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CONCACAF Nations League


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5 minutes ago, BradMack said:

Akinola,

He is gone imo!!!!... And prolly Ferreira, but I believe he suffer a long-term injury which certainly derailed his chances for a Portugal call-up come June (at least that is what I read in one source, that he was gonna be gone up until June or so)... Maybe our opportunity for him to come right after his injury replacement, but not holding my breath truthfully.. I am more hopeful of Ballou and even Tomori, believe it or no... Cristian Gutiérrez I am unsure about, good thing he has Córdova as his teammate, right?... But I wouldn't blame him nor will resent him at all if he chooses to play for La Roja (Chile) and why wouldn't he???  

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4 hours ago, Zem said:

French Guiana is the only non-FIFA nation we're playing and yes, all official matches cap-tie players regardless of the opponent. And no, FIFA rankings only apply to matches between FIFA nations.

Wasn't sure of US VIrgin Islands if they were a FIFA nation.

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7 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Who cares what the pitch is like, go down and thump these guys

Exactly @Bison44 I couldn't agree more, that is just a lame excuse that fans throw at whenever they didn't get a favourable result on an away pitch, where they expected something better and yeah, hopefully Herdman can install that competitiveness toughness he seems to have been embracing so much the last week or so, lmao... In terms of players being more technically skilled than DeRo, I was thinking in guys like Cavallini and Larin who have played at the professional level and have somewhat proven to be goal scorers and offensive threats and are already cap-tied at the senior level. Not counting anybody from the YTs as many are yet to go pro... Simpson was good, very underrated indeed and Occéan has his moments too, not a bad skilled player overall.. What was the result at St. Kitts and Nevis in 11?... What does DERO do now, I have seen him in the sidelines in TFC games a few times and now he is still involved in some ways with the CSA.. just figure to ask

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We now know that the World Cup quallifying format will change.

September, October, November 2019 and March 2020 will all be in use for the CNL.
September, November 2015 and March 2016 were in use for WC qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

That leaves the following dates to whittle down 35 FIFA members to 3 teams (plus another  team qualifies for a playoff).

1-9 June 2020    2
31 August-8 September 2020    2
5-13 October 2020    2
9-17 November 2020    2
22-30 March 2021    2
31 May-8 June 2021    2
2021 Gold Cup
30 August- 7 September 2021    2
4-12 October 2021    2
8-16 November 2021    2
21-29 March 2022    2
30 May-14June    4
19-27 September 2022    2
 

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Press release #1
 

Quote

Concacaf Nations League Officially Launched 

Year-Round Tournament Kicks off in September, Building on ONE Concacaf Platform of Unity and Access to Quality Football for all Members 

Miami (Tuesday, March 6, 2018) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) today announced the details and structure of the Concacaf Nations League, a new centralized men’s national team competition representing a new era of national team football for Concacaf Member Associations. 

The Concacaf Nations League begins in September with a one-off qualifying phase, while the group phase, consisting of three tiered leagues will kick off in 2019. The top league will end with a Final to crown the Nations League champion, and the competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly expanded Gold Cup.

“The launch of the Concacaf Nations League, conceived over the last two years and guided by the ONE Concacaf principles of unity and access for our region’s football, is the defining moment marking the completion of our transition into a new era for our 41-member Concacaf family,” said Concacaf President Victor Montagliani. “The Nations League assures that all our members will have the opportunity to play more and compete more, which in turn will propel greater development of the sport at every level.”

The inaugural Concacaf Nations League competition will be played in the official FIFA match windows in September, October and November, 2019 with a Final Championship to be played in March 2020. All eligible Concacaf Member Associations will be assigned by sporting performance into three leagues: A, B and C. 

Each league will be sub-divided into groups, in which the participating Member Associations will compete in a home-and-away, round-robin format over the course of the group phase. Nations League scheduling will be centralized in a fan-friendly, evenly distributed “week of football” format, allowing viewers across the region to enjoy quality international football matches at a variety of kickoff times, each day for the entire match window. 

League A will contain four groups of three teams. The winners of each League A group will qualify to the Concacaf Nations League Final Championship, which will determine the champion of the new competition. The teams at the bottom of each League A group will be relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.

