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The 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League Finals kick off on Thursday with four nations, Mexico, United States, Panama and Jamaica, all in search of the crown.
Recently, the Head Coaches of the four teams sat down with CONCACAF.com to talk about this year’s CONCACAF Nations League Finals at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In the previous two editions of the CONCACAF Nations League Finals in 2021 and 2023, the U.S. emerged victorious in both instances, including a memorable 3-2 extra time win against rivals Mexico in the 2021 Final.
Three years ago in Denver, Colorado, it was a very young group of U.S. players who staked their claim as the first CNL champions. It is a title that U.S. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter remembers with great fondness knowing that it was the genesis of a special generation.
“That first Nations League was our first title together as a group. The guys were babies, they were young, and it’s nice to see that that was the starting point for everything that has come after that,” said Berhalter.
“We’ve grown leaps and bounds since then. The players have matured. The players have really progressed in their own careers playing at some top clubs now, and every time we get together for the Nations League, it’s another opportunity to remind ourselves where it all started. That first Nations League title was certainly part of it,” added Berhalter.
The 2021 CNL Finals served as a close call for Mexico, who narrowly lost that Final and then were defeated by the U.S. in the semifinals in the 2023 tournament. It was right after the 2023 CNL Finals concluded when Mexico Head Coach Jaime Lozano took the reins and led his team to the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup title.
Now, their focus is on winning the country’s first ever CNL crown.
“It would be wonderful to win it. It’s a new tournament in its third edition and we’ll try to get to the Final. The most recent one we were in we sadly did not win, but it is a tournament that we target as a national team. First, we must be able to get past Panama, which is a great opponent who we faced in the Gold Cup Final and then we have to make the Final, win it and raise a trophy that our country is yet to win,” said Lozano.
Along the same lines, Panama are looking to win their first ever CNL title after debuting last year in the 2023 edition. Not only would winning this year’s CNL Finals be Panama’s first CNL trophy, but it would mark Panama’s first CONCACAF title.
That is certainly the objective of Head Coach Thomas Christiansen, who hopes his side can first get past Mexico in their semifinal on Thursday.
“Winning the Nations League would be our dream. It’s what we all strive for in this tournament, especially now that we’re in the semifinals, so why not dream? It is tough, though, because a semifinal against Mexico is very difficult where we have to give our all. We hope on the 21st we can get some revenge from the Gold Cup final that we lost,” said Christiansen.
Jamaica are making history just by reaching the CNL Finals, becoming the first ever Caribbean side to appear in this stage of the tournament. Jamaica Head Coach Heimer Hallgrimsson sees it as another valuable opportunity to prepare his players for the long-term objective of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We needed to go through a group stage doing well and then played Canada in a playoff game and now we got to this. If you are thinking about growing th
