MIAMI — Canada, along with Mexico, the U.S. and Costa Rica, has been seeded in Pot 1 of Monday's CONCACAF Nations League A draw.
The Canadian men will face one of Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador and Honduras from Pot 2 and one of Martinique, Curacao, Suriname and Grenada from Pot. 3.
El Salvador, Grenada, Jamaica and Suriname won promotion from League B in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League in 2019-20.
Canada finished runner-up to the U.S. in Group A of League 1 in the inaugural 2019-20 Nations League. Both finished at 3-1-0 but the Americans advanced on goal difference.
That earned the Canadian men a berth in the 2021 Gold Cup, but they had to watch the Nations League final round from afar.
The U.S. beat Mexico 3-2 in the championship game after extra time thanks to a Christian Pulisic penalty.
The 2022-23 CONCACAF Nations League group stage will serve as the qualifier for the 2023 Gold Cup.
Following round-robin play, the League A group winners and runners-up (eight teams) and League B group winners (four teams) will book their tickets to the 17th edition of the Gold Cup.
Another dozen teams can qualify via the Gold Cup Prelims, which will include the League A third-place finishers (four teams), the League B second-place finishers (four teams), and the League C group winners (four teams).
The CONCACAF Nations League group stage will continue with home and away round-robin play in the FIFA international window in June 2022 (double window) and March 2023.
The Nations League finals, consisting of semifinals, third-place match, and final are scheduled for June 2023.
The makeup of Leagues A, B, and C was determined based on the results of the 2019 Nations League group stage including promotion and relegation — the bottom team in each group relegated while the top team was promoted.
The pots were allocated based on their CONCACAF ranking following the March International window.
Draw Pots for CONCACAF Nations League (listed in ranking order per pot):
League A
Pot 1: Mexico, U.S., Canada, Costa Rica.
Pot 2: Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, Honduras.
Pot 3: Martinique, Curacao, Suriname, Grenada.
League B
Pot 1: Haiti, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba.
Pot 2: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Nicaragua, Bermuda.
Pot 3: Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Pot 4: Belize, Montserrat, Barbados, Bahamas.
League C
Pot 1: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, Bonaire, Saint Lucia.
Pot 2: Dominica, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Pot 3: Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, U.S. Virgin Islands, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2022
The Canadian Press