League B will contain four groups of four teams. The winner of each League B group will be promoted to League A, and the bottom team of each League B group will be relegated to League C for the next edition. League C will consist of the remaining MAs divided into four groups. The winner of each League C group will be promoted to League B. 

The first edition of the Concacaf Nations League will begin with a one-off Concacaf Nations League Qualifying phase, which will determine which teams are assigned to each league. By virtue of having qualified for the Hexagonal Round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Trinidad & Tobago have earned the right to be seeded directly into League A, and therefore will not participate in Nations League Qualifying.  In view of the on-going suspension imposed by FIFA, Guatemala will not be able to participate in CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying.

The draw for Nations League Qualifying, which was also held Wednesday in Miami, has sorted the 34 Participating Member Associations into 68 total fixtures, to be played on FIFA match dates from September 2018 through March 2019.  For the up-to-date draw results, please visit www.Concacaf.com. 

The results of Nations League Qualifying will be compiled into an aggregate table, ranking the participating teams 1-34 based on points earned, goal difference and a series of additional tie breakers. The table will be used to divide teams into Leagues A, B and C for the first full edition of the Concacaf Nations League. The top six teams from the aggregate table will join the six World Cup Qualifying Hexagonal Round participants in League A, the next 16 teams will qualify for League B, and the remaining teams will be assigned to League C. 

The top ten finishers in the Nations League Qualifying final table will also join the six World Cup Hexagonal Round nations in the 2019 Gold Cup, which has recently been expanded to 16 teams, providing additional access to top-level football for more of Concacaf’s Member Associations. 

The Concacaf Nations League is an on-the-field extension of Concacaf’s new image and brand architecture, which was also launched Wednesday, framing the Confederation’s efforts around the core ONE Concacaf vision of developing and stewarding the game on the pillars of Unity, Access, Football and Quality. In that spirit, the Nations League will provide greatly expanded access for Concacaf’s Member Associations to international football, enhancing the development of football across the region at all levels.

“The new brand image cements our unified philosophy of ONE Concacaf, and the Nations League brings that philosophy to life on the field of play, promising a brighter future in football for all our Member Associations and the players and fans they represent."

 

Press release #2  

 

Quote

Miami (Wednesday, March 7, 2018) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) conducted today the draw for the qualifying phase of the Concacaf Nations League, at the Temple House, in Miami Beach, FL, following the official launch of the Concacaf Nations League and the Confederation’s new brand and image. The qualifying phase will be disputed among 34 Concacaf members during the four FIFA Match windows of September, October and November 2018 and March 2019. 

Wednesday’s draw event, which sorted the thirty-four teams participating for the qualifying phase, was opened with remarks from FIFA Vice President and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani. Concacaf Chief of Football Manolo Zubiria and Univision’s Adriana Monsalve conducted the draw, with the assistance of Concacaf Head of Women’s Football Karina LeBlanc and Concacaf Director of Development Jason Roberts. 

For the official draw, teams were divided into four pots, based on the Concacaf Ranking Index, with Pot A containing the top 8 ranked teams, Pot B the next 9 ranked teams, Pot C the next 9 ranked teams and Pot D the bottom eight ranked teams. 

A computerized pre-draw produced a master schedule of the qualifying phase, creating each of the 17 matchups for the four FIFA windows. The computer model ensured that no two teams will face each other more than once and that each team plays two home and two away matches. 

The results of Nations League Qualifying will be compiled into an aggregate table, ranking the participating teams 1-34 based on points earned, goal difference and a series of additional tie breakers. The table will be used to divide teams into Leagues A, B and C for the first full edition of the Concacaf Nations League. The top six teams from the aggregate table will join the six World Cup Qualifying Hexagonal Round participants in League A, the next 16 teams will qualify for League B, and the remaining teams will be assigned to League C. 

The top ten finishers in the Nations League Qualifying final table will also join the six World Cup Hexagonal Round nations in the 2019 Gold Cup, which has recently been expanded to 16 teams, providing additional access to top-level football for more of Concacaf’s Member Associations. 

