The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League was the third season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group stage was held in September, October, and November 2023, and the Finals were played from 21 to 24 March 2024 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | League A: 7 September – 17 October 2023 Leagues B and C: 7 September – 21 November 2023 League A quarter-finals: 16–21 November 2023 Nations League Finals: 21–24 March 2024 |
| Teams | 41 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Mexico |
| Third place |  Jamaica |
| Fourth place |  Panama |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 93 |
| Goals scored | 317 (3.41 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Axel Raga(8 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Giovanni Reyna[1] |
| Best young player |  Omari Glasgow[1] |
| Best goalkeeper | Matt Turner[1] |
| Fair play award | Panama[1] |
← 2022–23 2024–25 → | |
The competition saw a format change, with League A now featuring sixteen teams in two groups of a Swiss system, followed by a quarter-final round. In addition, the Nations League also served as qualification for CONCACAF teams for the 2024 Copa América, which is being held between June and July of this year in the United States.
The United States were the two-time defending champions and successfully defended their title in the final.
Format
editOn 28 February 2023, CONCACAF announced a format change for the 2023–24 season of the CONCACAF Nations League. As a result, no teams were relegated from the 2022–23 season.[2][3]
The size of League A was increased from twelve to sixteen teams, and now featured a quarter-final round. The twelve lowest-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings of March 2023 entered the group stage, now using a modified group format. The teams were divided into two groups of six teams, with each team playing four matches against group opponents (two at home and two away). The top four teams advanced to the quarter-finals, and were joined by the four top-ranked teams in the CONCACAF Rankings of March 2023. The teams advancing from the group stage were drawn into ties against the top-ranked teams, which were played on a two-legged home-and-away basis. The four quarter-finals winners advanced to the Nations League Finals, which retained its previous format of a semi-final round, third place play-off and final match to determine the champions.
League A also determined the six CONCACAF teams which qualified as guests for the 2024 Copa América in the United States. The quarter-finals winners qualified directly to the tournament, while the losers advanced to a qualifying play-off, featuring two single-leg matches.
League B remained unchanged, featuring sixteen teams divided into four groups of four. Each team played six matches in a double round-robin home-and-away format (three at home and three away). Following the format change, League C was reduced from thirteen to nine teams and from four to three groups. Teams were divided into three groups of three teams, with each team playing four matches in a double round-robin home-and-away format (two at home and two away).[2]
Promotion and relegation resumed for the 2023–24 season, with the fifth and sixth placed teams in League A and the fourth-placed teams in League B being relegated for the next season. The group winners of Leagues B and C were promoted, as were the best second-placed team of League C.[2]
Tiebreakers
editThe ranking of teams in each group was determined as follows (Regulations Article 12.4):[4]
- Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss);
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Number of goals scored in all group matches;
If two or more teams still tied based on the above criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:
- Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Number of away goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question (if the tie was only between two teams);
- Lowest number of disciplinary points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
- Yellow card: 1 points;
- Indirect red card (second yellow card): 3 points;
- Direct red card: 4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: 5 points;
- Drawing of lots.
Entrants
editAll of CONCACAF's 41 member associations entered in the competition. Teams were divided into leagues based on their results of the 2022–23 season, while the pots were determined by the CONCACAF Ranking of March 2023.[5] The four top-ranked teams in League A received a bye to the quarter-finals. The group stage draw was held on 16 May 2023, 19:00 EDT, in Miami, Florida, United States.[2][6][7] The pots were confirmed on 2 May 2023, with League A split into six pots of two teams, League B split into four pots of four teams and League C split into three pots of three teams.[8]
Nicaragua originally qualified for promotion to League A as winners of League B Group C, but were disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player. As a result, they were replaced by Trinidad and Tobago as the best runner-up in League B on 12 June 2023. Nicaragua replaced Trinidad and Tobago in League B.[9]
| Promoted in previous season |
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|
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Schedule
editBelow was the schedule of the 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League.[2][10] The fixture dates for the group matches were confirmed on 6 July 2023.[11]
| Round | Dates | |
|---|---|---|
| League A | League B and C | |
| Matchday 1 | 7–9 September 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 10–12 September 2023 | |
| Matchday 3 | 12–14 October 2023 | |
| Matchday 4 | 15–17 October 2023 | |
| Quarter-finals, 1st leg | Matchday 5 | 16–18 November 2023 |
| Quarter-finals, 2nd leg | Matchday 6 | 19–21 November 2023 |
| Semi-finals | — | 21 March 2024 |
| Third place play-off | — | 24 March 2024 |
| Final | — | |
League A
editGroup A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 10 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | — | ||
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 9 | — | — | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 7 | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 3 | Relegation to League B | 1–2 | 5–3 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | — | — |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 10 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 1–0 | — | — | 2–2 | — | ||
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 7 | — | — | — | 4–0 | — | 4–0 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 4–0 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 5 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | |||
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | Relegation to League B | 2–3 | — | — | 0–0 | — | — | ||
| 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 1 | 1–4 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — |
Quarter-finals
editThe quarter-finals pairings were determined based on the CONCACAF Rankings published after the October 2023 FIFA Match Window for the four pre-seeded teams and the group stage results for the winners and runners-up of each group.[4]
