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CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani has praised all 41 of the Confederation’s Member Associations as they come together to compete for the second edition of the CONCACAF Nations League (CNL) presented by Qatar Airways.
The group stage of the second edition of the CNL will be played in June 2022 and March 2023 with home and away play across the region, prior to a centralized CNL Finals in June 2023 which will include the League A group winners competing to be crowned 2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League champions.
The CNL was established to create a more consistent set of matches for all men’s national teams across the region. Teams were split into Leagues A, B and C and the competition provided an exciting qualification route to the 2021 Gold Cup. The CNL also includes promotion and relegation between editions, creating opportunities for all teams to move within the system as they improve, and to dream of reaching new heights.
The first edition of the CNL was a huge success with 300,000+ fans attending games across the region, impressive TV audiences and engaging football stories throughout CONCACAF.
Speaking on the success of the CONCACAF Nations League, President Montagliani said: “The CONCACAF Nations League has transformed men’s national team football in our region. Prior to CONCACAF introducing this competition, there were simply not enough competitive matches for our Member Associations. More than half of the men’s national teams in CONCACAF were not playing any football between World Cup Qualifiers, and I was determined to address that with a truly meaningful tournament that speaks to our One CONCACAF approach.
“In the first edition, we enjoyed hugely competitive matches and great football stories throughout the region. We saw Bermuda going to Panama and delivering a famous win, Suriname winning their group to qualify for their first ever Gold Cup appearance and Grenada topping their group to deliver Gold Cup football for the first time in a decade. Following the group stage, the CNL Finals delivered tremendous matchups involving Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA, including a final that will live long in the memory and saw USA crowned as inaugural champions.
“The Nations League has something for everyone, with all MAs coming together to put football first, prioritizing more official competition in our region. As we head into the second edition, on behalf of everyone at the Confederation I want to thank all 41 of our MAs, their players and coaches, and of course the fans, for the hard work they put into this competition and for their ongoing support”.
The 2022/23 CNL will qualify teams to the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup in a format which will ensure intense competition on the field throughout the group stage. CNL League A group winners and runners-up, and League B group winners will qualify directly to the 2023 Gold Cup group stage. CNL League A group third place finishers, League B group runners-up and League C group winners will qualify to the 2023 Gold Cup Preliminary Round.
The CNL campaign will commence with six matches on Thursday, June 2, 2022. Anguilla vs Dominica (4pm ET) kicks things off in League C, prior to four League B matches including French Guiana vs Guatemala (5pm ET), Belize vs Dominican Republic (6pm ET), Barbados vs Antigua and Barbuda (7:30pm ET) and Guadeloupe vs Cuba (8pm ET). A Central American rivalry will kick things off in League A with tomorrow night’s Panama vs Costa Rica (730pm ET) match sure to capture the imagination of fans in both countries.
