The United States Men’s National Team’s loss to Mexico last night in a friendly in Guadalajara helped determine who their opponent would be in the Concacaf Nations League knockout stage. Today, Concacaf released their October rankings, and the USMNT remained at third in the regional table behind Mexico and Canada. That confirmed that the United States will face Jamaica next month in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.
By ranking 3rd, the USMNT was set to take on the second best group winner in League A group play. That team was Jamaica, who finished atop Group B to clinch their spot in the quarterfinals. So, the United States will take on Jamaica in two matches next month, with the first match on the road on either November 14th or 15th at Independence Park – more affectionately known as The Office – in Kingston. The USMNT would then host Jamaica in the second leg on November 18th at CITYPark in St. Louis.
The teams last faced each other in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals back in March at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Jamaica was up 1-0 until they gave up an own goal in the 6th minute of second half stoppage time to force extra time. There, Haji Wright was the hero, scoring a brace in extra time to vault the USMNT to the final, where they dispatched Mexico 2-0 to win the tournament.
The #CNL Quarterfinal pairings are set with the release this morning of the October Concacaf rankings:
– vs.
– vs.
– vs.
– vs.Leg 1: Nov 14-15
Leg 2: Nov 18#USMNT remains in 3rd in the Concacaf rankings. pic.twitter.com/blwoVLvrwV— Donald Wine II (@blazindw) October 16, 2024
The quarterfinal matchups:
- Panama vs. Costa Rica
- USA vs. Jamaica
- Canada vs. Suriname
- Mexico vs. Honduras
The USMNT, who are now 1W-1L-0D under Mauricio Pochettino, will look to qualify for the Concacaf Nations League Finals, which have been set for SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area in March. The United States is the only team to have held the Concacaf Nations League trophy, as they have won each of the first three editions of the tournament. They hope to turn it around so they can remain the only team to have their fingerprints on that trophy.
