The Concacaf Nations League draw on Monday will serve dual importance for teams that are heading to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The group stage will serve as qualifying rounds for the Gold Cup, as the top teams in each group in Leagues A will head to the biennial championship tournament. But more importantly, the June fixtures in the Nations League group stage will be used as an opportunity to test rosters in competitive matches since there are only a couple of international windows between now and Qatar in November.
At the moment, the United States, Canada and Mexico have already booked their tickets to Qatar while Costa Rica will hope to join them as they have a looming playoff with New Zealand on June 13 that will decide the final spot in Group E.
Based on results from last edition, El Salvador, Grenada, Jamaica and Suriname were all promoted into League A of the Nations League with the traditional Concacaf powers. Monday's draw was kind to the United States.
The results are as follows:
League A
Group A: Mexico, Jamaica, Suriname
Group B: Costa Rica, Panama, Martinique
Group C: Canada, Honduras, Curaçao
Group D: United States, El Salvador, Grenada
League B
Group A: Cuba, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados
Group B: Haiti, Bermuda, Guyana, Monserrat
Group C: Trinidad & Tobago, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas
Group D: Guatemala, French Guiana, Dominican Republic, Belize
League C
Group A: Bonaire, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten
Group B: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Aruba, Saint Martin
Group C: Saint Lucia, Dominica, Anguilla
Group D: Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands
While Costa Rica has been drawn into the most balanced group, the United States will face two teams that are newly promoted to Group A in El Salvador and Grenada. For the U.S., it would be beneficial if the away leg at El Salvador came first to offer more of a test. Mexico landed Jamaica and Canada got Honduras in their respective groups, with the Reggae Boyz and Los Catrachos looking to ensure qualification for the Gold Cup following a disappointing World Cup qualifying cycle.
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The winners and runners-up of League A along with the winners of League B will automatically qualify for the 2023 Gold Cup. The second placed teams in League B and the winners of League C groups will then enter a playoff for the final spots in the 2023 Gold Cup.
The United States will look to retain their title in a tournament that could prove to be formative for the players. Gio Reyna spoke about his hopes that the United States can defend their status as kings of Concacaf as their final victory over Mexico helped spark their run to qualify for the World Cup.
🎙️ "It was a big moment for all of us" - Gio Reyna#CNL @USMNT pic.twitter.com/8RjHGDqTSQ
— Concacaf Nations League (@CNationsLeague) April 4, 2022
This will also serve as chance for the United States to test out forward options as Ricardo Pepi still needs to put the ball in the back of the net to lead the line in Qatar. Gregg Berhalter will also get to experiment with different formations similar to the 3-4-3 that he played before World Cup qualifying began.
Canada will look to fine-tune their system and give Alphonso Davies and Junior Hoilett a good run together following Hoilett's impressive stint on the left wing to help secure a spot in Qatar. Tata Martino's Mexico may use the tournament to find the best midfield pairings to improve his sputtering attack. There are always small things that these games can be used for ahead of the World Cup.
It's a tournament that can be looked at as one against minnows of Concacaf, but teams getting the chance to face the best that the federation has to offer is important. For a nation like Curacao, without Nations League, they may not have been able to recruit more Dutch dual nationals while Jamaica will also look to get their team in sync after changing so much ahead of World Cup qualifying.
