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Latino America Stands Strong at the CONCACAF Nations League Tournament

Gabe Salgado
2017-Gold-Cup-concacaf-nations-league

As soccer becomes more popular in North America, CONCACAF, FIFA’s regional confederation for  the Americas is adapting to the times. Among the efforts is the new CONCACAF Nations League Tournament.  The tourney began in early September and concludes in June of 2020. In the end 41 teams qualified for the new event.

Why Nations League

CONCACAF created the Nations League for three reasons….

1 Create a new pathway to qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

2. Assist with CONCACAF qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

3. Get CONCACAF’s smaller teams involved in more international competition.

Nations League Tournament Structure

Each team is slotted into one of three leagues – A, B or C – based on qualifying. There are four groups within each league (A, B, C, D), and each group houses between three and four teams. CONCACAF did an excellent job in making sure that each group is diverse by placing teams from different regions against one another, as opposed to pairing regional rivals against one another automatically. The first leg of league play has already concluded with the next round of games set to begin today!

Latino America Esta Presente

Latin America is well represented at this inaugural event. But where does each team stand? Here’s a breakdown of the participating teams and how they stack up against the rest of the field….

Costa Rica

CONCACAF Region: Central America

All-Time Record: 277-202-150

Of course they’ll be arguments about how good Costa Rica is compared to CONCACAF as a whole. But what’s proven is that they are hands down the best team in Central America. They’ve proven that with the championships, their win-loss record, and the fact they keep qualifying for international competition. After falling to Mexico in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup back in June. Midfielders Bryan Ruiz (126 caps, 26 goals), Celso Borges (126 caps, 23 goals), and goalkeeper Keylor Navas (88 caps), are back to redeem themselves. “Los Ticos” will have to contend with Curacao (whom they play on October 14th) and Haiti in Group D of League A. They’ve seen success against both teams (12-2-4 combined record).

Why They Will Win: They’re currently the best team in CONCACAF not named Mexico or the United States.

Why They Won’t: Potential future matchups against the U.S. and Mexico could  prove to be difficult.

Cuba

CONCACAF Region: Caribbean

While the current Cuban team lacks international experience (average age is 21-years-old) they do have some talent. Forwards Maikel Reyes (14 caps, 2 goals), Yordan Santa Cruz (15 caps, 7 goals), and midfielder Andy Baquero (21 caps, 3 goal) will provide the offense. They have arguably one of the tougher draws as they are in Group A of League A alongside Team USA and Canada for whom they have a combined 3-19-3 record against. They open up the next round against the Americans on October 11th.

Why They Will Win: Cuba’s national team is a hungry squad with everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Why They Will Won’t: They struggle against CONCACAF competition (105-112-59 all-time record in the confederation)

Dominican Republic

CONCACAF Region: Caribbean

The Dominican national team has only been in existence since 1970. After all, La Republica Dominicana is known more for baseball than soccer. The Nations League is only the third different international competition for this program. Their previous events include three Pan American Games (1971, 1979, 2003), five Caribbean Games (1970, 1974, 1986, 1990, 2002), and two Caribbean Cups (1991, 2012). The Dominican’s didn’t make it past the first round in any of those events.

Out of everyone on the current roster; only goalkeeper Miguel Lloyd (35 caps), defender Cesar Garcia (23 caps, 1 goal), and striker Darly Batista (16 caps, 9 goals) remain from the 2012 Caribbean Cup squad. The D.R. is lined up in Group B of League B along with El Salvador, Montserrat, and St. Lucia (resumes against them on October 12th). They’ve actually had some success against all three teams (4-3 combined record), and this is their chance to put themselves on the futbol map.

Why They Will Win: As relative newcomers to the international scene, the Dominicans are looking to shock the soccer world.

Why They Won’t: Very little international experience.

El Salvador

CONCACAF Region: Central America

Joining the D.R. in Group B/League B is “La Selecta” is looking to build on their progress in recent CONCACAF competitions. Forward Nelson Bonilla (52 caps, 12 goals), midfielder Oscar Ceren (28 caps, 6 goals), and defender Xavier Garcia (67 caps, 1 goal) are ready to build off of their performance at the Gold Cup this past summer. Their record against the rest of their group (plays Montserrat on October 12th) is solid (4-1), but it’s the rest of the confederation that they tend to struggle with. They can easily win Group B but how they perform beyond that remains a question.

Why They Will Win:  They continue to make progress in international tournaments as evidenced by the fact that they’ve qualified for the last seven Gold Cups, they’ve medaled in two of the last three Central American Games, and they’ve reached fourth place or higher in the last six Copa Centroamericanas.

Why They Won’t: The tram tends to struggle against CONCACAF opposition (156-190-95 record).

Guatemala

CONCACAF Region: Central America

This will be the first international tournament that Guatemala has participated in since FIFA lifted the suspension of Guatemala’s National Football Federation. The program was suspended in 2016 as part of FIFA’s crackdown on corruption in the sport. Striker Danilo Guerra (8 caps, 1 goal), defender Carlos Gallardo (58 caps, 3 goals), and midfielder Rodrigo Saravia (10 caps) have their work cut out for them. They’ll face Puerto Rico and Anguilla in Group C of League C against whom they’ve had success (3-0 combined record), and they’ll resume Nations League play on October 12th.

