May 18 – The draw for the third edition of the expanded 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League (CNL) has seen Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador in a Central America-heavy group in League A. Haiti and Jamaica headline Group B which has an all-Caribbean profile, bar the challenge from Honduras.
League A has been expanded to 16 teams for the next season, but the top four ranked teams in Concacaf – Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the US – don’t enter the competition until the newly introduced quarter-final round. The group rounds will be played in the FIFA Match Windows in September, October, and November 2023. The quarter finals will also be played in November.
The four winners will qualify for the finals in March 2024 to be played at a centralised venue that has yet to be announced.
Those four nations will also qualify for the 2024 Conmebol Copa America. The final two slots for that championship will be decided via a play-in between the four League A losing Quarterfinalists – also to take place in March 2024.
The League A group stages will be played as a ‘Swiss style’ league system, with each team playing four games (two at home and two away).
League A groups
Group A: Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Martinique, Curaçao, and Nicaragua.
Group B: Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Cuba, Suriname, and Grenada.
While the highest profile focus was on the League A draw and qualification routes to the 2024 Conmebol Copa America, all 41 Concacaf men’s teams were in the draw that included Leagues B and C.
League B features 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams. Each team will play every other team in their group, home and away, for a total of six matches per team (three at home and three away).
League B groups
Group A: Guadeloupe, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Sint Maarten.
Group B: Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Montserrat, and Barbados.
Group C: French Guiana, Bermuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Belize.
Group D: Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico, and Bahamas.
League C now has nine teams divided into three groups of three teams. Each team will play every team in their group, home and away.
League C groups
Group A: Bonaire, Saint Martin, and Anguilla.
Group B: Aruba, Cayman Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Group C: Dominica, Turks and Caicos Islands, and British Virgin Islands.
Promotion and relegation between CNL Leagues will take place as follows:
League A: Fifth and sixth-place finishers will be relegated to League B.
League B: Group winners will be promoted to League A, and fourth-place finishers will be relegated to League C.
League C: Group winners and the best second-place finisher will be promoted to League B.
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