Rebeca Henriquez
@RebeHenriquez
CONCACAF gave details of the fourth edition of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Confederation Nations League, with matches scheduled to begin in September of this year and the finals in March of next year. The competition will serve as a stage to qualify for the 2025 Gold Cup. The Confederation confirmed details of the fourth edition of the competition, in which 41 national teams from the region will play the matches during the FIFA date of September, October and November of this year and the grand final will be held in March 2025.
The official draw for the competition, which will determine league groups A, B and C, will take place on May 6.
The A-League includes 16 teams and a quarterfinal round, and for the group stage round, the 12 lowest-ranked A-league national teams will be divided into two groups of six teams each, and will play a system of the Swiss league, in which each one will play four games, two at home and two away.
After the group stage, the first and second places in each group, which will be four in total, will advance to the quarterfinal stage where they will join the four best in League A. And this stage will be played in a first-leg format and return, and the winner will advance to the league finals.
In League B, where El Salvador is located, it will include 16 teams in the same way. Each team will play twice against all the teams in its group with six games in total.
The matches will no longer be played back and forth, but in a centralized venue for each FIFA window, according to the position of the rivals in the group.
“This change in format will alleviate some of the travel challenges faced by Member Associations due to the unique geography of our region and will allow them to focus on delivering the best football possible,” according to CONCACAF.
League C will include 9 teams divided into three groups of three. Each team will play twice against all with a total of four games and like League B, it will be played in a centralized venue and the second best classified in each group will host the September matches and the best classified the October matches. .
Promotion and relegation between Leagues will take place at the end of the tournament. In League B, the group winners will be promoted to League A and the fourth places will be relegated to League C.
CALENDAR
Group Phase: September 2-10, October 7-15 and November 11-19, 2024
Quarterfinals: November 11-19, 2024
Semifinals: March 20, 2025
Final and Third Place Match: March 23, 2025
In League B, the pots were as follows, with El Salvador as the top seed:
Pot 1: Haiti, El Salvador, Curacao and the Dominican Republic
Pot 2: Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Montserrat and Saint Lucia
Pot 3: Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and Aruba
Bombo 4: Dominica, Bonaire, Saint Martin y Sint Maarten
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