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.^[1]

2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A

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)
2022–23 →

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.^[2][3][4]

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).^[5]

In September 2019, it was announced that the Nations League would also provide qualification for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[6] 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.^[7][8]

Pot 1 Team Pts Rank  Mexico 1,998 1  United States 1,863 2  Costa Rica 1,752 3  Honduras 1,630 4

Pot 2 Team Pts Rank  Panama 1,579 5  Canada 1,471 7  Haiti 1,359 10  Trinidad and Tobago 1,342 11

Pot 3 Team Pts Rank  Martinique 1,286 12  Cuba 1,152 13  Curaçao 1,079 15  Bermuda 865 23

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).^[9][10]

Groups

The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 21 May 2019.^[11][12][13]

Times are EDT/EST,^{[note 1]} as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).^[14][15][16]

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated

7 September 2019 (2019-09-07)

20:00

Canada	6–0	Cuba
Hoilett 13', 50', 82' (pen.) David 21' Osorio 52' Henry 65'	Report

BMO Field, Toronto

Attendance: 10,224^[17]

Referee: Fernando Hernández (Mexico)

---

10 September 2019 (2019-09-10)

19:15 (18:15 UTC−5)

Cuba	0–1	Canada
	Report	Davies 9'

Truman Bodden Sports Complex, George Town (Cayman Islands)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 420

Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala)

---

11 October 2019 (2019-10-11)

19:00

United States	7–0	Cuba
McKennie 1', 5', 13' Morris 9' Ramos 37' (o.g.) Sargent 40' Pulisic 62' (pen.)	Report

Audi Field, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 13,784

Referee: José Torres (Puerto Rico)

---

15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)

19:30

Canada	2–0	United States
Davies 63' Cavallini 90+1'	Report

BMO Field, Toronto

Attendance: 17,126^[18]

Referee: Daneon Parchment (Jamaica)

---

15 November 2019 (2019-11-15)

19:00

United States	4–1	Canada
Morris 2' Zardes 23', 89' Long 34'	Report	Vitória 72'

Exploria Stadium, Orlando

Attendance: 13,103

Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)

---

19 November 2019 (2019-11-19)

19:30

Cuba	0–4	United States
	Report	Sargent 1', 66' Morris 26', 39'

Truman Bodden Sports Complex, George Town (Cayman Islands)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 1,966

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated

5 September 2019 (2019-09-05)

18:00 (19:00 UTC−3)

Bermuda	1–4	Panama
Cummings 44' (o.g.)	Report	Torres 31', 66' Blackburn 45' Carrasquilla 90+3'

Bermuda National Stadium, Hamilton

Attendance: 189

Referee: Raúl Castro (Honduras)

---

8 September 2019 (2019-09-08)

21:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Panama	0–2	Bermuda
	Report	Wells 22', 61'

Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City

Attendance: 12,053

Referee: Nitzar Sandoval (Nicaragua)

---

11 October 2019 (2019-10-11)

21:00 (22:00 UTC−3)

Bermuda	1–5	Mexico
Wells 56'	Report	Antuna 25' Macías 45+2', 53' Lozano 60' Herrera 71'

Bermuda National Stadium, Hamilton

Attendance: 705

Referee: Henry Bejarano (Costa Rica)

---

15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)

21:30 (20:30 UTC−5)

Mexico	3–1	Panama
Alvarado 28' Macías 75' Pizarro 90+2'	Report	Salcedo 42' (o.g.)

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 41,075

Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

---

15 November 2019 (2019-11-15)

21:00

Panama	0–3	Mexico
	Report	Jiménez 8', 85' (pen.) Álvarez 70'

Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City

Attendance: 16,407

Referee: Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica)

---

19 November 2019 (2019-11-19)

21:30 (20:30 UTC−6)

Mexico	2–1	Bermuda
Córdova 27' Antuna 90+3'	Report	Leverock 10'

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated

6 September 2019 (2019-09-06)

18:00

Martinique	1–1	Trinidad and Tobago
Mandouki 40'	Report	J. Jones 66' (pen.)

Stade Pierre-Aliker, Fort-de-France

Attendance: 4,678

Referee: José Kellys (Panama)

---

9 September 2019 (2019-09-09)

21:00

Trinidad and Tobago	2–2	Martinique
Molino 17' Telfer 46'	Report	Carr 60' (o.g.) Delem 80'

Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Diego Montaño (Mexico)

---

10 October 2019 (2019-10-10)

19:00

Trinidad and Tobago	0–2	Honduras
	Report	Moya 52' Martínez 90'

Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala)

---

13 October 2019 (2019-10-13)

22:00 (20:00 UTC−6)

Honduras	1–0	Martinique
Barthéléry 4' (o.g.)	Report

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula

Attendance: 34,265

Referee: Adonai Escobedo (Mexico)

---

14 November 2019 (2019-11-14)

20:00 (21:00 UTC−4)

Martinique	1–1	Honduras
Rivière 5'	Report	Mejía 65'

Stade Pierre-Aliker, Fort-de-France

Attendance: 1,453

Referee: Ted Unkel (United States)

---

17 November 2019 (2019-11-17)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Honduras	4–0	Trinidad and Tobago
Toro 5' Moya 20' Elis 45+2' (pen.), 54'	Report

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula

Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	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[a]		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	—

Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Curaçao, who had originally qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup through the Nations League, eventually had to withdraw just before the start of the tournament due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the team.

