Fifth Edition of Nations League to Begin in September

06/04/2026 - 6:03 PM

Nations League to Begin in September

Matches scheduled for September, October, and November 2026 and March 2027
Competition to serve as the qualification pathway for the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup
Group Stage draw set for Thursday, July 23

Miami, FL – Concacaf has confirmed key details for the 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League. The competition will once again include the men’s senior national teams of all 41 Concacaf Member Associations and serve as the qualification pathway to the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup.

The competition will be played during the FIFA Match Windows of September-October and November 2026, before culminating in March 2027 with the Concacaf Nations League Finals for League A and, for the first time, centralized Championships for Leagues B and C.

The competition’s official draw to determine the groups for all three leagues will take place on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 7 pm ET.

COMPETITION FORMAT

The Concacaf Nations League will continue to be contested across three leagues – League A, League B, and League C – with national teams distributed based on results from the previous edition and the competition’s promotion and relegation system.

League A: 16 Teams (Group Stage and Quarterfinals)

League A will feature 16 national teams, including a Group Stage and Quarterfinals. The 12 lowest-ranked League A teams, based on the Concacaf Rankings, will compete in a Swiss-style Group Stage format, split into two groups of six teams each. Every team will play four matches – two home and two away.

Following Group Stage play in the September-October FIFA Match Window, the top two finishers from each group will advance to the Quarterfinals, joining the four highest-ranked League A teams, who receive direct entry. The Quarterfinals will be played in a home-and-away series in November 2026, with aggregate winners advancing to the Concacaf Nations League Finals, to be played at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium.

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League B: 16 Teams (Group Stage)

League B will feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four. During the September-October and November FIFA Match Windows, each team will play home-and-away matches against every opponent in its group, for a total of six matches per team. Following Group Stage play, the four group winners will advance to the League’s Championship, where they will compete for the title of League B Champions.

Group Stage matches will be played at centralized venues, a format change introduced in the last edition to reduce travel demands and support Member Associations in delivering the highest possible standards of competition. The matches in September and October will be hosted by the third- and second-highest-ranked teams in each group, respectively, with the November matches hosted by the highest-ranked teams.

League C: 9 Teams (Group Stage)

League C will feature 9 teams divided into three groups of three. During the September-October FIFA Match Window, each team will play every team in its group twice, for a total of four matches per team. Matches will also take place at centralized venues, with the highest-ranked team in each group hosting them.

Following Group Stage play, the three group winners and the best second-place finisher will advance to the League’s Championship, where they will compete for the title of League C Champions.

LEAGUES

The distribution of teams across Leagues A, B, and C has been determined based on the 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League Group Stage results and is as follows:

League A (16 teams in alphabetical order)

Canada, Costa Rica, Curaçao (promoted), Dominican Republic (promoted), El Salvador (promoted), Guatemala, Haiti (promoted), Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

League B (16 teams in alphabetical order)

Barbados (promoted), Belize (promoted), Bermuda, Bonaire, Cayman Islands (promoted), Cuba (relegated), Dominica, French Guiana (relegated), Guadeloupe (relegated), Grenada, Guyana (relegated), Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis (promoted), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten

League C (9 teams in alphabetical order)

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda (relegated), Aruba (relegated), Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat (relegated), Saint Martin (relegated), Turks and Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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PROMOTION AND RELEGATION

Promotion and relegation between Leagues will take place at the conclusion of the competition, as follows:

League A: Fifth- and sixth-place finishers will be relegated to League B.
League B: Group winners will be promoted to League A, while fourth-place finishers will be relegated to League C.
League C: Group winners and the best second-place finisher will be promoted to League B.

SCHEDULE

The 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League schedule is as follows:

League A

Group Stage: September 21 – October 6, 2026
Quarterfinals: November 9-17, 2026
Finals (Semifinals, Third Place Match, and Final): March 25-28, 2027

League B

Group Stage: September 21 – October 6 and November 9-17, 2026
Championship (Semifinals, Third Place Match, and Final): March 22-30, 2027

League C

Group Stage: September 21 – October 6, 2026
Championship (Semifinals, Third Place Match, and Final): March 22-30, 2027

OFFICIAL DRAW

On Thursday, July 23, Concacaf will conduct the competition’s Group Stage draw. The teams participating in each League’s Group Stage will be allocated in a pot based on the Concacaf Rankings as of July 20, 2026. Further details on the draw will be announced at a later date.

2027 CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League will serve as the qualifiers for the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup. Concacaf will announce the exact qualifying criteria at a later date.