition proper beginning in Sept 2019. The 6 hex teams are exempt from the preliminary round and the competition proper will be used to determine World Cup qualification.  

 

This. Yes. 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

I kinda don't like that it's a 12 team top division broken up into 3 groups....that's basically the Gold Cup. It also means the second division is going to be awful.

It's only been reported that the top division is 12 teams but nowhere does it say those 12 will be divided into 3 groups.    It could be 4 groups of 3 like UEFA or something totally different.  It's assumed this league will take place annually but it could be stretched over multiple years.  If they go that route then it could be 2 groups of 6 or even a monster 12 team round robin.

[jpg75]

1 hour ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Latest reports are that there will be a preliminary competition between Sept 2018 and March 2019 to determine seeding with the competition proper beginning in Sept 2019. The 6 hex teams are exempt from the preliminary round and the competition proper will be used to determine World Cup qualification.  

 

So essentially the seeding games this Fall will be used as preliminary WCQers. If we don't qualify for Tier I we are out of the running for WC2022.

[matty]

10 hours ago, harrycoyster said:

I kinda don't like that it's a 12 team top division broken up into 3 groups....that's basically the Gold Cup. It also means the second division is going to be awful.

I'm hopeful it is because it makes the best use of the fall windows.

Yea, aside from Canada, El Salvador, Haiti, ect. doing a stint there every so often it's seem like it won't be the best.

56 minutes ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

It's only been reported that the top division is 12 teams but nowhere does it say those 12 will be divided into 3 groups.    It could be 4 groups of 3 like UEFA or something totally different.  It's assumed this league will take place annually but it could be stretched over multiple years.  If they go that route then it could be 2 groups of 6 or even a monster 12 team round robin.

Not enough time for a 12 team single league. 6 is more likely but still unlikely. Remember this thing is most likely working with five windows which traditionally is 10 games.

2 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Latest reports are that there will be a preliminary competition between Sept 2018 and March 2019 to determine seeding with the competition proper beginning in Sept 2019. The 6 hex teams are exempt from the preliminary round and the competition proper will be used to determine World Cup qualification.  

Not sure if those reports were 100% accurate on WCQ due to how different they are from past reports.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

3 minutes ago, matty said:

Not enough time for a 12 team single league. 6 is more likely but still unlikely. Remember this thing is most likely working with five windows which traditionally is 10 games.

 

 It's assumed this will take place annually and you're making that assumption with the 10 game limit.  We don't know that.  It could be a 2 or 3 year league.  

[harrycoyster]

56 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

So essentially the seeding games this Fall will be used as preliminary WCQers. If we don't qualify for Tier I we are out of the running for WC2022.

VM has said repeatedly that he wants all CONCACAF teams to be playing meaningful games for the majority of the World Cup cycle. This would knock all but 12 teams out of qualification sooner than ever before. 

Also, if this doubles up as WCQ, it's ridiculous that the Hex teams get a pass. T&T could easily not make the final twelve. They've won a single game outside of T&T in two years and lost to Martinque, Haiti and Suriname to miss out of the Gold Cup.

[Rheo]

15 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

VM has said repeatedly that he wants all CONCACAF teams to be playing meaningful games for the majority of the World Cup cycle. This would knock all but 12 teams out of qualification sooner than ever before. 

Also, if this doubles up as WCQ, it's ridiculous that the Hex teams get a pass. T&T could easily not make the final twelve. They've won a single game outside of T&T in two years and lost to Martinque, Haiti and Suriname to miss out of the Gold Cup.

Yeah that's why I had a hard time believing that suddenly only a handful of the teams will have an attempt to qualify for the World Cup (wouldn't it be against FIFA rules?)  , but people were saying it and to be honest I haven't had a chance to check the reports out.  

[Serge]

I've been following the forums for a few months and have gained a lot of knowledge about the cdn soccer scene. Perhaps this thread exists elsewhere but assuming every cdn male eligible (capped already or not) made themselves available what would be Canada's best starting 11?

[BuzzAndSting]

1 hour ago, Serge said:

I've been following the forums for a few months and have gained a lot of knowledge about the cdn soccer scene. Perhaps this thread exists elsewhere but assuming every cdn male eligible (capped already or not) made themselves available what would be Canada's best starting 11?

Might be better posting this in the general MNT discussion thread.

[Serge]

Will do. Thanks.