It didn't just qualify 10 additional teams to the Gold Cup. It qualified 34 teams into their respective leagues (A, B and C). Guatemala was placed in C because of previous issues without competing in qualifying.
The recent tournament's primary purpose was to classify teams into the three leagues of the CONCACAF Nations League. You could think of that as qualification for League A, B, or C. That is what most people, and CONCACAF, meant by calling the games qualifiers. It did also determine which 10 teams would join the 6 teams that had already qualified for the Gold Cup via reaching the Hex in the last World Cup qualifying process. That was not, however, the primary purpose of the CNL qualifying tournament.
When I read that Canada and Cuba would be playing their first two games against each other, I assumed that each month would have a pair of teams play twice, but now I realize that I jumped to that conclusion. USA and Canada haven't played in a double round-robin group since the last time Canada reached the Hexagonal, which was for World Cup 1998.
The ABC islands are located much closer to the country's biggest cities so there's more contact with ABC than with Trinidad.
Still no details on the schedule, which leads me to believe the FA's themselves have a lot of leeway over scheduling or are largely free to make the arrangements themselves so that ease of travel can be considered as well as other factors. If that were indeed the situation, the US would have the most flexibility in double match-day windows because they're going to be able to use home venues that are going to be very close to an away match. Canada might be interested in playing the US in Vancouver or Edmonton instead of BMO if they were pretty sure they could pack the stadium. In turn the US would want the other game in that window reasonably close (Portland/Seattle/Bay area). The US also has to decide if it wants to play its match at home with Cuba in an place like Orlando, where they'd get a massive but hostile crowd, or a location that would create more favorable home venue and probably be much cooler.
Most in the Voyageurs Forums agrees that BMO field isn't a good idea for hosting the US due to Bradley and Altidore, while the ease of getting there for US fans. I also think they will want to play on grass to not limit their options (Godhino sat the last game due to his recent knee surgery and Vancouver having turf field.) I think one of these 3 makes sense Montreal Calgary Halifax BMO field will most likely host Cuba
LOL they're not playing Cuba in Orlando or anywhere in Florida...unless USSoccer wants to win via forfeit
I was kind of thinking the only reason BMO isn't the best option is simply because there are larger ones available, and I think there's going to be a lot of interest in Canada as it will be our first trip there in a generation. I don't think Jozy and Bradley should factor into that decision because you don't know if they'll be A) healthy, B) called to the team or C) play. I don't think a USMNT fan willing to travel to Toronto would be deterred by a trip to Montreal, simply because you're talking about a VERY small contingent of fans that would do so for a competition that doesn't carry a lot of weight at this point. If it were a WCQ (theoretically a Hex game), I'd say it's something that could probably be considered more. I'd suspect that the US will treat these more as glorified friendlies, because at least 6-7 spots on the Top XI for WCQ are still entirely up for grabs.
We all pretty much assumed it, but FMF President Yon de Luisa gave the game away (at 8:06) The "Final 4" (Really? Y'all had to copy the UEFA NL even down to the final round's name?) will take place in the US.
Who copied it from the Indiana High School basketball tournament although that is contested. The NCAA basketball tournament didn't really have a Final Four until 1954. Before that there were only East and West regions with two teams meeting at a central location for the championship. The Indiana high school tournament had a final four meeting in Indianapolis as early as the 1930s. The NCAA actually trademarked the phrase "Final Four" in the 1970s when they started using it. CONCACAF may have some issues with using that name in the U.S.
It would be strange if it needed to have different names in different countries because of trademarks. I hope the NCAA doesn't complain because it's obvious that it's unrelated and not competing with the NCAA. I don't think letting Concacaf say "Final Four" will make more people will watch soccer or fewer people watch the NCAA. If FC Barcelona can deal with there being a Barcelona in Ecuador, Serie A in Italy can deal with the Brazilian league also being Serie A, and other examples like that, the NCAA should be able to deal with what Concacaf wants. It started in HS, but if the NCAA hadn't used it, I don't think UEFA or Concacaf would have copied it from HS.
That not how defending a trademark works as far as I can tell. If the NCAA doesn't act to keep CONCACAF from using their trademarked term then that opens it up for other groups to use "Final Four". Think of the lengths that the NFL goes to protect "Super Bowl" or the IOC to protect "Olympic." If they give an inch that weakens their trademark protection. We'll see what happens.
