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Revision as of 14:15, 14 October 2018 by Normandy64(talk | contribs)(Undid revision 864006801 by S.A. Julio (talk) - Match referee was Bryan Lopez Castellanos (Walter's brother) (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1416618808473733&set=a.1388787421256872&type=3&theater))
The qualifying phase of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League is a one-off tournament that is being played from 6 September 2018 to 26 March 2019.[1] The qualifying will determine the seeding for the group phase of the inaugural tournament, as well as determining the remaining ten teams which will qualify for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[2]
Format
Apart from the 6 teams which participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying hexagonal, the other 34 teams (Guatemala could not enter due to FIFA suspension after missing the deadline of 1 March 2018)[3] entered qualifying. Each team will play four matches, two home and two away. Based on their results, the teams will be divided into tiers for the group phase of the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Nations League:[2][4]
The top 6 teams will qualify for League A to join the 6 hexagonal participants.
The next 16 teams will qualify for League B.
The last 12 teams will qualify for League C.
Moreover, the top 10 teams will qualify for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup to join the 6 hexagonal participants.
Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in qualifying is determined as follows:[5]
Points obtained in all qualifying matches;
Goal difference in all qualifying matches;
Number of goals scored in all qualifying matches;
Number of away goals scored in all qualifying matches;
Fair play points in all qualifying matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
Yellow card: –1 points;
Indirect red card (second yellow card): –3 points;
Direct red card: –4 points;
Yellow card and direct red card: –5 points;
Drawing of lots.
Seeding
The 34 teams were seeded into four pots based on their position in the March 2018 CONCACAF Ranking Index (shown in parentheses). Pots A and D contained 8 teams, while pots B and C contained 9 teams.[1][6]
The order of the match pairings per each FIFA match window is as follows:[1]
Matchday
Dates
Pot pairings
Matches
Matchday 1
6–11 September 2018
Pot A v Pot D, Pot B v Pot C
B2 v C7, A6 v D5, D3 v A8, D8 v A1, C9 v B6, C1 v B8, B3 v C6, A3 v D4, A4 v D6, B9 v C2, D7 v A2, C5 v B4, D2 v A5, A7 v D1, B7 v C8, B1 v C3, C4 v B5
Matchday 2
11–16 October 2018
Pot A v Pot C, Pot B v Pot D, 1 team from Pot B v 1 team from Pot C
D6 v B7, A2 v C8, B6 v D1, B4 v D4, C6 v A7, B5 v D8, B8 v D5, C3 v B3, D7 v B1, A5 v C9, C7 v A6, C2 v A4, A8 v C1, D2 v B2, D3 v B9, A1 v C4, C5 v A3
Matchday 3
16–20 November 2018
Pot A v Pot B, Pot C v Pot D, 1 team from Pot B v 1 team from Pot C
C2 v D2, D6 v C4, A1 v B7, D5 v C5, B2 v A8, A4 v B4, B5 v A7, C3 v D8, C8 v D3, D1 v C1, B9 v A5, A3 v B8, C9 v D7, D4 v C6, A6 v B3, B6 v A2, B1 v C7
Matchday 4
21–26 March 2019
Pot A v Pot A, Pot B v Pot B, Pot C v Pot C, Pot D v Pot D, 1 team from Pot B v 1 team from Pot C
A8 v A1, B3 v B9, B4 v B6, A7 v A4, C8 v B5, D1 v D2, D4 v D7, B8 v B2, C6 v C9, C7 v C2, A5 v A6, C1 v C3, D5 v D6, B7 v B1, A2 v A3, C4 v C5, D8 v D3
The draw of the qualifying fixtures was held on 7 March 2018, 10:00 EST (UTC−5), at The Temple House in Miami Beach, Florida, United States, directly after the launch event of the CONCACAF Nations League. A computerized pre-draw produced a "master schedule", creating 17 fixtures for each matchday. The teams in each pot were then drawn to the corresponding positions in the schedule (A1–A8, B1–B9, C1–C9, D1–D8). The computer model assured that no teams face each other more than once, and that each team plays two home and two away matches.
^ abDominica will play their home matches in Guadeloupe.
^ abThe U.S. Virgin Islands will play their home matches in the United States.
^ abBonaire will play their home matches in Curaçao.
^ abAruba will play their home matches in Curaçao.
^ abSaint Martin will play their home matches in Anguilla.
^The Martinique v British Virgin Islands match, originally scheduled on 11 September 2018, 20:00 EDT, was postponed due to the potential impact of Hurricane Isaac on Martinique.[14] The match was rescheduled to 16 October 2018, 19:00 EDT.[15]
^The Puerto Rico v Martinique match, originally scheduled on 15 October 2018, 16:00 EDT, was rescheduled to 13 October 2018, 16:00 EDT, due to the rescheduling of the Martinique v British Virgin Islands match.[16]
^Nicaragua will play their home matches in Costa Rica due to security concerns caused by civil unrest in Nicaragua.
^ ab"CONCACAF Nations League Officially Launched". CONCACAFNationsLeague.com. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^"Suspensión de la Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala" [Suspension of the National Football Federation of Guatemala]. CONCACAF.com (in Spanish). The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^"CONCACAF Nations League Draw Procedure". CONCACAFNationsLeague.com. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
^"CONCACAF Launches New Ranking Index". CONCACAFNationsLeague.com. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^"2018 CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying Draw". CONCACAFNationsLeague.com. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.