USMNT to face Canada and Cuba in Concacaf Nations League
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Canada and Cuba in the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League A, Group A. The final draw for the competition took place Wednesday night at the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas.
While exact dates for the USA’s four home-and-away group stage matches have not been determined, the MNT will play its games during the October and November FIFA international window. Canada and Cuba will begin League A, Group A play in home and away matches against each other during the September FIFA international window.
Created to maximize the quality, quantity and frequency of competitive matches for all of Concacaf’s 41 Member Associations, the inaugural edition of the Concacaf Nations League begins this fall. After concluding a qualifying competition, teams were positioned into three respective Leagues: League A, League B and League C. They were then drawn into respective groups during Wednesday’s draw.
Having taken part in the final round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, the USA was one of six nations to automatically qualify for Concacaf Nations League A. Those six teams were joined by the top six finishers in 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League Qualifying to form League A.
For the draw, teams were separated into three pots of four teams each, based on the November 2018 Concacaf Ranking, with one country from each pot pulled to make up Nations League A Groups A, B, C and D.
| 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League A Draw | |||
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| USA | Mexico | Honduras | Costa Rica |
| Canada | Panama | Trinidad & Tobago | Haiti |
| Cuba | Bermuda | Martinique | Curacao |
The Group Phase for each league is a round-robin, home-and-away format which will play out during the course of the September, October and November FIFA international dates in 2019. At the end of the round-robin competition, the four group winners from League A will advance to the Final Championship, where a semifinal and final will be played during the March 2020 FIFA international dates to crown the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League champion.
Additionally, the League A and B teams which finish last in their groups will be relegated to the lower league, while the group winners in Leagues B and C will be promoted to the higher league for the next edition of the competition.
