The CONCACAF Nations League format explained

The newly-established CONCACAF Nations League was officially launched this week, with the qualifiers set to start in September. The one-off qualifying phase will be followed by the group phase, consisting of three-tiered leagues, set to kick off in 2019.

The top league will end with a final to crown the Nations League champion, and the competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly expanded Gold Cup.

Guyana’s Golden Jaguars will play host to Barbados in their opening game, followed by ‘away’ clashes with Turks and Caicos in October and French Guiana in November, before hosting Belize in March 2019.

But how does the Nations League really work?

The inaugural competition will be played in the official FIFA match windows in September, October and November, 2019 with a Final Championship to be played in March 2020. All eligible CONCACAF Member Associations will be assigned by sporting performance into three leagues: A, B and C.

Each league will be sub-divided into groups, in which the participating Member Associations will compete in a home-and-away, round-robin format over the course of the group phase.

Nations League scheduling will be centralised in a fan-friendly, evenly distributed “week of football” format, allowing viewers across the region to enjoy quality international football matches at a variety of kick-off times, each day for the entire match window.

League A will contain four groups of three teams. The winners of each League A group will qualify to the CONCACAF Nations League Final Championship, which will determine the champion of the new competition.

The teams at the bottom of each League A group will be relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.

League B will contain four groups of four teams. The winner of each League B group will be promoted to League A, and the bottom team of each League B group will be relegated to League C for the next edition. League C will consist of the remaining MAs divided into four groups. The winner of each League C group will be promoted to League B.

The first edition of the CONCACAF Nations League will begin with a one-off CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying phase, which will determine which teams are assigned to each league.

By virtue of having qualified for the Hexagonal Round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Trinidad and Tobago have earned the right to be seeded directly into League A, and therefore will not participate in Nations League Qualifying.

In view of the on-going suspension imposed by FIFA, Guatemala will not be able to participate in CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying.

Meanwhile, Victor Montagliani, president of CONCACAF, speaking at the draw in Miami, told the gathering of journalists and other representatives from the 34 participating countries, that “the launch of the CONCACAF Nations League, conceived over the last two years and guided by the ONE CONCACAF principles of unity and access for our region’s football, is the defining moment marking the completion of our transition into a new era for our 41-member CONCACAF family.”

The CONCACAF boss posited, “The Nations League assures that all our members will have the opportunity to play more and compete more, which in turn will propel greater development of the sport at every level.”