March 6 – CONCACAF has unveiled its first ranking of national teams in the North, Central America and Caribbean region. Mexico are ranked top, the USA, despite not qualifying for Russia 2018, are second, and Costa Rica third.
The new ranking system will form the basis for seeding CONCACAF teams for qualifying to international tournaments going forward.
The ranking will be used for the first time to index the 34 participating teams for the live CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying draw to be held in Miami on Wednesday. Each team will play four matches between September and March, resulting at the qualifiers’ conclusion in a combined table which will be used to seed all 34 contestants into tiers for the inaugural edition of the full CONCACAF Nations League.
“CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying represents a watershed moment for CONCACAF and its 41-member family,” said CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. “When the ball rolls in September, it will mark a new era of international football for our Member Associations.”
CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying will involve 34 of the region’s 40 currently eligible men’s national teams – Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Trinidad & Tobago are seeded directly into the top tier of the inaugural Nations League as they were the qualifiers for the Hexagonal Round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018.
As well as conducting the Nations League qualifying draw this Wednesday, the full format of the competition will be unveiled at the launch event.
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