CONCACAF Nations League 2023/2024 - Group Stage & ¼finals - General Thread

[narduch]

If Mexico can't turn around the result and we don't get past Jamaica our repechage opponent is most likely Costa Rica.

I still think we will beat Jamaica though.

[trc2014]

14 minutes ago, narduch said:

If Mexico can't turn around the result and we don't get past Jamaica our repechage opponent is most likely Costa Rica.

I still think we will beat Jamaica though.

I also think there is still a good chance Mexico puts 3 away at home.

[narduch]

9 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

I also think there is still a good chance Mexico puts 3 away at home.

So is Honduras back? Or has Mexico fallen down a lot?

[trc2014]

2 minutes ago, narduch said:

So is Honduras back? Or has Mexico fallen down a lot?

Honduras looked really good yesterday.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

42 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

Honduras looked really good yesterday.

I thought Honduras looked decent but it was more Mexico that looked bad.

They looked static.

Apparently Tegucigalpa has the same psychological power as San Pedro Sula; it's just not easy to play down there.

[Shway]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

So is Honduras back? Or has Mexico fallen down a lot?

I think it's a bit of both. And the fact that Honduras matches well against Mexico. 

I still think we would wash Honduras in a two leg tie.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Shway

[Redpunkfiddle]

Seeding for the finals looking more interesting now.

Mexico (or Honduras) likely going through with 3 points

Will the US get more from their away game at T&T than Panama from Costa Rica at home? 

We could well wind up in the middle 2-3 slots and with Panama in a semi final again.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Redpunkfiddle

[narduch]

1 hour ago, Redpunkfiddle said:

Seeding for the finals looking more interesting now.

Mexico (or Honduras) likely going through with 3 points

Will the US get more from their away game at T&T than Panama from Costa Rica at home? 

We could well wind up in the middle 2-3 slots and with Panama in a semi final again.

If Mexico can turn around the tie it could end up being USA v Mexico in the semis.

[Redpunkfiddle]

4 minutes ago, narduch said:

If Mexico can turn around the tie it could end up being USA v Mexico in the semis.

It does look like first seed could be a poisoned chalice.

[mpg_29]

For some reason I thought the top 2 losing quarter finalists were just automatically through and being in 6th place was good enough but there is actually another single legged playoff game....huh

[narduch]

42 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

For some reason I thought the top 2 losing quarter finalists were just automatically through and being in 6th place was good enough but there is actually another single legged playoff game....huh

Played at Toyota Stadium in Dallas 

[BearcatSA]

2 hours ago, Redpunkfiddle said:

We could well wind up in the middle 2-3 slots and with Panama in a semi final again.

I am glad that we didn't face them this time.  They're a well coached, tough out opponent and they put the sword to the Ticos on the road.

[kacbru]

5 hours ago, trc2014 said:

Honduras looked really good yesterday.

Their 2nd goal was a beauty. 

[Neil R.]

What a great achievement for Sint Maarten. They won their League C group in 2022-2023, got promoted, were ranked 37th in CONCACAF when this edition of the Nations League began, and they get to stay in League B for the next edition. They got 2 wins in their first year in League B, 1-0 against Saint Kitts and Nevis and 2-1 against Saint Lucia. Saint Kitts and Nevis gets relegated to League C.

Guadeloupe and Nicaragua have secured promotion to League A. Guyana is in a very good position to be promoted from their group. The other League B group has Bermuda, French Guiana, Belize, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines all within 2 points of each other heading into the final matchday.

[Kent]

2 hours ago, Neil R. said:

What a great achievement for Sint Maarten. They won their League C group in 2022-2023, got promoted, were ranked 37th in CONCACAF when this edition of the Nations League began, and they get to stay in League B for the next edition. They got 2 wins in their first year in League B, 1-0 against Saint Kitts and Nevis and 2-1 against Saint Lucia. Saint Kitts and Nevis gets relegated to League C.

Guadeloupe and Nicaragua have secured promotion to League A. Guyana is in a very good position to be promoted from their group. The other League B group has Bermuda, French Guiana, Belize, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines all within 2 points of each other heading into the final matchday.

Great post. We focus on League A, but this is what's so great about Nations League.

I still wish they had finals for League B and League C. Sure it wouldn't mean much if say Canada got relegated to League B and then won the League B finals, but if they had finals, as it stands today you would have League B contested between Guadeloupe, Nicaragua, Bermuda and Guyana. None of those teams have any realistic chance of ever winning League A, and very little chance of making it to a World Cup (at least a 48 team World Cup). It would be great for them to have a League B championship in their back pocket. Same with League C. It could be contested between Saint Martin, Aruba, and Dominica. Those countries have 0 chance of qualifying for a Gold Cup or World Cup, let alone winning a trophy. It would mean something to them if they could be crowned League C champs.

