What would this be? Series of matches? Pots should have been decided by FIFA ranking for the very first edition, or even CONCACAF ranking - if they don't have their system, it's easy to make one. To seed teams into their respective leagues, the League of Nations will begin with a preliminary series of matches played across four different dates beginning in September 2018. It should be great for minnows, they might get to play more matches in few months than in few years.
I wondered about this as well, but it makes sense when you consider how few games most CONCACAF teams have played in the last few years. For instance, Cuba are a decent by CONCACAF standards and will probably end up as one of the stronger teams in League B... They're currently ranked 27th in CONCACAF by FIFA because they haven't played a game since Oct 2016. Aruba, who are absolutely dismal, are 26th.
That would've been grossly unfair to Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, who have proven on the field to be at least in the middle of the CONCACAF pack, if not in the top 15. St. Martin, Sint-Maarten and Bonaire, OTOH, can be dropped into Division III w/o a problem.
Here are the ELO rankings within the 41 teams for the six team that aren't members of FIFA: 11. Martinique 13. French Guiana 15. Guadeloupe 31. Sint Maarten 35. Bonaire 36. Saint Martin
I see that, but what makes me wonder is series of matches. What format? How many rounds? What teams will be included? Will all teams have the same starting position? Or some teams will have direct berths?
They may have some kind of ladder system in mind. For instance: Alternately, a modified form of Swiss system might work, though I'm not familiar enough with the format to posit what that might look like. Some sort of protections would have to be in place in the first round to avoid USA-Montserrat. Edit: I forgot the third more lazy, and therefore more likely, option. Pros: No blowouts, no complicated re-seeding, easier scheduling logistics, every team gets 3 games at home and 3 away. Cons: First and last ranked teams only get 3 games instead of 6. Not sure how to fix this.
Interesting tid bits from Mark Wade, president of the Bermudan FA: http://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/article/20171118/wade-nations-league-is-great-for-bermuda I hope this isn't literal, because a 13-14-15 split or something similar would be terrible. Since they keep reiterating that every team will be involved, my preferred 12-12-16 format is out. Looks more like 12-14-15 or 12-13-16 are most likely. The biggest positive out of this endeavor IMO. If CONCACAF wants to get stronger, we need smaller teams playing more games. Sounds like this could spell the end of CFU and UNCAF competitions. I have to imagine he's misspeaking there. No way do we end up with 3 Nations League windows in every year.
CONCACAF has informed Guatemala that they have until March 1, 2018 to get their stuff in order, or they'll be kicked out of the seeding games for this LoN.
So I was thinking about what incentives could be offered to the teams in Division I (other than the ones most likely involved in the fight to stay up), since our WCQ format means that the biggest teams aren't lacking in significant matches between each other outside of major tournaments. Perhaps CONCACAF can decide that the automatic berths in the semifinal round of WCQ (i.e. skipping the earlier showdowns with the small Caribbean islands) have to be won on the field, as prizes for the group winners in Div. I.
The question is if FIFA will let WCQ seeding be determined by anything other than the FIFA Rankings. It's also possible that there will be fewer than 6 teams starting in the Semifinals. Hypothetically every team could have to play before then.
In the Canada forum, jagum linked to http://www.elvocero.com/deportes/lo...cle_5a177e7e-02aa-11e8-9e68-6fd2abf23431.html which says the top group will have the six teams that were in the Hexagonal.
The way Labrador puts it, the US and everyone else in the Hex will be exempt from the seeding games, jumping in when the LoN itself starts up in August 2019. But if that's the case, then will the seeding games be separate from Gold Cup qualifying, or act as Gold Cup qualifying itself (w/all the Hex participants already qualified)? Or is the Gold Cup still even set for 2019??
