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

[TGAA_Star]

On 5/23/2024 at 7:24 PM, Obinna said:

Also, it's moot now, but part of me thinks we'd have been better off going through the group stage, so that we can build momentum and confidence. The preliminary rounds of NL and WCQ really set the tone and foundation for our success last cycle, not to mention it gave us the leeway to build the depth a bit. 

Instead, we'll have friendlies which will hopefully be high profile. I would never say no to big friendly opponents, but they are non-competitive games, which we couldn't really afford to test our depth in (unless injuries force our hand).

I hope we get to face more bigger teams like England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Germany 🇩🇪, Belgium, Portugal 🇵🇹, Italy 🇮🇹, Spain 🇪🇸, Korea 🇰🇷 Republic, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Ghana 🇬🇭, Morocco 🇲🇦 again, etc even if they are friendlies

[Obinna]

8 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

I hope we get to face more bigger teams like England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Germany 🇩🇪, Belgium, Portugal 🇵🇹, Italy 🇮🇹, Spain 🇪🇸, Korea 🇰🇷 Republic, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Ghana 🇬🇭, Morocco 🇲🇦 again, etc even if they are friendlies

Add in Japan, Brazil and Argentina and there you have some elite guests for Gold Cup 2025

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

I hope we get to face more bigger teams like England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Germany 🇩🇪, Belgium, Portugal 🇵🇹, Italy 🇮🇹, Spain 🇪🇸, Korea 🇰🇷 Republic, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Ghana 🇬🇭, Morocco 🇲🇦 again, etc even if they are friendlies

Playing Ghana's starboy would be great, especially if he's still at West Ham.

Fun player to watch.

[Neil R.]

I was just checking out the Wikipedia page for League A and noticed something interesting about how the draw ended up that I don't think anyone has mentioned so far.

The 12 teams were split into 6 pots of 2 teams. One team went into Group A, the other into Group B. In all 6 draws, the higher-ranked team ended up in Group B. Jamaica and Costa Rica were in the same pot. Jamaica was ranked higher and was drawn into B. Honduras and Guatemala were in the next pot. Honduras was ranked higher and was drawn into B, and so on.

So all of our takes that Group A seems a bit easier, well there's a good reason for that! 😂

[TGAA_Star]

We definitely need to win a Nations League sooner or later especially if we want this specific Canada team to truly be labeled as a golden generation 

[Bison44]

8 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

We definitely need to win a Nations League sooner or later especially if we want this specific Canada team to truly be labeled as a golden generation 

How many of the things have we done for the first time or the first time in 30 years these last 2-3 years?  WCQ first place, WC, COPA semis, etc etc.  These guys have already pushed the program farther than we ever have gotten before.  In 2026 we'll be in WC on home soil with guys that are already WC vets, COPA semi vets, have played against the worlds #1 and #2 on the road and thats if they do nothing between now and then.  

[Obinna]

33 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

We definitely need to win a Nations League sooner or later especially if we want this specific Canada team to truly be labeled as a golden generation 

Agreed. It's time we win this thing now, no excuses. 

Win NL in spring of 2025

Then in summer, I want us to match what we've done at Copa by at least reaching the semi of Gold Cup. If no expanded tournament then I want to see us in the final and lift the trophy.

No more small expectations for this team. I want at least 1 trophy this cycle. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

3 hours ago, Neil R. said:

In all 6 draws, the higher-ranked team ended up in Group B.

...So all of our takes that Group A seems a bit easier, well there's a good reason for that! 😂

Thanks for pointing that out!

I actually hadn't noticed when I first saw the draw results!

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

We definitely need to win a Nations League sooner or later especially if we want this specific Canada team to truly be labeled as a golden generation 

We need to win a trophy. Nations League or Gold Cup.

[RJB]

9 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

We need to win a trophy. Nations League or Gold Cup.

I struggle with this. Winning trophies is not easy, and I think bad teams can advance in single games, and good teams can be eliminated. Over a number of tournaments, you hope it evens out, but only one team can win, and lots of great teams don't win. I want a trophy, but it's just not quite that simple.

Take Croatia: is their golden generation a failure?  What about Greece: Are they a great team because the won Euros?  

[shorty]

On 7/10/2024 at 11:44 AM, Neil R. said:

I was just checking out the Wikipedia page for League A and noticed something interesting about how the draw ended up that I don't think anyone has mentioned so far.

