Mexico crowned CONCACAF champions with last-minute triumph!

Mexico crowned CONCACAF champions with last-minute triumph!

Mexico won the CONCACAF Nations League on Sunday, defeating Panama 2-1 in the final in Inglewood, California. The thrilling showdown saw an early goal from Raul Jimenez in the 8th minute, followed by a Panama equalizer before Jimenez scored the decisive penalty in the 92nd minute to secure the win. The halftime score was 1:1. Laola1 reports that...

With this victory, Mexico was able to break the dominance of the USA in previous editions of the tournament, which won the first three editions in 2021, 2023 and 2024. For the USA, the third-place game was a bitter disappointment as they lost 2-1 to Canada and coach Mauricio Pochettino was calm about the defeat, stressing that it was better to lose now as there was still time until the home World Cup. The USA had previously lost in the semi-finals against Panama (0-1).

Structure of the CONCACAF Nations League

The CONCACAF Nations League was announced in November 2017 and is divided into three tiered leagues: A, B and C. Each of these leagues contains four groups, with promotion and relegation between leagues based on placement in the groups. The League A group winners will compete in a knockout competition to determine the champions. The group winners of leagues B and C also have the opportunity to be promoted to the next higher league.

League A increased from 12 to 16 teams in the 2023-24 season and now includes a quarterfinal round. This change comes into effect in a format intended to compensate for the lack of competitive games for CONCACAF national teams, as explained by CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. Many teams played fewer than 10 games in a four-year period, so this competition was much needed to aid sports development. Wikipedia describes the changes in the competition format...

Future outlook

New game formats have been introduced for teams promoted from the group stage. The 12 lowest-ranked teams in the CONCACAF rankings entered the group stage and were divided into two groups of six teams each. Teams from League B and C have also taken part in these format changes to ensure greater safety and competitiveness. Relegation and promotion will be reintroduced for the 2023-24 season, increasing momentum and competition throughout the tournament.