[Watchmen]

28 minutes ago, Kent said:

Great post. We focus on League A, but this is what's so great about Nations League.

I still wish they had finals for League B and League C. Sure it wouldn't mean much if say Canada got relegated to League B and then won the League B finals, but if they had finals, as it stands today you would have League B contested between Guadeloupe, Nicaragua, Bermuda and Guyana. None of those teams have any realistic chance of ever winning League A, and very little chance of making it to a World Cup (at least a 48 team World Cup). It would be great for them to have a League B championship in their back pocket. Same with League C. It could be contested between Saint Martin, Aruba, and Dominica. Those countries have 0 chance of qualifying for a Gold Cup or World Cup, let alone winning a trophy. It would mean something to them if they could be crowned League C champs.

I wouldn't mind if the League B champion qualified directly for the Gold Cup.  At 16 teams, I wouldn't even be totally opposed to the League C champion also qualifying directly, though it would be a pretty weak entrant even by CONCACAF standards.

[Free kick]

When I first heard that they had introduced the Nations League concept,  I will admit that I was initially a sceptic.  My thinking at the time was :  Why do we need another international competition? or this sounds like glorified cash grab.   But now i see that a region like CONCACAF is the biggest beneficiary of this because its created meaningful matches and minimizes the massive mis-matchups that this region is known for.   These massive mismatches are of no value or interest to the Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Tico, Jamaicas and 4-5 others in North America just as they are of no value to many of the 75% of the sides in CONCACAF that one would categorize as minnow.   nations league gives smaller countries something to compete for and eliminates the matches that are a "waste of time" for the others. 

I think that national league concept is rooted in part to the idea to undue some of past corruption practices of FIFA.  Whereby the head honchos in FIFA would create and grant all kinds of official status to these tiny island nations in order to facilitate vote buying at FIFA congresses.   The next step,  as I see it, is that Nations league gets integrated into WCQ in some way. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Free kick

[nolando]

32 minutes ago, Free kick said:

When I first heard that they had introduced the Nations League concept,  I will admit that I was initially a sceptic.  My thinking at the time was :  Why do we need another international competition? or this sounds like glorified cash grab.   But now i see that a region like CONCACAF is the biggest beneficiary of this because its created meaningful matches and minimizes the massive mis-matchups that this region is known for.   These massive mismatches are of no value or interest to the Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Tico, Jamaicas and 4-5 others in North America just as they are of no value to many of the 75% of the sides in CONCACAF that one would categorize as minnow.   nations league gives smaller countries something to compete for and eliminates the matches that are a "waste of time" for the others. 

I think that national league concept is rooted in part to the idea to undue some of past corruption practices of FIFA.  Whereby the head honchos in FIFA would create and grant all kinds of official status to these tiny island nations in order to facilitate vote buying at FIFA congresses.   The next step,  as I see it, is that Nations league gets integrated into WCQ in some way. 

Agreed. It's more balanced like those international hockey pools (A,B,C) and pro-rel adds a layer of excitement, even those fighting for promotion out of the lowest tier have a viable target.

Edited November 20, 2023 by nolando

[Watchmen]

2 hours ago, Free kick said:

When I first heard that they had introduced the Nations League concept,  I will admit that I was initially a sceptic.  My thinking at the time was :  Why do we need another international competition? or this sounds like glorified cash grab.   But now i see that a region like CONCACAF is the biggest beneficiary of this because its created meaningful matches and minimizes the massive mis-matchups that this region is known for.   These massive mismatches are of no value or interest to the Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Tico, Jamaicas and 4-5 others in North America just as they are of no value to many of the 75% of the sides in CONCACAF that one would categorize as minnow.   nations league gives smaller countries something to compete for and eliminates the matches that are a "waste of time" for the others. 

I'm genuinely curious if smaller nations actually view these as "meaningful matches".  Maybe in the same way that Canada sort of does - it means the country is actually playing and not "can't afford a home friendly", but is playing in League C actually viewed as meaningful?  Is it actually any better than Caribbean Cup/CC qualifying that was in place before?  To be clear, I'm not saying it's a cash grab either because I'm not actually sure if smaller nations make money off of it.

[narduch]

Both games listed on One Soccer's schedule for tonight. All times ET

[Obinna]

I shouldn't be counting my chickens before they hatch, but chances seem very good we advance past Jamaica.

And since I expect our group to advance, especially given the lead we are taking back home, I have one eye on the potential NL semi final matchups. Right now the table looks like this for the teams likely to move on:

1. Panama (3-0 lead - away goals)
2. USA (3-0 lead)
3. Honduras (2-0 lead)
4. Canada (2-1 lead - away goals)

We know the pairings are 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. We know the rankings are based on points, goal difference, etc (i.e. typical table). 