The Nations League concept is an on-the-field extension of Concacaf’s new image and brand architecture, which was also launched Wednesday, framing the Confederation’s efforts around the core ONE Concacaf vision of developing and stewarding the game on the pillars of Unity, Access, Football and Quality. In that spirit, the Nations League will provide greatly expanded access for Concacaf’s Member Associations to international football, enhancing the development of football across the region at all levels.

The group phase of the newly launched Concacaf Nations League, consisting of three tiered leagues, will kick off in 2019. The top league will end with a Final to crown the Nations League champion, and the competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly expanded Gold Cup.

The matchups for the qualifying phase of Concacaf Nations League are as follows:
 
Match Window One (September 2018)
1: Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. Puerto Rico
2: Martinique vs. British Virgin Islands
3: U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Canada
4: Anguilla vs. French Guiana
5: Aruba vs. Bermuda
6: Dominica vs. Suriname
7: Antigua and Barbuda vs. Saint Lucia
8: Jamaica vs. Cayman Islands
9: Cuba vs. Turks and Caicos Islands
10: Curacao vs. Grenada
11: Montserrat vs. El Salvador
12: Bonaire vs. Dominican Republic
13: San Martin vs. Guadeloupe
14: Haiti vs. Sint Marten
15: Guyana vs. Barbados
16: Belize vs. Bahamas
17: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines vs. Nicaragua

Match Window Two (October 2018)
18: Turks and Caicos Islands vs. Guyana
19: El Salvador vs. Barbados
20: Bermuda vs. Sint Marten
21: Dominican Republic vs. Cayman Islands
22: Saint Lucia vs. Haiti
23: Nicaragua vs. Anguilla
24: Suriname vs. British Virgin Islands
25: Bahamas vs. Antigua and Barbuda
26: Montserrat vs. Belize
27: Guadeloupe vs. Aruba
28: Puerto Rico vs. Martinique
29: Grenada vs. Cuba
30: Canada vs. Dominica
31: San Martin vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis
32: U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Curacao
33: French Guiana vs. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
34: Bonaire vs. Jamaica

Match Window Three (November 2018)
35: Grenada vs. San Martin
36: Turks and Caicos Islands vs. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
37: French Guiana vs. Guyana
38: British Virgin Islands vs. Bonaire
39: Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. Canada
40: Cuba vs. Dominican Republic
41: Nicaragua vs. Haiti
42: Bahamas vs. Anguilla
43: Barbados vs. U.S. Virgin Islands
44: Sint Maarten vs. Dominica
45: Curacao vs. Gaudeloupe
46: Jamaica vs. Suriname
47: Aruba vs. Montserrat
48: Cayman Islands vs. Saint Lucia
49: Martinique vs. Antigua and Barbuda
50: Bermuda vs. El Salvador
51: Belize vs. Puerto Rico

Match Window Four (March 2019)
52: Canada vs. French Guiana
53: Antigua and Barbuda vs. Curacao
54: Dominican Republic vs. Bermuda
55: Haiti vs. Cuba
56: Barbados vs. Nicaragua
57: San Martin vs. Sint Maarten
58: Cayman Islands vs. Montserrat
59: Suriname vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis
60: Saint Lucia vs. Aruba
61: Puerto Rico vs. Grenada
62: Guadeloupe vs. Martinique
63: Dominica vs. Bahamas
64: British Virgin Islands vs. Turks and Caicos Islands
65: Guyana vs. Belize
66: El Salvador vs. Jamaica
67: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines vs. Bonaire
68: Anguilla vs. U.S. Virgin Islands


Also, there's a new website at http://www.concacafnationsleague.com 

Edited by Lou
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23 minutes ago, Lou said:

We now know that the World Cup quallifying format will change.

September, October, November 2019 and March 2020 will all be in use for the CNL.
September, November 2015 and March 2016 were in use for WC qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

That leaves the following dates to whittle down 35 FIFA members to 3 teams (plus another  team qualifies for a playoff).

