June 5 – Concacaf kicked off the second edition of its Nations League this weekend, a competition that Concacaf president Victor Montagliani described as transformational for men’s national team football in the region.
All 41 of Concacaf’s member nations will play across the three tiers of the competition which will qualify teams to the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Costa Rica, who are preparing for a World Cup play-off against New Zealand on June 14 in Doha, opened poorly against Panama, the country they beat in the last round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying to win the play-off spot.
Panama won with two second half goals through Ismael Diaz and Cecilio Waterman. 48 hours later, Costa Rica turned their fortunes round with a 2-0 win over Martinique with goals from Joel Campbell and Francisco Calvo.
Canada, Mexico and the US – the three qualified nations for the Qatar World Cup – don’t open their campaigns until this weekend. Mexico will have watched their group opponents Jamaica and Suriname play out a 1-1.
When these nations last played at the Gold Cup in 2021, Jamaica ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. The drawn match at the weekend reflects how far the Jamaicans’ performance levels have dropped in the tougher competition environment of the Nations League, but also the how Suriname have embraced the new competition opportunity and have pushed their own game forward.
“Prior to Concacaf introducing this competition, there were simply not enough competitive matches for our Member Associations. More than half of the men’s national teams in Concacaf were not playing any football between World Cup Qualifiers, and I was determined to address that with a truly meaningful tournament that speaks to our One Concacaf approach,” said Montagliani (pictured).
The upshot is that countries like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – traditional powerhouses in the Caribbean – can no longer bank on automatic qualification to the major competitions with straightforward wins over their Caribbean rivals. Something they are proving slow to get to grips with. Trinidad and Tobago are in League 2 and opened with a 2-1 loss to Nicaragua.
Montagliani highlights the competitiveness that is bringing change across the region.
“In the first edition, we enjoyed hugely competitive matches and great football stories throughout the region. We saw Bermuda going to Panama and delivering a famous win, Suriname winning their group to qualify for their first ever Gold Cup appearance and Grenada topping their group to deliver Gold Cup football for the first time in a decade,” said Montagliani.
“Following the group stage, the CNL Finals delivered tremendous matchups involving Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA, including a final that will live long in the memory and saw USA crowned as inaugural champions. The Nations League has something for everyone, with all MAs coming together to put football first, prioritizing more official competition in our region.”
The group stage of the second edition of the CNL will be played in June 2022 and March 2023 with home and away play across the region, prior to a centralised CNL Finals in June 2023.
CNL League A group winners and runners-up, and the four League B group winners will qualify directly to the 2023 Gold Cup group stage. CNL League A group third place finishers, League B group runners-up and the four League C group winners will qualify to the 2023 Gold Cup Preliminary Round.
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