CONCACAF Nations League 2024-25 - Group Stage & ¼finals - General Thread

[CanadaFan123]

7 hours ago, Mihairokov said:

Today's results:
League A, Group A
Guadeloupe 2-1 Suriname
Martinique 2-2 Guyana
Guatemala 0-0 Costa Rica

League B, Group B
Curacao 4-0 Saint Martin
Grenada 1-2 Saint Lucia

League B, Group C
Haiti 6-0 Sint Maarten
Aruba 0-1 Puerto Rico

Guatemala's first point against Costa Rica in a competitive match since 2013 (they haven't beaten them competitively since 2005). Had the share of chances in the second half but couldn't convert. A very physical match and one i'm glad Canada didn't have to experience.

Yeah that Guatemala-Costa Rica match was a tough watch. Scrappy game on an awful pitch. Any side would have struggled. 

[ahmedou]

On 9/6/2024 at 5:38 PM, Alex said:

I love Puerto Rico simply for the fact they knocked Suriname out of the last gold cup, which resulted in the biggest anti Canadian Twitter prick of all time going on private 😂 😆 

Can Canada play against Suriname? I'll like the anti Canadian Twitter prick of all time to delete his account!

[Mihairokov]

Nicaragua have now secured a win in 90+5' against French Guiana and and a draw 90+7' today against Cuba. Lauziere did well in the middle today given the shenanigans but there's only so much he can do when there's a fight in the tunnel after full-time.

[Mihairokov]

Blake saves the day at 90+5' and Jamaica escape Honduras with a 2-1 win.

[74 Whitecap]

1 minute ago, Mihairokov said:

Blake saves the day at 90+5' and Jamaica escape Honduras with a 2-1 win.

6 straight wins for Jamaica vs Honduras, they really have their number…

[Obinna]

Standings after matchday 2:

As of today, the QF pairings would be:

Mexico (1) vs Nicaragua

USA (2) vs Guatemala

Canada (3) vs Jamaica

Panama (4) vs Costa Rica

Obviously a lot to play for, both in terms of matchday 3 & 4, along with October friendlies and the ranking implications. Mexico will likely retain their 1st place ranking, but it seems possible Canada could overtake the USA, while Panama could possibly leapfrog Canada. 

[JamboAl]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

Standings after matchday 2:

As of today, the QF pairings would be:

Mexico (1) vs Nicaragua

USA (2) vs Guatemala

Canada (3) vs Jamaica

Panama (4) vs Costa Rica

Obviously a lot to play for, both in terms of matchday 3 & 4, along with October friendlies and the ranking implications. Mexico will likely retain their 1st place ranking, but it seems possible Canada could overtake the USA, while Panama could possibly leapfrog Canada. 

Not Jamaica again.  And Costa Rica and Panama must be absolutely sick of playing each other.

[Obinna]

7 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

Not Jamaica again.  And Costa Rica and Panama must be absolutely sick of playing each other.

If we can manage to grab and hold onto the 2nd spot, we would likely avoid Jamaica and Costa Rica. 

Honduras can be dangerous, Guatemala could be tricky, and Suriname could be a wildcard, depending on who they manage to snag, but any of those opponents would be an "easy" draw for us. I guess we should keep in mind Nicaragua are in the mix, also.  

So long as we avoid Costa Rica and Jamaica, the likely group winners, I think we will be happy with the draw regardless of who it is. 

[gator]

I want another away trip to Cuba, although unlikely, it could happen! 🇨🇺🌴⚽️🇨🇦

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

15 minutes ago, gator said:

I want another away trip to Cuba, although unlikely, it could happen! 🇨🇺🌴⚽️🇨🇦

1) That 90 + 6' goal by Nicaragua to secure a draw likely killed our chances of that happening.

2) That Lars 🟥 match (Borjan replaced him) was in Havana

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_CONCACAF_third_round

Recently though they've been playing in Santiago de Cuba

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_CONCACAF_Nations_League_A

There are far fewer flights to that end of the island 

3) For bigger games, CONCACAF sometimes forces the ability to host a night match, which means reliable pitch lighting, which means Cuba is unable to play at home

In the 2019 CONCACAF Nations League they hosted us in the Cayman Islands.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_CONCACAF_Nations_League_A

 

Edited September 11 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Mihairokov]

1 hour ago, JamboAl said:

Not Jamaica again.  And Costa Rica and Panama must be absolutely sick of playing each other.

