2019–20 Concacaf Nations League A
The 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A was the top division of the 2019–20 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF.
League A culminated with the final championship in June 2021 to crown the inaugural champions of the CONCACAF Nations League.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Group phase: 5 September – 19 November 2019 Nations League Finals: 3–6 June 2021 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Mexico |
| Third place |  Honduras |
| Fourth place |  Costa Rica |
| Relegated |  Bermuda Cuba Haiti Trinidad and Tobago |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 28 |
| Goals scored | 83 (2.96 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Weston McKennie Jordan Morris (4 goals each) |
Format
League A consisted of twelve teams, with the six participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying hexagonal joined by the top six teams from qualifying. The league was split into four groups of three teams. The teams competed in a home-and-away, round-robin format over the course of the group phase, with matches played in the official FIFA match windows in September, October and November 2019. The four group winners qualified to the Nations League final championship, while the four last-placed teams in each group were relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.
The Nations League Finals took place in June 2021, and was played in a knockout format in the United States, the centralized location selected by CONCACAF. The four teams played the semi-finals, with the matchups determined by the group stage rankings (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3), followed by the third place match and the final (Regulations Articles 12.8 and 12.10).
In September 2019, it was announced that the Nations League would also provide qualification for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The top two teams from each of the four League A groups qualified for the Gold Cup, while the third-placed teams entered the first round of Gold Cup qualification.
Seeding
Teams were seeded into the pots of League A according to their position in the November 2018 CONCACAF Ranking Index.
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The draw for the group phase took place at The Chelsea in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 27 March 2019, 22:00 EDT (19:00 local time, PDT).
Groups
The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 21 May 2019.
Times are EDT/EST, as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 9 | Qualification for Finals and Gold Cup | — | 4–1 | 7–0 | |
| 2 | Canada | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 9 | Qualification for Gold Cup | 2–0 | — | 6–0 | |
| 3 | Cuba (R) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | −18 | 0 | Gold Cup prelims and League B | 0–4 | 0–1 | — |
| Cuba | 0–1 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| United States | 7–0 | Cuba |
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| Report |
| United States | 4–1 | Canada |
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| Report |
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| Cuba | 0–4 | United States |
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| Report |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 | Qualification for Finals and Gold Cup | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Panama | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 3 | Qualification for Gold Cup | 0–3 | — | 0–2 | |
| 3 | Bermuda (R) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 3 | Gold Cup prelims and League B | 1–5 | 1–4 | — |
| Mexico | 2–1 | Bermuda |
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| Report |
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honduras | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 | Qualification for Finals and Gold Cup | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Martinique | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | Qualification for Gold Cup | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago (R) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 2 | Gold Cup prelims and League B | 0–2 | 2–2 | — |
| Martinique | 1–1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
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| Report |
| Honduras | 1–0 | Martinique |
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| Report |
| Martinique | 1–1 | Honduras |
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Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Costa Rica | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | Qualification for Finals and Gold Cup | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| 2 | Curaçao | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | Qualification for Gold Cup, later withdrew | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | |
| 3 | Haiti (R) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | Gold Cup prelims and League B | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |
| Haiti | 1–1 | Costa Rica |
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| Costa Rica | 0–0 | Curaçao |
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| Report |
| Curaçao | 1–2 | Costa Rica |
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| Report |
| Costa Rica | 1–1 | Haiti |
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| Report |
Nations League Finals
Seeding
The four teams were ranked based on their results in the group stage to determine the semi-final matchups.
| Seed | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Mexico | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 |
| 2 | C | Honduras | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 |
| 3 | A | United States (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 9 |
| 4 | D | Costa Rica | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) away goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) drawing of lots (Regulations Article 12.9).
(H) Hosts
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| June 3 2021 – Denver, CO | ||||||
| Honduras | 0 | |||||
| June 6 2021 – Denver, CO | ||||||
| United States | 1 | |||||
| United States (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||
| June 3 2021 – Denver, CO | ||||||
| Mexico | 2 | |||||
| Mexico (p) | 0 (5) | |||||
| Costa Rica | 0 (4) | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| June 6 2021 – Denver, CO | ||||||
| Honduras (p) | 2 (5) | |||||
| Costa Rica | 2 (4) | |||||
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
| Honduras | 2–2 | Costa Rica |
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| Report | |
| Penalties | ||
| 5–4 | ||
Final
Goalscorers
There were 83 goals scored in 28 matches, for an average of 2.96 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Dante Leverock
Lucas Cavallini- Jonathan David
- Doneil Henry
- Jonathan Osorio
- Steven Vitória
Joel Campbell- José Ortiz
- Johan Venegas
Rangelo Janga
Duckens Nazon
Douglas Martínez- Juan Mejía
- Edwin Rodríguez
- Jonathan Toro
Roberto Alvarado- Edson Álvarez
- Sebastián Córdova
- Jesús Corona
- Héctor Herrera
- Diego Lainez
- Hirving Lozano
- Rodolfo Pizarro
Jordy Delem- Cyril Mandouki
- Emmanuel Rivière
Rolando Blackburn- Adalberto Carrasquilla
Joevin Jones- Kevin Molino
- Ryan Telfer
Aaron Long- Giovanni Reyna
- Jordan Siebatcheu
1 own goal
Darío Ramos (against United States)- Romario Barthéléry (against Honduras)
- Carlos Salcedo (against Panama)
- Harold Cummings (against Bermuda)
- Daniel Carr (against Martinique)