1-9 June 2020    2
31 August-8 September 2020    2
5-13 October 2020    2
9-17 November 2020    2
22-30 March 2021    2
31 May-8 June 2021    2
2021 Gold Cup
30 August- 7 September 2021    2
4-12 October 2021    2
8-16 November 2021    2
21-29 March 2022    2
30 May-14June    4
19-27 September 2022    2
 

So WCQ won't start until 2020 ur suggesting @Lou???

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21 minutes ago, Lou said:

We now know that the World Cup quallifying format will change.

September, October, November 2019 and March 2020 will all be in use for the CNL.
September, November 2015 and March 2016 were in use for WC qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

That leaves the following dates to whittle down 35 FIFA members to 3 teams (plus another  team qualifies for a playoff).

1-9 June 2020    2
31 August-8 September 2020    2
5-13 October 2020    2
9-17 November 2020    2
22-30 March 2021    2
31 May-8 June 2021    2
2021 Gold Cup
30 August- 7 September 2021    2
4-12 October 2021    2
8-16 November 2021    2
21-29 March 2022    2
30 May-14June    4
19-27 September 2022    2
 

26 dates there. 2018 qualifying took 22 match days (24 including the inter-conferation playoffs).

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1 hour ago, CNMNTPERUELIGIBLE said:

So WCQ won't start until 2020 ur suggesting @Lou???

Earliest WCQ could start is the 23–31 March 2020 dates. At that time the Nations League will only have 4 teams left so assuming no miracles occur some low rank minnow games could start there if qualification is similar to last time.

If WCQ ends up more like EUFA with more groups of varying quality then the June 2020 window would be the start (and would likely be the start for Canada either way).


Realistically I hope no one is playing qualifying matches in September 2022 for the World Cup set to begin in November. That may require that inter conference playoffs occur in 30 May-14 June 2022 window.

This may leave June 2020 to March 2022 as the window with 20 match days (according to the dates @Lou supplied) to finish do qualifying.

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6 hours ago, footballfreak said:

Looking at the away grounds, St Kitts should be alright, seeing as they play in the cricket stadium (Warner Park), but that USVI field is rough - complete with baseball diamond.

Lionel Roberts Park (USVI)

Warner Park (SKN)

 

Seems Warner park has a soccer pitch Map

According to the wiki page for 2018 qualifying USVI played at a Jr. High School instead of the baseball diamond Map

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On 3/2/2018 at 3:41 PM, johnyb said:

No ranking system is perfect, but this is as close to accurate as I've ever seen. I can't argue with anything in the top 10.

 

Deleted my post, after reading through entire thread lol, my original post/observation is essentially irrelevant now.

Anyways, excited for this new format and the ranking system, overall I feel it benefits us on many different levels.

Also, have to agree on the mental toughness/staying focus thing.  Hutch referenced this also, in some of his interviews. Sure we can blame Floro for our WC cycle, but we blew a 1-0 lead over Honduras, in Honduras, when we were set up as a "defensive team". We also couldn't punish El Salvador in an empty stadium vs a B-C El Salvador.... only to thump them at home the following year.  Yes, I brought up old wounds, sure bame Floro but some onus does fall on the players from the last cycle,  anyways I am glad the toughness issue is being publicly addressed, we need to bring more CANADIAN GRIT, PRIDE & PASSION, at least that's how I fell.

Anyways, I am optimistic... but I usually always am with our CNMT :)

Edited by apbsmith
complete edit
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5 hours ago, Lou said:

We now know that the World Cup quallifying format will change.

September, October, November 2019 and March 2020 will all be in use for the CNL.
September, November 2015 and March 2016 were in use for WC qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

That leaves the following dates to whittle down 35 FIFA members to 3 teams (plus another  team qualifies for a playoff).

1-9 June 2020    2
31 August-8 September 2020    2
5-13 October 2020    2
9-17 November 2020    2
22-30 March 2021    2
31 May-8 June 2021    2
2021 Gold Cup
30 August- 7 September 2021    2
4-12 October 2021    2
8-16 November 2021    2
21-29 March 2022    2
30 May-14June    4
19-27 September 2022    2
 

Those last 6 dates are after the World Cup draw in April 2022.       

https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/jt0d6qoqwqwbp5sbofoc.pdf                                                                                         

There's a good chance there will be another Panamerican Copa America in June 2020 leaving those dates only available for minnows.

