MIAMI – The 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League gets underway on Wednesday, with the tournament's fourth edition as 16 teams in League A will chase their aspirations of being crowned champions.
Twelve teams will contest in the group stage, comprising two groups of six teams each. The top two from each group will advance to the quarterfinal round, where they will join the top-ranked League A teams: Mexico, United States, Panama, and Canada.
The final four nations remaining will advance to the 2025 Concacaf Nations League Finals. Additionally, the tournament will help to decide berths for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Group A
Headlining Group A is 2023/24 quarterfinalist Costa Rica. Following their quarterfinals appearance, the Ticos defeated Honduras 3-1 in the CNL Play-in and secured a spot to compete in the 2024 Copa America. Francisco Calvo, who will be captaining the side in his fourth Nations League appearance, is Costa Rica’s leading scorer in the tournament with five goals.
Guatemala is the other Central American nation joining Costa Rica in the group. The Chapines will feature in League A for a consecutive edition after starting in League C in 2019/20 and being promoted to League B in 2022/23. Guatemala will aim to expand its impressive Nations League home record, which includes an undefeated record in seven matches.
Completing the group are four Caribbean sides: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Suriname and Guyana.
Martinique will be making a fourth straight appearance in League A. The nation is looking to build on its impressive performance in the 2023/24 edition, where it finished third in the group after achieving its first two wins in the tournament.
Guadeloupe will seek to continue its meteoric rise in the CNL. Les Gwada Boys will make their first League A appearance after starting in League C in 2019/20 and playing in two editions of League B (2022/23 and 2023/24).
Suriname will make a third consecutive League A appearance following a third-place finish in its group in the past edition. Gleofilo Vlijter, currently third in the all-time leading scorers in the tournament, is the team’s all-time scorer with 11 goals in the CNL. Suriname will aim to carry a positive momentum from the 2023/24 CNL after closing out the last campaign unbeaten in two.
Guyana will debut in League A after spending three seasons in League B. The Golden Jaguars won all its group matches in the 2023/24 edition with an average of four goals per match and are unbeaten in the last seven. Omari Glasgow, with 10 goals in the previous two editions, is Guyana’s top scorer in the CNL and will be one of the players to watch.
Mark your calendars! 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/7xwLdNxxIy
— Concacaf Nations League (@CNationsLeague) August 8, 2024
Group B
Group B features another two Central American nations and four Caribbean teams. Headed by Jamaica, who finished third place in the 2024 Nations League Finals, the group also features Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Nicaragua, and French Guiana.
The Reggae Boyz finished as group leaders in the last CNL before going on to the tournament's semifinals. Bobby Reid, who has scored in all three previous editions, and Demarai Gray, who contributed three goals and an assist in the 2023/24 campaign, are two men who could feature in Jamaica’s front line.
Honduras, a quarterfinalist in the previous edition, returns for a fourth consecutive League A appearance.
Trinidad and Tobago will be making a third League A appearance. The Socca Warriors will aim to match their performance from the 2023/24 edition, with the team reaching the quarterfinals and being close to qualifying to the 2024 Copa America.
Cuba will be making consecutive appearances in what will be their third time in League A. They will seek to expand the team’s current positive streak, having lost only one of the teams last nine matches in the CNL.
Nicaragua will play in League A after finishing first in League B, their best performance in the tournament. La Azul y Blanco finished undefeated in the previous edition to earn promotion. The country’s top scorers in the competition are Matías Moldskred Belli and Jaime Moreno, who tallied five goals each over the last two editions.
French Guiana will play in League A for the first time after winning three of its last four matchups in the 2023/24 League B, recording consecutive wins in its past two home games.
At the conclusion of the return leg Quarterfinals in November, the aggregate score winner in each Quarterfinal matchup (four teams) will advance to the 2025 Concacaf Nations League Finals and qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage. The four Quarterfinal losers will progress to the 2025 Gold Cup Prelims.
Furthermore, after CNL group stage play in October, the third and fourth-place finishers (four teams) and the fifth and sixth-place finishers (four teams) will advance to the 2025 Gold Cup Prelims and 2024 CNL Play-In, respectively.
The CNL Play-In will take place in November 2024, and the Gold Cup Prelims will be in March 2025. Further details will be announced at a later date.
