What is CONCACAF Nations League? Format, schedule, rules, and all-time winners for soccer tournament

The CONCACAF Nations League is in its second edition with the competition featuring every national team in North America. The USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada stand out as the top-ranked teams in the region, and favorites for the title.

CONCACAF is the name given to the group of soccer-playing nations in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (the acronym stands for “Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football”).

There are several tournaments for men’s, women’s and youth national teams organized by CONCACAF with the Nations League being one of the latest additions to the soccer calendar. 

The USA will be looking to defend its Nations League trophy after claiming the inaugural edition of the competition in a final against Mexico. But there are a host of other smaller, lesser-known nations that will be hoping to spring some upsets that could set them up nicely for future tournaments.

As the CONCACAF region gets set to host the World Cup in 2026 (in USA, Mexico, and Canada), there has never been a better opportunity for less heralded nations to earn a coveted spot in the expanded 48-team World Cup field. The CONCACAF Nations League is an important proving ground for these countries.

MORE: Mexico move closer to reaching the Nations League final four

What is the CONCACAF Nations League?

The CONCACAF Nations League is the North American version of a tournament that was started in Europe in 2018.

The European soccer body, UEFA, launched the Nations League as a competitive replacement for the hefty amount of friendlies that European nations were playing merely to fill the schedule between the World Cup and European Championships.

CONCACAF saw this and essentially copied it beginning in 2019. The USA was crowned champion of the first edition after winning the June 2021 final.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the inaugural edition, but the intent is to complete the Nations League in a two-year window, filling in the gap between the World Cup (played every four years) and the North American championship for national teams called the Gold Cup (played every two years in odd-numbered years).

CONCACAF Nations League format

The CONCACAF Nations League is broken down into “leagues” or tiers, which separate the nations based on relative strength: League A (top tier), League B (mid-tier), League C (lowest tier).

The very first edition of the Nations League took every country’s FIFA world ranking into account, and since then teams have been moving up and down tiers based on performance. The Nations League champion for any edition can only come from teams competing in the top tier (League A).

All 41 nations that form part of the CONCACAF region find themselves in one of three tiers: 12 in League A, 16 countries in League B, and the remaining 13 countries in League C. 

In each tier, the participating nations are drawn into groups which sees them playing round-robin with home and away matches against other opponents in the group. There is a reward for winning the group, and there are also consequences for finishing last.

The first-place group finishers in League A face off for the tournament title, while the group winners in League B and League C earn promotion up to the higher tier.

The last-place group finishers in League A and League B are demoted (relegated) to the lower tier. 

CONCACAF Nations League winners

As the competition is still relatively new, there has only been one completed CONCACAF Nations League tournament to date.

In the 2019/20 final, the first in the competition’s history, the CONCACAF Nations League produced a mouth-watering final between rivals USA and Mexico that was eventually played in June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fixture lived up to the hype, as it was level 2-2 after 90 minutes of action. Christian Pulisic scored the winning goal in extra-time, a 114th-minute penalty, which gave the United States the tournament’s first title.

MORE: Why the first USA vs. Mexico Nations League final was so epic

CONCACAF Nations League A schedule, fixtures 2022/23

For the 2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League, the top-tier League A pool features World Cup participants USA, Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica among the 12 teams.

The group of dozen nations also includes the four promoted teams who won their League B groups in the previous edition of the competition: Jamaica, El Salvador, Suriname, and Grenada.

Only the group winners move on to the Nations League semifinals (June 15) and final (June 18) which will take place in Las Vegas. Mexico clinched a spot as the first semifinalist, while the United States and Canada were confirmed shortly after. Panama was the final side to secure a spot, finishing behind the U.S. on goal differential for the top overall seed.

The semifinal matchups are determined not by a draw, but by a combined table of the group winners. The top group stage finisher (United States: 10 points, +12 differential) will meet the bottom group stage finisher (Mexico: 8 points, +5 differential), while the other two participants also square off.

If teams are level on points, the first tiebreakers are (a) overall goal difference, and (b) overall goals scored in that order. If teams are still level, head-to-head matchups will then be taken into account per official tournament rules (page 21).

Semifinals & Finals

Group A standings

X = Clinched Nations League semifinal & Gold Cup qualification
Y = Clinched Gold Cup qualification

Group A fixtures

Group B standings

X = Clinched Nations League semifinal & Gold Cup qualification
Y = Clinched Gold Cup qualification

Group B fixtures

Group C standings

X = Clinched Nations League semifinal & Gold Cup qualification
Y = Clinched Gold Cup qualification

Group C fixtures

Group D standings

X = Clinched Nations League semifinal & Gold Cup qualification
Y = Clinched Gold Cup qualification

Group D fixtures

2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League B & C teams

League B

Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, and Bermuda were relegated from League A to League B after finishing in last place of their group in the last edition (2019/20).

Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Barbados, and Bahamas were promoted from League C to League B after topping their respective groups in the last edition.

League C

Aruba, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia were relegated from League B to League C after finishing last in their group in the last edition of the Nations League (2019/20).