But a CNL Final Four in late March? Hell, there's a non-zero chance we could have "Final Four" college hoops and soccer in the same weekend Sandro Rosell's Barcelona actually tried filing a trademark in Ecuador, which would've forced the Guayaquil version to change their identity...but they took such a P/R hit that they dropped it.
Unless Ecuador's copyright laws differ significantly from international norms, FC Barcelona would almost certainly have lost that case. This is, in fact, the exact type of situation that the legal concept of laches is designed to prevent. If you delay enforcement of a trademark you can lose the ability to enforce it if such enforcement would cause a significant hardship to the infringer. In this case, Barca waited 95 years on the name and 65 years on the logo, and a rebranding would certainly cause enormous financial harm to SC Barcelona.
Regardless of the law, I think "final four" is used more generically than "Super Bowl" and "Olympic." For example, after interviewing many candidates, managers could discuss who should be the "final four" candidates to get a second interview. The possibility of them being played at the same time is a good point. Forgetting about what Concacaf and the NCAA want, I don't think soccer fans want to explain to other Americans that they're talking about a different "Final Four" at the same time, and probably not at the different times either. If there was a Concacaf Final Four in the summer, a soccer fan who started saying "the Concacaf Final Four" could be asked why he was talking about the Final Four at that time of year by a person more focused on the NCAA than listening carefully and hearing the word/acronym "Concacaf." Years ago, somebody here said he called DirecTV to ask about MLS Direct Kick and was told it wasn't available yet by a DirecTV employee who didn't listen and assumed he was asking about MLB. MLB Extra Innings wasn't available then because their season started after MLS.
So Russell Latapy's coaching Barbados, and Jamaal Shabazz is taking over for St. Lucia. Shabazz signs as St. Lucia coach https://t.co/VFHjgf5wme pic.twitter.com/CtYGy9RqS1— Soca Warriors 🇹🇹 (@socawarriors) May 6, 2019 Neither hire would've happened without the CNL on the horizon.
The group stage schedule has been announced (see attachment), and the immediate takeaway is that all of the top seeds in League A will sit September out, presumably to avoid issues with already scheduled friendlies.
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Home team first, times are ET Matchday 1 Thursday, September 5 (C) US Virgin Islands v. Cayman Islands 3:00 pm (C) Barbados v. Saint Martin 6:00 pm (A) Bermuda v. Panama 6:00 pm (B) Grenada v. St. Kitts & Nevis 6:00 pm (B) Dominica v. Suriname 7:00 pm (B) Fr. Guiana v. Belize 8:00 pm (B) Nicaragua v. St. Vincent & the Grenadines 8:00 pm (C) Guatemala v. Anguilla 10:00 pm Friday, September 6 (C) Bonaire v. Br. Virgin Islands 3:00 pm (A) Martinique v. Trinidad & Tobago 6:00 pm (B) Aruba v. Guyana 7:00 pm (B) Jamaica v. Antigua & Barbuda 8:00 pm Saturday, September 7 (B) Montserrat v. Dominican Republic 3:00 pm (C) Guadeloupe v. Sint Maarten 5:00 pm (A) Curacao v. Haiti 6:00 pm (A) Canada v. Cuba 8:00 pm (B) El Salvador v. St. Lucia 10:00 pm Matchday 2 Sunday, September 8 (C) Saint Martin v. US Virgin Islands 3:00 pm (B) Belize v. Grenada 4:00 pm (B) St. Vincent & the Grenadines v. Dominica 6:00 pm (B) Suriname v. Nicaragua 6:00 pm (B) St. Kitts & Nevis v. Fr. Guiana 7:00 pm (C) Cayman Islands v. Barbados 7:30 pm (A) Panama v. Bermuda 8:00 pm Monday, September 9 (B) Antigua & Barbuda v. Aruba 3:00 pm (C) Bahamas v. Bonaire 6:00 pm (B) Guyana v. Jamaica 7:00 pm (A) Trinidad & Tobago v. Martinique 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 10 (C) Puerto Rico v. Guatemala 2:00 pm (C) Turks & Caicos v. Guadeloupe 3:00 pm (B) St. Lucia v. Montserrat 4:00 pm (B) Dominican Republic v. El Salvador 6:00 pm (A) Haiti v. Curacao 6:00 pm (A) Cuba v. Canada 7:15 pm
