On Monday night in Miami, the Confederation of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean conducted their draw for the group stage of the 2024-25 Nations League. These national teams will be battling for promotion from their current league to the next level. They will also be attempting to qualify directly for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the summer of 2025, and the Confederation will inform us at a later time. But here are the groups in all three leagues in the fourth edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.
LEAGUE A, GROUP A: COSTA RICA, GUATEMALA, MARTINIQUE, GUADELOUPE, SURINAME, GUYANA
GROUP B: JAMAICA, HONDURAS, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, CUBA, NICARAGUA, FRENCH GUIANA
LEAGUE B, GROUP A: EL SALVADOR, MONTSERRAT, ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES, BONAIRE
GROUP B: CURACAO, ST. LUCIA, GRENADA, SAINT MARTIN
GROUP C: HAITI, PUERTO RICO, ARUBA, SINT MAARTEN
GROUP D: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, BERMUDA, ANTIGUA & BARBUDA, DOMINICA
LEAGUE C, GROUP A: BARBADOS, BAHAMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
GROUP B: BELIZE, TURKS & CAICOS, ANGUILLA
GROUP C: ST. KITTS & NEVIS, CAYMAN ISLANDS, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
In Leagues B and C, all teams will be playing in a centralized area in a country of the confederations choosing due to travel issues and cutting the costs during the international windows of September, October, and November. Of course, the top four nations in CONCACAF's rankings will be waiting for the top two finalists in both groups of League A in the goal aggregate quarterfinals. Those teams are Canada, Mexico, Panama, and the USA.
As World Cup Qualifying will restart this coming June, it's great to see this confederation bring back this tournament for the third consecutive season and fourth edition. We hope to see the USA win their fourth consecutive Nations League title. But once again, the entire confederation will improve their play on the National Team level.
One wishes that some of the smallest islands could pool their talent to form a team that could actually compete. --there NO alternative universe where Montserrat, Canary Islands, etc. could ever hope to make it out of Group stage!
On the opposite end, it's odd to see Jamaica and Guatemala down with the minnows!!