7 September 2019 (2019-09-07)

18:00

Curaçao	1–0	Haiti
Hooi 70'	Report

Ergilio Hato Stadium, Willemstad

Attendance: 8,346

Referee: Keylor Herrera (Costa Rica)

---

10 September 2019 (2019-09-10)

18:00

Haiti	1–1	Curaçao
Pierrot 15'	Report	Hooi 41'

Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince

Attendance: 9,654

Referee: Walter López (Guatemala)

---

10 October 2019 (2019-10-10)

21:00

Haiti	1–1	Costa Rica
Pierrot 82'	Report	Ortiz 53'

Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau (Bahamas)^{[note 3]}

Attendance: 4,012

Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

---

13 October 2019 (2019-10-13)

20:00 (18:00 UTC−6)

Costa Rica	0–0	Curaçao
	Report

Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela

Attendance: 7,256

Referee: Armando Villarreal (United States)

---

14 November 2019 (2019-11-14)

18:30 (19:30 UTC−4)

Curaçao	1–2	Costa Rica
Janga 20'	Report	Venegas 14' (pen.) Calvo 84'

Ergilio Hato Stadium, Willemstad

Attendance: 11,387

Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)

---

17 November 2019 (2019-11-17)

18:00 (17:00 UTC−6)

Costa Rica	1–1	Haiti
Calvo 27'	Report	Nazon 38' (pen.)

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José

Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)

Nations League Finals

Main article: 2021 CONCACAF 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 v t e	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

Source: CONCACAF
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).^[5]
(H) Hosts

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	3 June – Denver
	Honduras	0
					6 June – Denver
	United States	1
					United States (a.e.t.)	3
	3 June – Denver
					Mexico	2
	Mexico (p)	0 (5)
	Costa Rica	0 (4)
					Third place play-off
					6 June – Denver
					Honduras (p)	2 (5)
					Costa Rica	2 (4)

Semi-finals

3 June 2021 (2021-06-03)

17:30^{[note 4]}

Honduras	0–1	United States
	Report	Pefok 89'

Empower Field at Mile High, Denver

Attendance: 34,451^[22]

Referee: Oshane Nation (Jamaica)

---

3 June 2021 (2021-06-03)

20:00^{[note 5]}

Mexico	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Costa Rica
	Report
Penalties
Antuna Lozano Pineda Pulido Romo Gallardo	5–4	Venegas Duarte Alfaro Lassiter Calvo Cruz

Empower Field at Mile High, Denver

Attendance: 34,451^[22]

Referee: Bryan López (Guatemala)

Third place play-off

6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)

16:30^{[note 6]}

Honduras	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Costa Rica
E. Rodríguez 48' Elis 80'	Report	Campbell 8' Calvo 85'
Penalties
A. López Elis Benguché Toro Acosta Alvarado	5–4	Venegas Calvo Lassiter Torres Mora Tejeda

Empower Field at Mile High, Denver

Attendance: 37,648^[26]

Referee: Reon Radix (Grenada)

Final

Main article: 2021 CONCACAF Nations League final

6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)

19:00^{[note 7]}

United States	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Mexico
Reyna 27' McKennie 82' Pulisic 114' (pen.)	Report	Corona 2' Lainez 79'

Empower Field at Mile High, Denver

Attendance: 37,648^[26]

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

Goalscorers

There were 83 goals scored in 28 matches, for an average of 2.96 goals per match.

4 goals

• Weston McKennie
• Jordan Morris

3 goals

• Nahki Wells
• Junior Hoilett
• Francisco Calvo
• Alberth Elis
• José Juan Macías
• Josh Sargent

2 goals

• Alphonso Davies
• Elson Hooi
• Frantzdy Pierrot
• Brayan Moya
• Uriel Antuna
• Raúl Jiménez
• Gabriel Torres
• Christian Pulisic
• Gyasi Zardes

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)

Notes

1. EDT (UTC−4) for matches in September and October 2019, and EST (UTC−5) for matches in November 2019.
2. Cuba played their home matches in Cayman Islands.
3. Haiti played their home match against Costa Rica at Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau in Bahamas, instead of Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, due to the political and social situation in Haiti.^[19]
4. Though listed with a 17:30 kick-off time,^[20] the match began at 17:36.^[21]
5. Though listed with a 20:00 kick-off time,^[23] the match began at 20:36.^[21]
6. Though listed with a 16:30 kick-off time,^[24] the match began at 16:36.^[25]
7. Though listed with a 19:00 kick-off time,^[27] the match actually began at 19:36.^[25]