MIAMI. - The 2023–24 Concacaf Nations League kicks off its third edition as teams begin their quest to champion their respective groups and gain promotion, as is the case for the 16 countries in League B.
The League B format remains unchanged and will continue to feature teams divided into four groups of four. Each team will play every other team in their group, home-and-away, for a total of six matches per team.
Matches will be disputed during the official FIFA Match Windows in September, October, and November. Group winners will be promoted to League A, and fourth-place finishers will be relegated to League C.
Here is a breakdown of the four groups in League B:
Group A
Guadeloupe, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Sint Maarten were the four nations drawn into Group A. Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia return after suffering relegation in the debut CNL edition, while Sint Maarten will make its League B debut.
Behind three goals from Thierry Ambrose, Guadeloupe’s second place finish saw the Gwada Boys advance to the Gold Cup Prelims to become one of the surprising teams of the 2023 Gold Cup. Saint Kitts and Nevis, by way of winning League C, also advanced to the 2023 Gold Cup via the Prelims to face the likes of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
Saint Lucia went a perfect 4-0-0 in its group to gain promotion, with Kurt Frederick leading the way with three goals. Sint Maarten’s Gerwin Lake finished the 2022-23 CNL as the top overall scorer and will look to defend that title against the next level of competition.
Group B
Barbados, Dominican Republic, Montserrat and Nicaragua are the four teams in Group B. Barbados looks to improve on a 1-0-5 record in the last edition and will get another shot at success in League B due to a pause in relegation, with young players Thierry Gale and Tajio James as names to keep an eye on.
The Dominican Republic will look to improve on its third-place finishes in its group the last two editions and will look to 20-year-old forward Nowend Lorenzo to continue his rise in the goalscoring department. Montserrat are also back for a third participation in League B and only finished fourth in its group on goal differential.
Nicaragua is back in League B for the third consecutive edition and made a big improvement last time around with three goals each from Matías Moldskred, Jaime Moreno and Ariagner Smith. They should be a contender to win the group.
Group C
Belize, Bermuda, French Guiana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines make up Group C as one of these nations will assure promotion to League A for the first time. Belize and French Guiana are paired for a third consecutive edition, with the latter coming close to promotion on both previous occasions.
Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines look for resurgence after last place finishes, while Bermuda nearly finished last if not for goal differential. French Guiana’s Joel Sarrucco and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Cornelius Stewart are the well-known names, but the situation is in place for others to emerge.
Group D
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Guyana and Puerto Rico make up the final group and one that will also see a side gain promotion to League A for the first occasion. Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana met again after facing off in the inaugural edition, while Puerto Rico will make its League B debut.
Antigua and Barbuda have finished third twice, but the latest go around was decided on goal differential, something they’ll look to improve on with 20-year-old D'Andre Bishop as one of the players to watch. Bahamas also hopes to fix its scoring struggles and Marcel Joseph may be the man to watch as he ended a four-match scoring drought in the group finale.
Guyana features one of the fast-rising young players of the region in Omari Glasgow, as the 19-year-old looks to take the next step in his national team career. Puerto Rico looks to transition a 4-0-0 record in League C, led by six-goal scorer Ricardo Rivera.
