USMNT to face Trinidad & Tobago in Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal
CHICAGO – The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Trinidad & Tobago in the critical 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal. The home leg will be hosted Nov. 16 in Austin, with kickoff from Q2 Stadium set for 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local). The away leg will be played Nov. 20 with exact venue and kickoff time to be determined in the near future.
Both matches will be broadcast live on TNT, Universo, MAX and Peacock. Live Spanish-language audio for the match will be available on Fútbol de Primera radio.
The Quarterfinal Round of the CNL serves as qualification for the prestigious 2024 Copa America, South America’s preeminent international tournament, which will be hosted in the United States next summer. The 2024 edition of the event will include 10 CONMEBOL nations and six Concacaf guest nations, including defending World Cup and Copa America champion Argentina led by captain and Inter Miami attacker Lionel Messi.
Trinidad & Tobago reached the quarterfinals having finished second in Group A with nine points. As the second-highest team in the current Concacaf rankings, the USMNT was drawn against the best second-place team from the group stage based on total points earned.
The USMNT has won the first two editions of the Concacaf Nations League, beginning with a defeat of Mexico in a thrilling 3-2 extra-time victory in the inaugural championship in 2021. In June of this year, center back Chris Richards and forward Folarin Balogun became the first and second players to score their first international goals in a final with both first-half goals assisted by midfielder Gio Reyna as the USMNT claimed its third consecutive Concacaf tournament with a 2-0 defeat of Canada, adding to its 2021 Nations League and 2021 Gold Cup titles.
VS. THE SOCA WARRIORS
- The USA and Trinidad & Tobago have met 28 times, making the Soca Warriors the fifth-most frequent opponent in USMNT history.
- The USA holds a 21-3-4 all-time advantage against Trinidad and Tobago. The 21 wins against Trinidad are the USMNT’s second most against any international opponent behind only Mexico (23 wins).
- The last competitive clash between the teams came during the 2023 Gold Cup group stage, the USMNT riding standout performance from forward Jesús Ferreira to a 6-0 win in the final match of group play on July 2 in Charlotte, N.C. Ferreira registered a first-half hat trick, while Cade Cowell, Gianluca Busio and Brandon Vazquez added second-half goals as the USA clinched the top spot in Group A.
- The USA-Trinidad and Tobago rivalry dates back to March 21, 1982, a 2-1 friendly win in the Trinidadian capital Port of Spain.
- The away leg in Trinidad will be one day after the 34-year anniversary of one of the most significant goals in U.S. Soccer history. On Nov. 19, 1989, Paul Caligiuri’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” gave the USMNT a 1-0 win on the final day of qualifying for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, sending the USA back to the tournament for the first time in 40 years.
AT Q2
Q2 Stadium has hosted USMNT matches in three different official competitions, with all three previous visits ending in shutout victories in front of sold-out crowds. Gyasi Zardes bagged an 86th minute winner in the 1-0 win against Qatar in the semifinal of team’s run to the 2021 Gold Cup title. Three months later, 18-year-old forward Ricardo Pepi scored twice to spark the USA to a 2-0 shutout win against Jamaica in World Cup Qualifying.
In June of last year, Jesús Ferreira’s four goals propelled the USA to a 5-0 rout of Grenada as the team began its successful 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League campaign. Ferreira’s four goals tied a team record for most goals in a game, with the win extending the USMNT’s unbeaten streak on U.S. soil to 26 straight games, also tying the team’s record set from 2013-2015.
ABOUT THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
Created to maximize the quality, quantity and frequency of competitive matches for all of Concacaf’s 41 Member Associations, the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League, which commenced in September, has a revamped format to include more direct elimination matches that will qualify teams to continental summer competitions.
The 2023-24 CNL will continue to be played in a three-League format (A, B, and C), with the region’s 41 men’s senior national teams distributed into the Leagues according to the results of the 2022-23 CNL.
The USA will compete in League A, which has been expanded to include 16 teams (up from 12) and a new quarterfinal round has been created to deliver more direct elimination matches.
The Quarterfinal round will be played in a home-and-away format in the FIFA Match Window of November 2023, with the aggregate score winners in each Quarterfinal matchup advancing to the 2024 CNL Finals next March and qualifying for the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America.
The four seeded nations in the Quarterfinals are (in alphabetical order): Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States.
The pairings for the Quarterfinals will be determined based on the Concacaf Rankings of October 2023 (after the FIFA Window) and the 2023-24 CNL Group Stage results.