Mexico/Honduras - 4th

I think I speak for most by saying Mexico will make it close with Honduras, if not pull through, but it will be a 3-2 aggregate win more than likely, and 1 win 1 loss, probably good for 4th place.

USA - 1st?

On the other side of the spectrum, the USA should probably win away despite the past trauma down in Trinidad. I wouldn't rule out a draw though given their poor away form.

Panama - 1st?

Panama is up 3-0 at home and should advance comfortably, but could Costa Rica draw the 2nd leg match? Panama has dominated this rivalry, but this is still Costa Rica and they are a proud football nation. Panama can also afford to draw, so maybe they will

Canada - 1st? 

And finally there's us. I think we win the game by some score. I don't think we draw or lose. Considering Panama's lead and USA's poor away form (and absences), we may actually be favoured to finish on top. We may be the only team with 2 wins.

I see a real possibility the round ends like this:

1 Canada

2 USA

3 Panama

4 Honduras/Mexico

Obviously I think we should be rooting for the Hondurans tomorrow, otherwise finishing 1st could be to our detriment. We want to make sure we avoid USA and Mexico until the final, so let's hope Honduras take care of business. If we win as I expect we should and the USA or Panama slip up, the Honduras could be our semi-opponent, which is theoretically the best match up for us. 

This could go so many ways though. I think the easiest prediction of the lot is that whoever comes out from Mexico/Honduras will be ranked 4th. The rest of the chips are too hard to call - but that's my bullish case for Canada nonetheless.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Obinna

[johnyb]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

I shouldn't be counting my chickens before they hatch, but chances seem very good we advance past Jamaica.

And since I expect our group to advance, especially given the lead we are taking back home, I have one eye on the potential NL semi final matchups. Right now the table looks like this for the teams likely to move on:

1. Panama (3-0 lead - away goals)
2. USA (3-0 lead)
3. Honduras (2-0 lead)
4. Canada (2-1 lead - away goals)

We know the pairings are 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. We know the rankings are based on points, goal difference, etc (i.e. typical table). 

Mexico/Honduras - 4th

I think I speak for most by saying Mexico will make it close with Honduras, if not pull through, but it will be a 3-2 aggregate win more than likely, and 1 win 1 loss, probably good for 4th place.

USA - 1st?

On the other side of the spectrum, the USA should probably win away despite the past trauma down in Trinidad. I wouldn't rule out a draw though given their poor away form.

Panama - 1st?

Panama is up 3-0 at home and should advance comfortably, but could Costa Rica draw the 2nd leg match? Panama has dominated this rivalry, but this is still Costa Rica and they are a proud football nation. Panama can also afford to draw, so maybe they will

Canada - 1st? 

And finally there's us. I think we win the game by some score. I don't think we draw or lose. Considering Panama's lead and USA's poor away form (and absences), we may actually be favoured to finish on top. We may be the only team with 2 wins.

I see a real possibility the round ends like this:

1 Canada

2 USA

3 Panama

4 Honduras/Mexico

Obviously I think we should be rooting for the Hondurans tomorrow, otherwise finishing 1st could be to our detriment. We want to make sure we avoid USA and Mexico until the final, so let's hope Honduras take care of business. If we win as I expect we should and the USA or Panama slip up, the Honduras could be our semi-opponent, which is theoretically the best match up for us. 

This could go so many ways though. I think the easiest prediction of the lot is that whoever comes out from Mexico/Honduras will be ranked 4th. The rest of the chips are too hard to call - but that's my bullish case for Canada nonetheless.

No chance in hell, I'll ever root for Honduras! Lol

[Jack1997]

6 minutes ago, johnyb said:

No chance in hell, I'll ever root for Honduras! Lol

I know this is kinda a joke but seriously I hope Mexico goes out and pounds them, as much as we want our own program to grow we also need the whole region to grow. I hope within the next 10 years Canada, USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica are all much more respected around world soccer and have more players playing overseas.

[CanadaFan123]

18 minutes ago, Jack1997 said:

I know this is kinda a joke but seriously I hope Mexico goes out and pounds them, as much as we want our own program to grow we also need the whole region to grow. I hope within the next 10 years Canada, USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica are all much more respected around world soccer and have more players playing overseas.

You seem to contradict yourself here. If you want the region to grow why would you want Mexico to pound Honduras? 

[Obinna]

13 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

You seem to contradict yourself here. If you want the region to grow why would you want Mexico to pound Honduras? 

I thought the same thing. Mexico will always be a big dog. Better for Honduras to make the semi final (even though they are the team I despise the most in this region). Would be the 2nd time in 3 tournaments for them.

1st NL

1. USA
2. Mexico
3. Honduras
4. Costa Rica

2nd NL

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Panama

3rd NL

1. Canada (yes they win it this time in my fantasy world)?
2. USA?
3. Panama?
4. Honduras?