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Home team first, times are ET Matchday 3 Thursday, October 10 (C) Br. Virgin Islands v. Bahamas 3:00 pm (B) Belize v. St. Kitts & Nevis 5:00 pm (C) Sint Maarten v. Turks & Caicos Islands 7:00 pm (A) Trinidad & Tobago v. Honduras 7:00 pm (B) Fr. Guiana v. Grenada 8:00 pm (A) Haiti v. Costa Rica 9:00 pm Friday, October 11 (B) St. Vincent & the Grenadines v. Suriname 3:00 pm (B) Antigua & Barbuda v. Guyana 5:00 pm (A) USA v. Cuba 7:00 pm (A) Bermuda v. Mexico 9:00 pm (B) Nicaragua v. Dominica 11:00 pm Saturday, October 12 (C) Saint Martin v. Cayman Islands 3:00 pm (B) Dominican Republic v. St. Lucia 6:00 pm (B) Jamaica v. Aruba 6:00 pm (C) Anguilla v. Guatemala 8:00 pm (C) Barbados v. US Virgin Islands 8:00 pm (B) Montserrat v. El Salvador 10:00 pm Matchday 4 Sunday, October 13 (C) Br. Virgin Islands v. Bonaire 3:00 pm (B) St. Kitts & Nevis v. Belize 6:00 pm (B) Grenada v. Fr. Guiana 7:00 pm (A) Costa Rica v. Curacao 8:00 pm (A) Honduras v. Martinique 10:00 pm Monday, October 14 (B) Suriname v. St. Vincent & the Grenadines 5:00 pm (B) Dominica v. Nicaragua 7:00 pm (B) Guyana v. Antigua & Barbuda 7:00 pm (C) Sint Maarten v. Guadeloupe 7:00 pm Tuesday, October 15 (C) US Virgin Islands v. Barbados 3:00 pm (B) Dominican Republic v. Montserrat 4:00 pm (B) St. Lucia v. El Salvador 5:00 pm (B) Aruba v. Jamaica 7:00 pm (A) Canada v. USA 7:30 pm (C) Cayman Islands v. Saint Martin 7:30 pm (C) Anguilla v. Puerto Rico 8:00 pm (A) Mexico v. Panama 10:00 pm
2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League Group Stage Home team first, times are ET Matchday 5 Thursday, November 14 (C) Turks & Caicos Islands v. Sint Maarten 3:00 pm (B) St. Kitts & Nevis v. Grenada 5:00 pm (B) Belize v. Fr. Guiana 6:00 pm (C) Bahamas v. Br. Virgin Islands 7:00 pm (A) Martinique v. Honduras 8:00 pm (A) Curacao v. Costa Rica 10:00 pm Friday, November 15 (B) St. Vincent & the Grenadines v. Nicaragua 5:00 pm (B) Antigua & Barbuda v. Jamaica 7:00 pm (A) USA v. Canada 7:15 pm (B) Suriname v. Dominica 7:30 pm (B) Guyana v. Aruba 8:00 pm (A) Panama v. Mexico 10:00 pm Saturday, November 16 (C) Saint Martin v. Barbados 3:00 pm (B) St. Lucia v. Dominican Republic 6:00 pm (C) Cayman Islands v. US Virgin Islands 7:30 pm (C) Guatemala v. Puerto Rico 8:00 pm (B) El Salvador v. Montserrat 10:00 pm Matchday 6 Sunday, November 17 (C) Bonaire v. Bahamas 3:00 pm (C) Guadeloupe v. Turks & Caicos Islands 6:00 pm (B) Grenada v. Belize 7:00 pm (A) Costa Rica v. Haiti 8:00 pm (B) Fr. Guiana v. St. Kitts & Nevis 8:00 pm (A) Honduras v. Trinidad & Tobago 10:00 pm Monday, November 18 (B) Dominica v. St. Vincent & the Grenadines 3:00 pm (B) Aruba v. Antigua & Barbuda 6:00 pm (B) Jamaica v. Guyana 8:00 pm (B) Nicaragua v. Suriname 10:00 pm Tuesday, November 19 (C) Puerto Rico v. Anguilla 3:00 pm (C) US Virgin Islands v. Saint Martin 3:00 pm (B) El Salvador v. Dominican Republic 5:00 pm (C) Barbados v. Cayman Islands 7:00 pm (B) Monserrat v. St. Lucia 7:00 pm (A) Cuba v. USA 7:30 pm (A) Mexico v. Bermuda 10:00 pm The Finals are in March, 2020.