The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition contested by the senior 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 uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

, the regional governing body of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. The tournament takes place on dates allocated for international friendlies on the

FIFA International Match Calendar The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar or FIFA Days) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, which sets out which ...

. A one-time

qualifying tournament Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

took place from September 2018 to March 2019 and the inaugural tournament began in September 2019.

History and format

The tournament was announced in November 2017. It is divided into three tiered leagues, A, B, and C, of four groups each, with

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

between the leagues based on finishing position within groups. The group winners of League A enter a four-team knockout competition to be crowned champion, while the group-winners of Leagues B and C are promoted to the next tier. In Leagues A and B, the four teams at the bottom of the groups are relegated to the next-lower tier. The tournament also determines which national teams qualify for the next edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The format proposals were first formally investigated at the XXXII

Ordinary Congress in Oranjestad, Aruba on 8 April 2017 and confirmed by CONCACAF on 16 November 2017. CONCACAF president

Victor Montagliani Victor Montagliani (; born September 12, 1965) is a Canadian businessman, soccer executive, and the president of CONCACAF. He is a vice president of the FIFA Council. Biography He is a former player of amateur soccer club side Columbus F.C. In ...

stated that the purpose of the competition is to have a regular schedule of international fixtures for CONCACAF's national teams, noting that some teams play fewer than 10 games in a four-year period and needed more competitive games to assist the sport's development in those nations.

Trophy

The CONCACAF Nations League trophy was unveiled eight days before the inaugural Nations League Finals. The trophy represents all 41 CONCACAF national associations and is made of silver-plated brass metal and raw stone. The trophy weighs 8 kg and is 52 cm tall. Cup silver NA

Anthem

The official anthem of the CONCACAF Nations League is 3 minutes and 54 seconds long, and is played when the players are entering the field of play, in television sequences and for ceremonial purposes.

Seasons

Each season of the CONCACAF Nations League is typically played from September to November of an odd-numbered year (league phase), and June of the following even-numbered year (Nations League Finals of League A), meaning a CONCACAF Nations League champion is crowned every two years. An exception will be made in the 2022–23 season when the league phase will be played in May to September 2022, due to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

played in Qatar at the end of the year.

Results

Finals

Performances by team

* = ''hosts''

Team performances by season

* – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place * – Promoted * – No movement * – Relegated *Q – Qualified for upcoming CONCACAF Nations League Finals * – Hosts of CONCACAF Nations League Finals

Broadcasters

CONCACAF

International

All matches are streamed through CONCACAF's subscription streaming service CONCACAF GO.

References

External links

* {{International football Nations League Recurring sporting events established in 2018