Sorry for not updating this in October. Clearly it's been missed. (Or not). I'll put each league in a separate post. x-Clinched winning group. r-Clinched being relegated. Anyway... League A Group A Canada 4GP 9 Pts +6 USA 3GP 6 Pts +8 r-Cuba 3GP 0 Pts -14 USA takes top spot with a win of any kind against Cuba. Any other result and Canada is on to the semis. League A Group B x-Mexico 3GP 9Pts +9 Panama 4GP 3Pts -4 Bermuda 3GP 3Pts -5 Bermuda must get a win or draw against Mexico, otherwise they are relegated. League A Group C x-Honduras 3GP 7Pts +3 Martinique 4GP 3Pts -1 Trinidad 3GP 2Pts -2 Trinidad needs to win against Honduras or they are relegated, as a draw leaves them behind on GD. League A Group D Costa Rica 3GP 5Pts +1 Curacao 4GP 5Pts 0 Haiti 3GP 2Pts -1 If Haiti wins by 2 goals over Costa Rica, they advance via GD and Costa Rica gets relegated (would be Haiti GD +1, Curacao 0, Costa Rica -1). If Haiti wins by 1 goal, everyone is even on GD and it comes down to away goals, which Costa Rica leads currently 3 to Curacao's 1, to Haiti's 0, so... If Haiti wins 1-0 exactly, then Curacao/Haiti relegation will be determined by discipline points or coin flip and Costa Rica advances. If they win by 1 but by any other score, they will have more away goals than Curacao so Curacao gets relegated and Costa Rica advances, unless... If Haiti wins by 1 while scoring 4+ goals, they take the top spot and Curacao is relegated. I think all of that is right. Wiki claims Curacao can still advance to the semis but I'll be honest I can't see how that's possible.
x- Promoted to League A r - Relegated to League C League B Group A (All 5 of 6 Games Played) x- Grenada 11Pts, +3 Belize 6Pts, -5 St. Kitts & Nevis 5Pts, +2 F. Guiana 5Pts, 0 F. Guiana play St. Kitts, while Grenada plays Belize. League B Group B (All 4 of 6 Games Played) El Salvador 9Pts, +6 Dominican Republic 7Pts, +3 Montserrat 5 Pts, +1 Saint Lucia, 1 Pts, -8 Matchday 5: Saint Lucia play Dominican Republic, El Salvador play Montserrat. Matchday 6: Saint Lucia play Montserrat, El Salvador play Dominican Republic League B Group C (All 5 of 6 Games Played) x-Jamaica 15Pts, +20 Guyana 9Pts, +2 Antigua & Barbuda 9Pts, -10 r-Aruba 0pts, -12 Aruba vs. Antigua and Jamaica vs. Guyana. Impacts where the middle teams end up in the Gold Cup qualifying process I guess. League B Group D (All 5 of 6 Games Played) Saint Vincent 11Pts, +3 Suriname 10Pts, +10 Nicaragua 7Pts, -1 r-Dominica 0Pts, -12 Dominica vs. Saint Vincent and Nicaragua vs. Suriname
x - Promoted to League B League C Group A (All 4 GP out of 6) Barbados 9 Pts, +8 Cayman Islands 9Pts, +1 Saint Martin 3 Pts, -3 USVI 3 Pts, -6 League C Group B Bahamas 3GP, 9Pts, +8 Bonaire, 3GP, 6Pts, +2 British V.I. 4 GP, 0 Pts, -10 Bonaire needs to win by 3 goals without giving up more than 1 away goal. (4-1 win goes to discipline points or coin flip I believe). League C Group C Guatemala 3 GP, 9Pts, +20 Puerto Rico 2 GP, 3Pts, -4 Anguilla 3 GP, 0Pts, -16 Yes technically Guatemala hasn't clinched but Puerto Rico needs to win both games while catching up from -24 in Goal Difference so let's just pretend there's an x next to Guatemala. League C Group D Guadeloupe 3GP 9Pts, +8 Turks & Caicos 3GP, 6Pts, -1 Sint Maarten 4GP, 0Pts, -9 Turks & Caicos needs to win by 5 goals otherwise Guadeloupe moves on to League B.
When is there even going to be a second year of Nations League? If I'm understanding things correctly, next June, it's the semis and finals that wrap up this version of it, and then WCQ starts in the fall. Then, there's GC in summer 2021, with presumably more qualifiers in the fall. And then, obviously, there's the WC in 2022. It seems weird to have pro/rel when you aren't going to play again for another 3 years, but maybe I'm missing something.
From ESPN: "It has not yet been confirmed, but with World Cup qualifying taking place through to October 2021, intercontinental playoffs in March 2022, and the World Cup itself in November 2022, it will not happen until after the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup." Which is even weirder that this is a qualifier for the 2021 Gold Cup but the next one seems like it won't be a qualifier for the 2023 World Cup? Then again, for most teams in the region the Hex, the Gold Cup and the World Cup won't really impact their scheduling so maybe Leagues B and C will start earlier.