Edited by CanadianSoccerFan
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6 hours ago, apbsmith said:

 

Deleted my post, after reading through entire thread lol, my original post/observation is essentially irrelevant now.

Anyways, excited for this new format and the ranking system, overall I feel it benefits us on many different levels.

Also, have to agree on the mental toughness/staying focus thing.  Hutch referenced this also, in some of his interviews. Sure we can blame Floro for our WC cycle, but we blew a 1-0 lead over Honduras, in Honduras, when we were set up as a "defensive team". We also couldn't punish El Salvador in an empty stadium vs a B-C El Salvador.... only to thump them at home the following year.  Yes, I brought up old wounds, sure bame Floro but some onus does fall on the players from the last cycle,  anyways I am glad the toughness issue is being publicly addressed, we need to bring more CANADIAN GRIT, PRIDE & PASSION, at least that's how I fell.

Anyways, I am optimistic... but I usually always am with our CNMT :)

Great to hear!... I'm behind them too now a days and keep in mind we've added some exciting young talent not available during the last WCQ and prolly more to come in the next few years.... ALLES LES ROUGES ????????????????

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6 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Those last 6 dates are after the World Cup draw in April 2022.       

https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/jt0d6qoqwqwbp5sbofoc.pdf                                                                                         

There's a good chance there will be another Panamerican Copa America in June 2020 leaving those dates only available for minnows.

Lets hope we get invited to that Copa América 2020 @CanadianSoccerFan.....what are our odds of getting invited? ... Getting into tier A and most importantly doing well there will boost our chances as invitees at least I think it will...Will be great competition to go up against...Especially if we start fielding some of our young exciting youngsters with some seasoned pros, will just love it for them to go against Conmebol nations of the likes of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and even Brazil...But lets make sure we have this nice balance of players before accepting such invitation, lmfao 

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14 hours ago, footballfreak said:

Looking at the away grounds, St Kitts should be alright, seeing as they play in the cricket stadium (Warner Park), but that USVI field is rough - complete with baseball diamond.

Lionel Roberts Park (USVI)

Warner Park (SKN)

USVI 

 

Random Canada vs USVI quiz question.  Who scored 6 goals for Canada in one match against the USVI in Olympic qualifiers?

Edited by Toje
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17 hours ago, CNMNTPERUELIGIBLE said:

Exactly @Bison44 I couldn't agree more, that is just a lame excuse that fans throw at whenever they didn't get a favourable result on an away pitch, where they expected something better and yeah, hopefully Herdman can install that competitiveness toughness he seems to have been embracing so much the last week or so, lmao... In terms of players being more technically skilled than DeRo, I was thinking in guys like Cavallini and Larin who have played at the professional level and have somewhat proven to be goal scorers and offensive threats and are already cap-tied at the senior level. Not counting anybody from the YTs as many are yet to go pro... Simpson was good, very underrated indeed and Occéan has his moments too, not a bad skilled player overall.. What was the result at St. Kitts and Nevis in 11?... What does DERO do now, I have seen him in the sidelines in TFC games a few times and now he is still involved in some ways with the CSA.. just figure to ask

Ah, I was forgetting about Cavallini. There might be an argument for him with him scoring goals in Mexico. I would like to point out/remind that DeRo was a two time MLS Cup MVP and in 2011 he won the regular season MVP in MLS. He was definitely one of our most technically skilled players ever in my opinion.

Anyways, yes they didn't manage to score a goal in St. Kitts in 2011. Hopefully we can sweep these 4 qualifiers and get some confidence.

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1 hour ago, Keegan said:

We have the best draw for sure. Our main rivals in qualifying have some tough matches..

El Salvador v Jamaica

Haiti v Cuba

Bermuda v El Salvador

Nicaragua v Haiti

The problem is, with only 4 matches, one slip up and you could be screwed. One CONCACAF red card and we could be in trouble.

Good for the weaker teams but not for the top seeds who deserve to be in the top 12 based on performances over years, not just 4 matches (which in our case amounts to years anyway!).

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