I'd rather Jamaica over Honduras.

I also want to reiterate just how much I hate the six-team, four-match uneven groups.

Edited September 11 by Mihairokov

[Shway]

38 minutes ago, Mihairokov said:

I'd rather Jamaica over Honduras.

I also want to reiterate just how much I hate the six-team, four-match uneven groups.

Not I... 

Although I think our new backline is better equipped to handle their attack, even if they get new additions (Greenwood is coming soon).

Our last 4 games against Jamaica we are 1-1-2 (WDL).
Our last 4 games against Honduras we are 2-1-1 (WDL).

Honduras being a threat are a thing of the past. Jamaica is our new kryptonite. 

[Obinna]

15 minutes ago, Shway said:

Not I... 

Although I think our new backline is better equipped to handle their attack, even if they get new additions (Greenwood is coming soon).

Our last 4 games against Jamaica we are 1-1-2 (WDL).
Our last 4 games against Honduras we are 2-1-1 (WDL).

Honduras being a threat are a thing of the past. Jamaica is our new kryptonite. 

My dream scenario is Costa Rica winning group A and Jamaica winning group B

Jamaica, maybe as a result of the Cuba draw, ends league play with an inferior record to Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, Canada beat Panama next month, keeping us ahead of the USA in the Concacaf rankings, maybe helped by a Mexico and/or Panama loss/draw.

Canada then secures 2nd seed, while the USA get pushed down to 3rd, putting them up against Jamaica in the NL Quarter Final.

And then, in comes Mason Greenwood, flying with Marseille and eager to impress, he plays a key role in knocking the USMNT and Poch out of the Nations League Final 4. 

I know, it's Mason Greenwood, but the terrible off-field things aside, the dude can ball, and Jamaica already have a solid core that gave the USA trouble.

Anyway, that's my dream scenario for the USA getting knocked out in the QF 

[Ivan]

Another Engishman who's never stepped foot in Jamaica, I gather. 🙄 

[Shway]

15 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Anyway, that's my dream scenario for the USA getting knocked out in the QF 

Anything that leads to both USA & Mexico not in the finals is my dream scenario. 

[Shway]

32 minutes ago, Ivan said:

Another Engishman who's never stepped foot in Jamaica, I gather. 🙄 

While this may be true... Jamaica can at least say "they've never had a captain that didn't step foot in the country before captaining the squad"

 Now THAT bothered me the most.

Edited September 12 by Shway

[Ivan]

14 minutes ago, Shway said:

While this may be true... Jamaica can at least say "they've never had a captain that never stepped foot in the country"

 Now THAT bothered me the most.

Arfield? Yeah, that bothered me too.

But we had one guy like that, maybe two? Not an entire team. A few guys sure, but with Bailey not playing for them, the majority of that team are English.

I've harped on this enough, I'll shut up on the subject now. 

[Shway]

1 minute ago, Ivan said:

Arfield? Yeah, that bothered me too.

But we had one guy like that, maybe two? Not an entire team. A few guys sure, but with Bailey not playing for them, the majority of that team are English.

🤣...I was watching their game and said "wow they literally only have two island born players in their starting lineup. In their entire roster was about 4... and it will get less with McClaren having great pull in England. But the countries motto is "Out of Many. One People, can't go back on that lol.

On a wider note, I'm okay with it because it will make Concacaf stronger, which will make Canada stronger and a great resource for players. With Canada, and USA being strong it will allow the ones who aren't good enough to make those teams tap into their 2nd or 3rd gen heritage like we see with Cantave, Shaw, Elva, ...Flores 🤭.

[gator]

4 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

1) That 90 + 6' goal by Nicaragua to secure a draw likely killed our chances of that happening.

2) That Lars 🟥 match (Borjan replaced him) was in Havana

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_CONCACAF_third_round

Recently though they've been playing in Santiago de Cuba

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_CONCACAF_Nations_League_A

There are far fewer flights to that end of the island 

3) For bigger games, CONCACAF sometimes forces the ability to host a night match, which means reliable pitch lighting, which means Cuba is unable to play at home

In the 2019 CONCACAF Nations League they hosted us in the Cayman Islands.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_CONCACAF_Nations_League_A

 

It was so hot in Havana for the match in 2012, the stadium was in the heart of the city! Santiago de Cuba is fairly easily accessible from Holguin, as you say the chances of matching up and the match actually being played in Cuba are slim, too bad, the V's trip there in 2012 was epic!

