The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition organized by

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from

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Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and the

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. 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) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, which sets out which dates can be us ...

. A one-time qualifying tournament took place from September 2018 to March 2019, with its inaugural edition in 2019.

History and format competition

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 Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

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 CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

. The format proposals were first formally investigated at the XXXII

Ordinary Congress in

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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, association football, 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 ...

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.

Adjustment from 2023–24

On 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. The size of League A was increased from 12 to 16 teams and featured a quarter-final round. The 12 lowest-ranked teams in the

CONCACAF Rankings The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

of March 2023 entered the group stage. The teams were divided into two groups of six, 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. The teams advancing from the group stage were drawn into ties against the top-ranked teams, which were played on a

two-legged In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum of ...

home-and-away basis. 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 13 to 9 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).

Promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

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 was the best second-placed team of League C.

Trophy and seasons

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 and stone. The trophy weighs and is tall. Each season of the CONCACAF Nations League is typically played from September to November (league phase), and March or June of the following year (Nations League Finals of League A). An exception was made in the 2022–23 season when the league phase was played from June 2022 to March 2023, due to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

played in Qatar at the end of the year.

Results

Performances

;Notes: ''Italic'' — Hosts

Competitive records

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

Broadcasting

CONCACAF

International

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

Awards

References

External links

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