The 12 teams were split into 6 pots of 2 teams. One team went into Group A, the other into Group B. In all 6 draws, the higher-ranked team ended up in Group B. Jamaica and Costa Rica were in the same pot. Jamaica was ranked higher and was drawn into B. Honduras and Guatemala were in the next pot. Honduras was ranked higher and was drawn into B, and so on.

So all of our takes that Group A seems a bit easier, well there's a good reason for that! 😂

Interesting.  Assuming a fair draw, though, it's not as far fetched as one would think.  Exactly the same probability as flipping heads 6 times in a row:  (1/2)^6 = 1/64, so you would expect this to happen about 1.5% of the time.

[TOcanadafan]

On 7/10/2024 at 7:52 PM, RJB said:

I struggle with this. Winning trophies is not easy, and I think bad teams can advance in single games, and good teams can be eliminated. Over a number of tournaments, you hope it evens out, but only one team can win, and lots of great teams don't win. I want a trophy, but it's just not quite that simple.

Take Croatia: is their golden generation a failure?  What about Greece: Are they a great team because the won Euros?  

I agree with the essence of your point, but Europe is a different beast than CONCACAF where there’s only 2 traditional powerhouses and so many minnows… It’s a reasonable goal for us.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

The schedule for September is out:

https://www.concacaf.com/nations-league/news/concacaf-confirms-september-schedule-for-2024-25-concacaf-nations-league-group-stage-matches/

[scullion44]

Wasn’t sure where to post this but Mason Greenwood will be playing for Jamaica.

Edited August 23 by scullion44

[Obinna]

27 minutes ago, scullion44 said:

Wasn’t sure where to post this but Mason Greenwood will be playing for Jamaica.

That's a massive recruit. I wonder if that spurs Leon Bailey to come back. Even if not, Jamaica probably have an upgrade on Bailey anyway. 

Not a team I want to draw in the NL quarter final, that's for sure. 

[Neil R.]

On 8/8/2024 at 4:44 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The schedule for September is out:

https://www.concacaf.com/nations-league/news/concacaf-confirms-september-schedule-for-2024-25-concacaf-nations-league-group-stage-matches/

Interesting to see Leagues B and C doing centralized venues within each group. Seems smart. Bring all 4 teams to the same country and play all the matches for that window in the same location.

Someone has updated Wikipedia with the centralized locations for the October and November windows (a different country within each group). That works out nicely. 3 out of 4 countries in each group in League B and 2 out of 3 in each group in League C will get to have 2 home matches sometime in September, October, or November.

League B centralized locations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_CONCACAF_Nations_League_B

League C centralized locations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_CONCACAF_Nations_League_C

[Soccerpro2]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

That's a massive recruit. I wonder if that spurs Leon Bailey to come back. Even if not, Jamaica probably have an upgrade on Bailey anyway. 

Not a team I want to draw in the NL quarter final, that's for sure. 

Cohesion and commitment, not talent, are Jamaica's issues. I don't see that changing.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

23 minutes ago, Soccerpro2 said:

Cohesion and commitment, not talent, are Jamaica's issues. I don't see that changing.

And funding. And competent leadership at the federation's level.

[Shway]

6 hours ago, Obinna said:

That's a massive recruit. I wonder if that spurs Leon Bailey to come back. Even if not, Jamaica probably have an upgrade on Bailey anyway. 

Not a team I want to draw in the NL quarter final, that's for sure. 

Leon is speaking with McLaren, who's obviously giving him a clean slate. 

I agree, as I stated before we just don't match well against them. 

[CanadaFan123]

7 hours ago, scullion44 said:

Wasn’t sure where to post this but Mason Greenwood will be playing for Jamaica.

Wow, he’s going to fit right in with that lot. 

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Leon is speaking with McLaren, who's obviously giving him a clean slate. 

I agree, as I stated before we just don't match well against them. 

I like our odds a lot better with Bombito and Cornelius anchoring our back line vs people like Vitoria and Miller.   

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Matches start tomorrow.

A few of the squads:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mihairokov]

Do we know if Puerto Rico are sending their new players for matches this window? They looked very good in WCQ in June. 

[Watchmen]

L1BC contributing to some NL action.

 

 

[Barthez-Battalion]

For any sickos like me. Anguilla vs Turks and Caicos, right now in the second half.