Canada will face the United States and Cuba in the inaugural edition of Concacaf Nations League A, beginning in September 2019.
After recording a perfect 4W-0L-0D record in qualifying, most recently defeating French Guiana 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at BC Place, Canada was drawn into Group A for the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League A on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The group stage matches, which will see Canada face the U.S. and Cuba both home and away, will take place during the FIFA international windows in September, October, and/or November 2019.
“It’s an important time for Canada to get two matches against USA, which on top of being derby matches they provide us with the chance to test ourselves, to learn, and to develop against the reigning Concacaf champions,” said Canadian national team head coach John Herdman. “We also get to face Cuba and we know that they will give us a tough test, home and away, but particularly the away leg will test the resolve and resilience of this team.”
Only the winner of the four groups in League A will advance to the Concacaf Nations League semifinal and final, which will take place in 2020. The bottom team in each group will be relegated to League B.
The full schedule, including kickoff times and venues, will be announced at a later date.
Earlier in the day, Whitecaps FC centre back Derek Cornelius and former Homegrown star Alphonso Davies were named to the Team of the Tournament for Concacaf Nations League Qualifying. Cornelius played the full 90 minutes in each of Canada's four qualifiers, in which they conceded just one goal.
League A
Group A: United States, Canada and Cuba
Group B: Mexico, Panama and Bermuda
Group C: Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique
Group D: Costa Rica, Haiti and Curacao
League B
Group A: French Guiana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize and Grenada
Group B: El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Monserrat
Group C: Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda and Aruba
Group D: Nicaragua, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica
League C
Group A: Barbados, Cayman Islands, Saint Martin and U.S. Virgin Islands
Group B: Bonaire, Bahamas and British Virgin Islands
Group C: Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Anguilla
Group D: Guadeloupe, Turks and Caicos and Sint Maarten