I still don't understand it. It's a convoluted mess created so our underachieving and corrupt Fed doesn't miss out on another WC. Also, how's the Hex gonna work when the 2026 cycle and beyond will see six C'CAF slots allocated for the WC?
Theoretically, there could be room for a group stage in June/Sep/Oct 2022, to qualify teams for the 2023 Gold Cup. Or maybe the March 2023 window if they need to use that too. Though I'm sure the World Cup teams in 2022 would much rather prepare by playing against Poland or Belgium than by playing against Grenada and St Vincent & the Grenadines. So I'm not saying it's a good idea or that it'll happen.
I won't pretend to know anything at all about Suriname, but someone just posted this elsewhere on bigsoccer, saying that Suriname may now add some Dutch players to its roster: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/surinamese-government-has-finally-made-a-crucial-decision.2107391/ Suriname is about 3 or 4 times bigger than Curacao, so at the very least, adding some Dutch players ought to allow them to at least improve to Curacao levels, if not even above Curacao. I think even Sergino Dest might have been eligible for them under this apparent new rule, not that a player trying to make a choice between Netherlands and the US would ever fall into Suriname's lap. Though like I said to start this post, I don't know anything about anything. But if all of a sudden Suriname looks like a better team in a year or 4, here's a possible reason.
You know more about Surinam than you think. Many, many, many of the best "Dutch" players over the last 30 years are from Surinam.
Costa Rica just tied Haiti, so it looks like it will likely be US vs Honduras, and Mexico vs Costa Rica in the next round. Assuming we beat Cuba
Not surprised by the lazy reporting from ESPN. Did no one there notice that the 2022-23 UEFA NL will play out its group stage in June* and September 2022? Concacaf could easily schedule the 2022-23 NL group stage for the same matchdays - front-loading the League A games for the WC qualifiers in June so that they can have September free for friendlies. Then your Final Four in March 2023 and the Gold Cup in June. * Source: 2020-21 UEFA NL regulations, p. 50
On another note: someone had to get relegated in League A's Group D, and Haiti failing to beat Curaçao at home did us in But I enjoyed every game in that group. Here's hoping we get back up quickly...and maybe get the Dominicans in our League B group next time to spice things up Meanwhile, Bahamas won promotion from League C and will be in the Gold Cup playoffs. For those of you who haven't followed Concacaf that long: this is the first time in recent memory that the Bahamas have accomplished anything, after years and years of going AWOL whenever the Caribbean Cup came around. They even withdrew from WCQ once (2014)!
Just realized should we win tomorrow in Cuba, we'll play Mexico in the semifinal... the final will be Costa Rica or Honduras vs. Mexico / USA / Canada
Oops, just realized Mexico still have one game left to play.... however, Costa Rica are confirmed as the 4th seeded team, but they are using group play results to rank the winners.... so assuming Mexico beat Bermuda, they will play Costa Rica, while we would play Honduras. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_CONCACAF_Nations_League
Scheduling the Concacaf Nations League for the exact same dates as the UEFA one would make logical sense. Since UEFA is switching to 4-team groups, there won't be any European teams free for friendlies on those dates.
There's also November 2021 with no WCQ conflicts, plus October 2021 and March 2022 would be available for everyone except the teams in the WCQ playoffs (two teams in October and one in March). The June 2022 window allows for four games, so they could have the group stage in November/June, or they could use October and March for most teams and use June for make-up dates for the playoff teams. Then they could use September 2022 for the finals if they care about keeping the finals in even years.
Whoa! SVG just ********ed up by losing in Dominica (only 3 points for Dominica all season!) Suriname, which beat Nicaragua 6-0 in their home game, now needs only a draw away, and they will finish first in the group on goal difference and be at their first Gold Cup. SVG taketh away, but also giveth.
I for one like Nations League better now than when it was announced. It gives the minnows chances to play real matches and they should improve as a result. The qualification matches had a big "luck of the draw" component to them. Some weird results resulted: Jamaica & the Salvies in League B; Montserrat in B, Bermuda & Cuba in A. Gautemala in C due to other issues. But that should get sorted out after this editions pro/rel. And I still like these matches more than pre-Hex WCQ, though the stakes are lower. Gold Cup qualifying should also prove more interesting. And this is better than auto/Car. Cup/Centramerica being the path before.
The only way we could possibly face off in the semifinal is if Mexico throw their game against Bermuda.
Today's the last day of group play so here are the games that matter: League A Group A: USA v Cuba - if USA wins, they advance to semifinals. If they lose, Canada does. Either US or Canada will be seeded third unless Bermuda upsets Mexico. League A Group B: Mexico v Bermuda - Bermuda needs a result of any kind to not get relegated. A result of any kind for Mexico gives them the #1 seed in the semifinals. League C Group A: Barbados v. Cayman Islands - Barbados needs to win to win the group. Some of the games not listed have an impact on Gold Cup qualifying but...
Has to be said: playing Honduras - and if we win, Mexico or Costa Rica in the Final - in June 2020 is as good a prep for the Hex as we can ask for. Even better if, for once, Concacaf eschews the most profitable hosting option (e.g. letting Costa Rica host the Final Four, a good away game experience for our newcomers).