|
|
The match-ups were as follows:
- Quarter-final 1 (QF1): Fourth-ranked seeded team vs. Best-ranked group winner
- Quarter-final 2 (QF2): Third-ranked seeded team vs. Next best-ranked group winner
- Quarter-final 3 (QF3): Second-ranked seeded team vs. Best-ranked group runner-up
- Quarter-final 4 (QF4): First-ranked seeded team vs. Next best-ranked group runner-up
The first legs were played from 16 to 18 November, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 November 2023.[13]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica |
1–6 | 0–3 | 1–3 | |
| Jamaica |
4–4 (a) | 1–2 | 3–2 | |
| United States |
4–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | |
| Honduras |
2–2 (2–4 p) | 2–0 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) |
Nations League Finals
editSeeding
editThe four teams were ranked based on their results in both legs of the quarter-finals to determine the semi-final matchups. The first seed played the fourth seed and the second seed played the third seed.[14]
| Seed | QF | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Bracket
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| March 21 – Arlington, TX | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| March 24 – Arlington, TX | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| March 21 – Arlington, TX | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| March 24 – Arlington, TX | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses).[15]
Semi-finals
edit| United States | 3–1 (a.e.t.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Leigh |
Third place play-off
edit| Panama | 0–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Lembikisa |
Final
editLeague B
editGroup A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 3 | +13 | 15 | Promotion to League A | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 10 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 15 | −9 | 6 | 0–2 | 1–5 | — | 2–3 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 4 | Relegation to League C | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 16 | Promotion to League A | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 10 | 0–2 | — | 3–0 | 5–2 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 9 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 4–2 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 26 | −19 | 0 | Relegation to League C | 0–4 | 0–5 | 2–3 | — |
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 10 | Promotion to League A | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 9 | 1–4 | — | 4–3 | 3–0 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 8 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 7 | Relegation to League C | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — |
Group D
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 15 | Promotion to League A | — | 3–1 | 6–0 | 3–2 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 12 | 1–3 | — | 5–0 | 6–1 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 4 | 1–5 | 2–3 | — | 2–2 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 21 | −14 | 1 | Relegation to League C | Canc. | 1–6 | 1–4 | — |
League C
editGroup A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | +19 | 12 | Promotion to League B | — | 2–1 | 8–0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0–4 | — | 2–0 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | −19 | 0 | 0–6 | 0–3 | — |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 12 | Promotion to League B | — | 5–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | — |
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 10 | Promotion to League B | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | — |
Ranking of second-placed teams
edit| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | Promotion to League B | |
| 2 | C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 | ||
| 3 | B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 |
Top goalscorers
edit
|
|
|
Source: CONCACAF.[18]
Top Scorer Award
editAn official "Top Scorer Award" was also handed out by CONCACAF, utilising a points system that took into consideration which league the player in question was a part of and weighed their goals accordingly. Each goal scored in League A was awarded 2 points, goals in League B 1.5 points, and goals in League C 1 point. With seven goals for Guyana in League B, Omari Glasgow won the award with a total of 10.5 points.[1]
| Rank | Player | Goals | Factor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 1.5 | 10.5 | |
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | |
| 3 | 6 | 1.5 | 9 | |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Reyna, Turner, Glasgow earn Concacaf Nations League honors". CONCACAF. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023–2026 cycle". CONCACAF. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- ^ Straus, Brian (28 February 2023). "Concacaf Revamps Nations League, Unveils Copa America and World Cup Qualifying". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ a b "CONCACAF Nations League regulations" (PDF). res.cloudinary.com. CONCACAF.
- ^ "CONCACAF Ranking Index". CONCACAF. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ Reidy, Paul (3 May 2023). "Concacaf Nations League 23/24 draw to be staged on 16 May". Diario AS. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ "Draw delivers groups for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League presented by Qatar Airways". CONCACAF. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "CONCACAF confirms details for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League official draw". CONCACAF. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Concacaf Disciplinary Committee decision regarding Nicaragua and the Eligibility of Players" (Press release). CONCACAF. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Men's International Match Calendar 2023–2030" (PDF). FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "CONCACAF announces schedule for 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League presented by Qatar Airways". CONCACAF. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- ^ "Selección de Panamá escala posición en Ranking de Concacaf" (in Spanish). RPC Televisión. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "Concacaf confirms 23/24 Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal pairings". Miami: CONCACAF. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Concacaf confirms Concacaf Nations League Semifinals and Play-In pairings and schedule". CONCACAF. 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Tickets now on sale for Concacaf Nations League Play-In matches in Dallas". Miami: CONCACAF. 24 January 2024.
- ^ "U.S. Men's National Team advances to 2024 CONCACAF Nations League Final with 3-1 semifinal win over Jamaica". Arlington, Texas: United States Soccer Federation. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ "Mexico 3-0 Panama (Mar 21, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "CONCACAF Nations League Stats". CONCACAF. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.