Concacaf has confirmed the details of the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League presented by Qatar Airways (CNL). The competition’s group stage matches, featuring the men’s national teams of all 41 Concacaf Member Associations is scheduled to take place during the FIFA Match Windows of June 2022 and March 2023. The Concacaf Nations League Finals presented by Qatar Airways (CNLF), between the four League A group winners, will be played in June 2023.

“The first edition of the Concacaf Nations League was a huge success, and this competition has already transformed men’s national team football in our region,” said Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President, Victor Montagliani.  “Where previously teams had limited opportunities to play and compete, the Nations League provides a consistent set of official matches for every Member Association in Concacaf. Players can look forward to regional rivalries, coaches can test themselves against the best in Concacaf and fans in all 41 nations can follow their teams with pride.”

“By including qualification to the Gold Cup, and promotion and relegation between editions, there is a competitive edge throughout this tournament. I can’t wait for the draw in April and the opening matches of the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League in June”, added Montagliani.

The official draw for the 2022/23 CNL, which will sub-divide Leagues A, B and C into groups, will take place on Monday, April 4, in Miami, FL. The made for tv live event will feature the participation of Concacaf President and FIFA Vice president, Victor Montagliani, as well as current and former coaches and players, and guests from the world of international football.

Concacaf launched the region’s men’s Nations League in March 2018, with the aim of ensuring all Member Associations have the opportunity to compete in more official matches, driving the development of the game and providing a compelling tournament for fans in all parts of the Confederation.

The group stage of the inaugural CNL kicked off in September 2019 and culminated after one-hundred-and-two memorable matches. The four League A winners, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA, all advanced to the 2021 CNLF in Denver, CO. After two high quality semifinals, Mexico and the United States faced off in an unforgettable Final. An extra time penalty conversion by US forward Christian Pulisic proved to be the decisive moment and served as the winning goal in the 3-2 victory for the United States, who were crowned as the first CNL champion.

2022/23 Concacaf Nations League Group Stage presented by Qatar Airways

The 2022/23 CNL group stage will continue to be played in a three League format (League A, League B and League C), with home and away round robin play on the FIFA Match Windows of June 2022 (double window) and March 2023.

The distribution of the teams for each league has been determined based on the results of the 2019 CNL group stage, including a promotion and relegation system (bottom team in each group relegated and top team in each group promoted).

Based on the 2019 results, the 41 Concacaf Member Associations will be distributed in the three Leagues as follows (teams listed in alphabetical order per league):

League A (12 teams): Canada, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador (promoted), Grenada (promoted), Honduras, Jamaica (promoted), Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Suriname (promoted) and United States.

League B (16 teams): Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas (promoted), Barbados (promoted), Belize, Bermuda (relegated), Cuba (relegated), Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe (promoted), Guatemala (promoted), Guyana, Haiti (relegated), Montserrat, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago (relegated).

League C (13 teams): Anguilla, Aruba (relegated), Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica (relegated), Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis (relegated), Saint Lucia (relegated), Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Additionally, the 2022/23 CNL group stage will continue to serve as the qualifier for the Concacaf Gold Cup. More details on the exact qualification process for the 2023 Gold Cup will be announced prior to the start of the 2022/23 CNL group stage.

2023 Concacaf Nations League Finals presented by Qatar Airways

The 2023 CNLF will be played in a centralized location in June 2023 and will consist of semifinals, a third place match and a final. To determine the semifinal matchups between the four League A group winners, teams will be ranked 1-4 based on their 2022/23 CNL Group Stage results, with the highest ranked team facing the lowest ranked team (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3).

2022/23 Concacaf Nations League presented by Qatar Airways Official Draw

The official draws for the 2022/23 CNL group stage will take place Monday, April 4, in Miami, FL. The three draws, one for each league, will all be done using a single-blind system involving three pots for League A, four pots for League B and three Pots for League C.

The 41 participating Concacaf Member Associations will be allocated in their respective League pots according to their Concacaf Ranking following the FIFA international match window of March 2022.

League A
Pot 1: 3 highest ranked teams and Concacaf’s representative in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Intercontinental Playoff
Pot 2: Next 4 ranked teams
Pot 3: Lowest 4 ranked teams

Note: The Concacaf representative that qualifies for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Intercontinental Playoff will automatically be allocated in Pot 1. This is to ensure they can participate in the Intercontinental Playoff which will take place in Doha, Qatar, during the second FIFA Match Window of June 2022.

League B
Pot 1: 4 highest ranked teams
Pot 2: Next 4 ranked teams
Pot 3: Next 4 ranked teams
Pot 4: Lowest 4 ranked teams

League C
Pot 1: 4 highest ranked teams
Pot 2: Next 4 ranked teams
Pot 3: Lowest 5 ranked teams

Each of the League’s draws will begin by randomly selecting a team from Pot 1 and placing them in Group A of their respective league. The draws will continue by selecting the remaining teams from Pot 1 and positioning them into Groups B, C and D in sequential order. The same procedure will be done for the remaining pots.

Fans will be able to follow the live event through the Confederation’s partner networks, including CBS/Paramount + (USA-Eng), Univision/TUDN (USA-Spa), OneSoccer (CAN), Televisa (MEX), regional partners in Central America and the Caribbean, and the Concacaf Official App (subject to territory restrictions). The free mobile app is available in the Apple and Google Play stores.

2022/23 Concacaf Nations League (Image courtesy: Concacaf )

(Concacaf)