1-Media Accreditation Now Available for CONCACAF Nations League Announcement on March 7 in Miami Event detailing new era in national teams competitions will take place at The Temple House in Miami Beach Miami (Friday, February 16, 2018) -- The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) invites media to attend a historic announcement on Wednesday, March 7, kicking off a new era for national team competitions in the Confederation. The event will take place at The Temple House in Miami Beach, Florida and is scheduled to begin at 10 am ET. Attending the event will be CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF Council Members, CONCACAF General Secretary Phillipe Moggio, the Presidents and General Secretaries of the 41 CONCACAF Member Associations and celebrity guests from the worlds of government, entertainment, athletics and international football. 2-Some more info here. http://www.elvocero.com/deportes/lo...cle_5a177e7e-02aa-11e8-9e68-6fd2abf23431.html Says that the 6 hex teams will be exempt from preliminary matches taking place between September 2018 and March 2019. The competition proper would begin in August 2019. This is significant because it is after the official preliminary draw for 2022 World Cup qualifying. This makes it conceivable that the nations league can double as world cup qualifying. 3-Nicaragua's La Prensa reported: "The Concacaf Nations League is the new competition of this body that will serve to qualify for the next World Cup and Gold Cup. The 41 teams will be divided into 3 groups: At level A, the best 12 countries in the CONCACAF ranking. at B there will be 16 and at C there will be 13. Nicaragua currently occupies 13th place." If true: Group A Mexico USA Costa Rica Jamaica Panama Honduras Trinidad and Tobago Curaçao Haiti El Salvador Canada St Kitts and Nevis Group B Nicaragua Guatemala Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Grenada Suriname Dominican Republic Guyana Puerto Rico Dominica St Vincent and the Grenadines St Lucia Belize Aruba Cuba Bermuda Group C US Virgin Islands Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands Cayman Islands British Virgin Islands Anguilla Bahamas Bonaire* French Guiana* Guadeloupe* Martinique* St-Martin* Sint Maarteen* *Not ranked by FIFA
(underlining mine) The CONCACAF ranking will be determined by the seeding games in the fall of this year for everyone except the 2016-17 Hex participants.
Maybe it would be a good idea to place the USA in Group B instead of A and let them earn their way up.
Has the World Cup 2022 Qualifying draw date been announced? Last time it was in July, but World Cup 2022 will be at a different time of year.
That calendar is probably going to undergo a slew of changes in the next few months, e.g. figuring out if FIFA's going to launch its global Nations League, what to do with the Confederations Cup, and the lesser matter of what CONCACAF will do with the Gold Cup.
CONCACAF Launches New Ranking Index http://www.concacaf.com/article/con...e=twitter&utm_campaign=CONCACAF&sf183435770=1 CONCACAF Ranking as of March 1st, 2018 1 Mexico MEX 2,047 2 United States USA 1,853 3 Costa Rica CRC 1,845 4 Panama PAN 1,700 5 Honduras HON 1,669 6 Jamaica JAM 1,516 7 Canada CAN 1,448 8 Guatemala GUA 1,417 9 Haiti HAI 1,348 10 El Salvador SLV 1,347 11 Trinidad & Tobago TRI 12 Martinique MTQ 13 Cuba CUB 14 French Guiana GUF 15 Guadeloupe GLP 16 Nicaragua NCA 17 St. Kitts & Nevis SKN 18 Curaçao CUW 19 Suriname SUR 20 Antigua and Barbuda ATG 21 Dominican Republic DOM 22 Bermuda BER 23 Guyana GUY 24 Belize BLZ 25 Bonaire BOE 26 Grenada GRN 27 St. Vincent & the Grenadines VIN 28 St. Lucia LCA 29 Barbados BRB 30 Puerto Rico PUR 31 Bahamas BAH 32 Dominica DMA 33 Aruba ARU 34 Cayman Islands CAY 35 Turks and Caicos Islands TCA 36 Montserrat MSR 37 US Virgin Islands VIR 38 Saint Martin SMN 39 Sint Maarten SMA 40 Anguilla AIA 41 British Virgin Islands VGB
Oooooo a new ranking system to play with... Looks Elo-based, except R and E range from -1 to 1 instead of 0 to 1, and the most recent four years have an explicit multiplier to make them more rated than the older matches... I would love to see some more documentation on this!
Robert Borden linked to the source, which says it is zero-sum. Friendlies are weighted less, but the weighting difference is not as big as in the FIFA Rankings. The weightings are 17.5 for friendlies, 35 for CONCACAF competitions, and 50 for the World Cup. It does not mention weightings the Copa America or Confederations Cup. They could have doubled each to make 35, 70, and 100. That would have avoided a decimal and made the highest value 100. Alternatively, they could have weighted the World Cup a little more to make a 1, 2, and 3 ratio. Guatemala, who is suspended but has played games before, isn't ranked. I wondered if the sum of the points would be a round number, but it's 38,757. The mean is 969 points, with 18 teams above that and 22 teams below that. 6 teams are at least 50 percent higher than the mean and 7 teams are at least 50 percent lower than the mean.