[CanadaFan123]

11 hours ago, Shway said:

While this may be true... Jamaica can at least say "they've never had a captain that didn't step foot in the country before captaining the squad"

 Now THAT bothered me the most.

Who was that? Not Canada. Arfield made his debut in Vancouver.

Anyway, I don’t think Greenwood is playing for Jamaica anytime soon. Seems to have been yet another rumour - probably by his agency trying to put pressure on England. 

[Obinna]

8 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Who was that? Not Canada. Arfield made his debut in Vancouver.

Anyway, I don’t think Greenwood is playing for Jamaica anytime soon. Seems to have been yet another rumour - probably by his agency trying to put pressure on England. 

There is no universe where Mason Greenwood would be welcomed back into the English NT. He could win the Ballon d'or and it still wouldn't happen.

At the same time, he's too good not to play internationally, and I don't think Jamaica give two shits about the optics of bringing in Greenwood. I can see this being legit and if that could happen it would replace the loss of Leon Bailey and then some. If Bailey somehow returns, Jamaica go from having one of the top attacks on paper to being an automatic lock for top CONCACAF attack....on paper of course.

[CanadaFan123]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

There is no universe where Mason Greenwood would be welcomed back into the English NT. He could win the Ballon d'or and it still wouldn't happen.

At the same time, he's too good not to play internationally, and I don't think Jamaica give two shits about the optics of bringing in Greenwood. I can see this being legit and if that could happen it would replace the loss of Leon Bailey and then some. If Bailey somehow returns, Jamaica go from having one of the top attacks on paper to being an automatic lock for top CONCACAF attack....on paper of course.

I think the odds of him playing for England are about .01% but that won’t stop him from trying. As soon as he switches to Jamaica he’s done so there is no rush - might as well wait for them to qualify for something (or at least get close). The way Jamaica has played in recent qualifying and the copa America doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for a player who could probably care less about the nation. 

[Mihairokov]

I was going to make a joke about Greenwood not wanting to physically travel away to Honduras or Guatemala but frankly he probably doesn't want to travel to Jamaica, either. It's possible he only commits to them for the World Cup, after they qualify without him.

[Obinna]

13 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I think the odds of him playing for England are about .01% but that won’t stop him from trying. As soon as he switches to Jamaica he’s done so there is no rush - might as well wait for them to qualify for something (or at least get close). The way Jamaica has played in recent qualifying and the copa America doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for a player who could probably care less about the nation. 

Fair enough but counterpoint would be that everything is lined up for Jamaica to qualify, considering there is no USA, Canada, or Mexico to contend with. Perhaps he still waits until later in the cycle, but I would imagine he commits at some point before 2026. Who knows though, I guess. 

And I guess what we should consider is just how likely HE thinks it is that England ever bring him back. I would go as far as saying I do not see him ever playing in England again for a club, let alone the national team.

I will not pretend to know what that guy thinks about playing for Jamaica, but I could see a scenario where being rejected by his birth nation England (in every way), may actual push him toward Jamaica. They are clearly opening their arms for him, apparently without judgement, so it would not surprise me if he ends up feeling genuinely connected to Jamaica as a result. 

Anyway, I do not intend to make this thread about him, but just speculating on how much of a game changer he would be. We are seeing his level now with Marseille and as of today, he would arguably be a top 3 attacker in CONCACAF, probably at minimum. That is huge when you consider adding him to an already loaded Jamaica team. And not to say one player changes everything, but given how Jamaica are trending already, I can see a big 4 emerging in this region.  

[Neil R.]

If we end up overtaking the US for 2nd in the CONCACAF rankings after the October update, I wouldn't mind Guatemala, Suriname, or Nicaragua as a quarter-final opponent.

Just not Guadeloupe. Please. I'll lose my mind if we have 2 matches with Guadeloupe (at a decent FIFA points multiplier, tournament quarter-final) and come away empty-handed. We've had 4 Gold Cups in a row with a non-FIFA member (Guadeloupe 2023, Martinique 2021, Martinique 2019, French Guiana 2017) and we also had to play French Guiana in the qualifying phase of the Nations League the inaugural year. Guadeloupe is currently 1 point out of 2nd, and their final 2 matches are against Martinique, so hopefully they don't end up as the 2nd place team with the highest point total.