The 2020 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2019–20 edition of the

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

. The tournament was held in the United States from 3 to 6 June 2021, and was contested by the four group winners of Nations League A. The tournament consisted of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and final to determine the inaugural champions of the CONCACAF Nations League. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

defeated

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

3–2 after extra time in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

to become the first champions of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Format

The Nations League Finals took place in June 2021 and was contested by the four group winners of

League A League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Leagues (band), ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full ...

. The Nations League Finals was played in single-leg knockout matches, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final. The semi-final pairings were determined by the group stage rankings (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3), and the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final were announced on 9 March 2020. All matches in the tournament utilised the

goal-line technology In many outdoor ball sports, a goal line is a line in front of goal post and which a team attempts to advance the ball or puck towards to score a goal or points. In particular, see: * Football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer fiel ...

and

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

(VAR) systems. In the Nations League Finals, if the scores were level at the end of normal time: *In the final, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If the score was still level after extra time, the winners would be determined by a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. *In the semi-finals and third place play-off, extra time was not played, and the winners were determined by a

Qualified teams

The four group winners of

qualified for the Nations League Finals.

Schedule

The tournament was originally to be held in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

from 4 to 7 June 2020. However, the tournament was postponed on 3 April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. On 27 July 2020, CONCACAF announced that the Finals would be held in March 2021, though on 22 September 2020 CONCACAF announced that the tournament was again rescheduled until June 2021. On 24 February 2021, CONCACAF confirmed the dates for the rescheduled CONCACAF Nations League Finals: 3 to 6 June 2021, with the venue and times to be released at a later date. On 9 May 2021, CONCACAF confirmed the fixture dates and times.

Seeding

The four teams were ranked based on their results in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

to determine the semi-final matchups.

Venues

Initially, the competition was scheduled to be held in

, with the

BBVA Stadium Shell Energy Stadium (formerly BBVA Compass Stadium, BBVA Stadium, then PNC Stadium) is an American multi-purpose stadium located in Houston, Texas that is home to Houston Dynamo FC, a Major League Soccer club, the Houston Dash of the National ...

and

NRG Stadium NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

hosting the semi-final matches, and the AT&T Stadium in Arlington hosting the third place play-off and final. However, the planned venues were put into doubt following the tournament's suspension. CONCACAF announced the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

as the new hosts of the competition on 15 April 2021, with

Empower Field at Mile High Empower Field at Mile High (previously known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and commonly known as Mile High, New Mile High or Mile High Stadium) is an American football stadiu ...

hosting the two semi-finals, third place play-off, and final.

Squads

Each national team had to submit an initial squad of forty players, five of whom had to be goalkeepers, at least 24 days before the opening match of the tournament. The final squads of 23 players (including three goalkeepers) had to be submitted by 27 May 2021, seven days prior to the opening match of the tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament no less than 24 hours before his team's first match, he was allowed to be replaced by another player.

Match officials

On 24 May 2021, CONCACAF announced the fourteen officials for the tournament. Referees * Reon Radix *

John Pitti John Francis Pitti Hernández (born 2 August 1978) is a retired Panamanian professional Association football, football Referee (association football), referee. He has been a full international for FIFA since 2012. He refereed some matches in the ...

* Oshane Nation * Bryan López * Tristley Bassue Assistant referees * Iroots Appleton * Jassett Kerr-Wilson * Juan Tipaz * Caleb Wales * Zachari Zeegelaar Video assistant referees *

Drew Fischer Drew Fischer (born July 10, 1980) is a Canadian football referee who regularly officiates Major League Soccer games, and was approved for international matches in 2015. Background Fischer was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. As a teen i ...

* Erick Miranda * Daneon Parchment *

Chris Penso Chris Penso (born April 28, 1982) is a referee who is active in Major League Soccer. Career Penso was raised in Dover, Ohio, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of the city while studying accounting at Kent State University. He began refereeing ...

Bracket

In the semi-finals and third place game, extra time was not played if tied after regulation, and the match was decided by a

. In the final, extra time was played if tied after regulation, and if still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a

(Regulations Article 12.11).

All times are local, MDT ( UTC−6).

Semi-finals

Honduras vs United States

Mexico vs Costa Rica

Third place play-off

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

Awards

;Best XI CONCACAF announced the following squad as the best eleven of the finals after the conclusion of the tournament. Weston McKennie was named MVP of the tournament, having scored a total of 4 goals in league and tournament play.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:CONCACAF Nations League Finals 2021

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

June 2021 sports events in the United States International association football competitions hosted by the United States 2021 in American soccer 2020–21 in Mexican football Association football events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Nations League F