The U.S. men’s national team will face Canada and Cuba in the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League A, Group A, it was determined Wednesday night.
The final draw for the competition took place at the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas
While exact dates for the USA’s four home-and-away group stage matches have not been determined, the MNT will play its games during the October and November FIFA international window. Canada and Cuba will begin League A, Group A play in home and away matches against each other during the September FIFA international window.
Created to maximize the quality, quantity and frequency of competitive matches for all of Concacaf’s 41 member associations, the inaugural edition of the Concacaf Nations League begins this fall. After concluding a qualifying competition, teams were positioned into three respective Leagues: League A, League B and League C. They were then drawn into respective groups during Wednesday’s draw.
Having taken part in the final round of 2018 World Cup qualifying, the USA was one of six nations to automatically qualify for Concacaf Nations League A. Those six teams were joined by the top six finishers in 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League qualifying to form League A.
“It’s an important time for Canada to get two matches against USA, which on top of being derby matches they provide us with the chance to test ourselves, to learn, and to develop against the reigning Concacaf champions,” Canada head coach John Herdman said. “We also get to face Cuba and we know that they will give us a tough test, home and away, but particularly the away leg will test the resolve and resilience of this team.”
For the draw, teams were separated into three pots of four teams each, based on the November 2018 Concacaf ranking, with one country from each pot pulled to make up Nations League A Groups A, B, C and D.
The group phase for each league is a round-robin, home-and-away format that will play out during the course of the September, October and November FIFA international dates. At the end of the round-robin competition, the four group winners from League A will advance to the final championship, where a semifinal and final will be played during the March 2020 FIFA international dates to crown the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League champion.
The League A and B teams that finish last in their groups will be relegated to the lower league, while the group winners in Leagues B and C will be promoted to the higher league for the next edition of the competition.
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