Why They’ll Win Win: Now that they have been reinstated by FIFA, the Guatemalan’s are eager to prove that they are among the region’s best teams.

Why They Won’t: Not playing for four years means that they have some rust to work off.

Honduras

CONCACAF Region: Central America

They qualified after defeating El Salvador and losing by just one goal against both Jamaica and Curacao at this year’s Gold Cup. For the Nations League “Los Catrachos” is paired up in Group C of League A which includes fellow Gold Cup participants Martinique (hosts them on October 13th) and Trinidad and Tobago. This will be the first time that they’ve played Martinique, but they are familiar with Trinidad. Yet, potential matchups with Team USA, Costa Rico, or Mexico in the latter rounds of League A will be a challenge. The Hondurans are led by forward Alberth Elis (39 caps, 8 goals), and defender Maynor Figueroa (159 caps, 6 goals).

Why They Will Win: They’re a constant CONCACAF contender and it’s only a matter of time  before they win a major international trophy.

Why They Won’t: They have to navigate a loaded League A which could present matchups with Team USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Nicaragua

CONCACAF Region: Central America

“La Azul y Blanco” needs to win the Nations League if they hope to keep pace with regional rivals Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras. Central American Games medals aside; Nicaragua’s best finishes came at the CCCF Championship (third place in 1951), and at the Copa Centroamericana (three fifth place finishes with the most recent being in 2017). Momentum is not on their side at the moment as they’ve lost six of their last nine matches. But midfielder Juan Barrera (54 caps, 18 goals), defender Manuel Rosas (47 caps, 2 goals), and forward Jaime Moreno (11 caps, 4 goals) are ready to try and turn this team around and that starts against Dominica on October 11th.

Why They Will Win: Everyone loves an underdog.

Why They Won’t: Lack of international success

Mexico

CONCACAF Region: North America

“El Tri” will send a strong mixture of both youth and experience into Nations League competition. They are the favorites to win this tournament and they would love nothing more than to add to their illustrious trophy case. Being placed in Group B of League A means they’ll get some stiff competition from Panama (12-2-5 all-time record), but a loss against Bermuda would be that major upset that I speak of (5-0-1 all-time record, plays them on October 11th). Striker Jesus Corona (42 caps, 7 goals) is a handful for any opposing defense. But Corona will be accompanied by defender Nestor Araujo (35 caps, 3 goals), midfielder Hector Herrera (72 caps, 5 goals), and forward Hirving Lozano (37 caps, 9 goals).

Why They Will Win: They are the kings of CONCACAF, their eight Gold Cup titles are the most in history.

Why They Won’t: Seeing as they are at the top of the mountain, everyone is hoping to pull off the major upset against them. Especially Team USA.

Panama

CONCACAF Region: Central America

If Costa Rica is Central America’s best team than Panama isn’t too far behind. Just like Costa Rica, Panama is making waves on the international stage. Since 2005 “Los Canaleros” played in eight consecutive Gold Cups, participated in every Copa Centroamericana since 1991, they were invited to the 2016 Copa America, and qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 2018.

The biggest challenge for Gabriel Torres (85 caps, 18 goals) and company within Group B of League A will be 2019 Gold Cup Champion Mexico. Panama is 2-12-5 lifetime against “El Tri”, and they haven’t defeated Mexico since posting back-to-back wins against them in 2013 (0-5-1 against them since then). Also in that group is Bermuda who’s only defeated Panama once (2-1-1 all-time record against Bermuda). Panama resumes their run in this tournament on October 15th against the Mexican team.

Why They Will Win: Panama has established themselves as contenders who are ready for their breakout moment. They’ve reached the quarterfinals or higher in every Gold Cup since 2005 (finished as the runner up in both 2005 and 2013), and have finished third or higher in every Copa Centroamericana since 2007.

Why They Won’t: Getting past Mexico will be easier said than done.

Puerto Rico

CONCACAF Region: Caribbean

Puerto Rico is more known for their baseball and basketball. But qualifying the for the Nations League is an accomplishment in itself. Aside from some international friendlies through the years, “El Huracan Azul” is playing in their first international event since the 1993 Caribbean Cup. All of their current players are too young to remember that year (average age is 23-years-old), but they do have some talent to work with.  Striker Ricardo Rivera (4 caps) and defender Joshua Calderon (4 caps) are the most experienced players on the current squad.

Puerto Rico has never lost to Anguilla (2-0), but they’ve never defeated Guatemala (0-2). Those are their opponents in Group C of League C. They’ll get back on the pitch against Anguilla on October 15th.

Why They Will Win:  They have something to prove. Specifically, that the island can be a multi-sport region.

Why They Won’t: Sorely lacking in international competition.

United States

CONCACAF Region: North America

Team USA isn’t considered part of Latin America but Mexico is their arch-rivals, they have a strong stable of Latino players, and they’ve seen plenty of action against teams from Latin America through the years. Team USA’s last title came at the 2017 Gold Cup, so they’re looking to add to their trophy case. They’ve been through some coaching changes, roster changes, and they hope to reclaim their status atop the CONCACAF mountain. Of course everything Team USA does is to build momentum for the 2022 World Cup, they missed out on Russia in 2018.

Why They Will Win: They are the second best team in CONCACAF.

Why They Won’t: Can they finally defeat Mexico when it counts?

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