The Concacaf Nations League draw took place last night in Las Vegas, and the first rendition of the competition promises some tantalizing matchups.
The final qualifying matchups just finished up days ago — with spots in next summer's Gold Cup at stake — and now the competition will go on a bit of a hiatus until the Nations League games kick off again in September. The brand-new competition provides an opportunity for smaller Concacaf member federations to climb their way to the top — and for larger nations to stumble.
The official league groupings are below. Some initial thoughts:
- In League A, North American neighbors U.S. and Canada will play with Cuba in what promises to be a very entertaining Group A. U.S. will be heavily favored, but Canada bosts a lot of very promising talent.
- Maybe one of the most interesting matchups in League A is Group D, in which Costa Rica, led by Real Madrid man Keylor Navas, will have to deal with the ascendant Curaçao and a Haiti side that finished atop the table in CNL qualifying.
- In League B, the most immediately striking matchup is the El Salvador-Dominican Republic, but League B as a whole provides plenty of opportunity.
| LEAGUE A | LEAGUE B | LEAGUE C | |||
| A | United States | A | French Guiana | A | Barbados |
| Canada | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Cayman Islands | |||
| Cuba | Belize | Saint Martin | |||
| Grenada | U.S. Virgin Islands | ||||
| B | Mexico | ||||
| Panama | B | El Salvador | B | Bonaire | |
| Bermuda | Dominican Republic | Bahamas | |||
| Saint Lucia | British Virgin Islands | ||||
| C | Honduras | Montserrat | |||
| Trinidad and Tobago | C | Guatemala | |||
| Martinique | C | Jamaica | Puerto Rico | ||
| Guyana | Anguilla | ||||
| D | Costa Rica | Antigua and Barbuda | |||
| Haiti | Aruba | D | Guadeloupe | ||
| Curaçao | Turks and Caicos Islands | ||||
| D | Nicaragua | Sint Maarten | |||
| Suriname | |||||
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | |||||
| Dominica |
Related links:
-Concacaf Nations League qualifiers, best XI