The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League B was the second division of the 2023–24 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the third season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF.[1] It was held from 7 September to 21 November 2023.[2][3]
Format
Unlike Leagues A and C, League B maintained the same format as in previous editions. League B consisted of sixteen teams which were split into four groups of four teams. The teams competed in a home-and-away, round-robin format over the course of the group phase, with matches being played in the official FIFA match windows in September, October and November 2023. The first-placed team of each group was promoted to the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League A and the fourth-placed team of each group was relegated to the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League C.[1]
Teams
A total of sixteen national teams contested the League B, including twelve sides from the 2022–23 season and four promoted from the 2022–23 League C. As a result of the expansion to 16 teams in the League A, there were no teams relegated to the League C from the previous season, so the fourth placed team of each group from the 2022-23 season remained in the League B for this edition.
Team changes
The following were the team changes of League B from the 2022–23 season:
Nicaragua had originally qualified for promotion to League A as League B Group C winners, but they were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. As a result, on 12 June 2023, they were replaced by Trinidad and Tobago in League A, and they were forced to stay in League B, replacing Trinidad and Tobago.[4]
The pots were confirmed on 2 May 2023, with the sixteen League B teams being split into four pots of four teams, based on the CONCACAF Rankings as of 31 March 2023.[5]
The groups draw was held on 16 May 2023, 19:00 EDT, in Miami, Florida, United States,[1][6] where the sixteen involved teams were drawn into four groups of four. The draw began by randomly selecting a team from Pot 1 and placing them in Group A and then selecting the remaining teams from Pot 1 and placling them into Groups B, C and D in sequential order. The draw continued with the same procedure done for the remaining pots.
† Trinidad and Tobago was later replaced by Nicaragua, which was relegated from the League A.[4]
Groups
The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 6 July 2023.[2][3] All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) for September and October matches and EST (UTC−5) for November matches, as listed by CONCACAF (local times, if different, are in parentheses).[8][9][10]
^The Saint Lucia v Guadeloupe match, originally scheduled at 17:00 EDT (UTC−4),[9] was re-scheduled to 20:00 EDT.[12]
^ abThe order of matches between Dominican Republic and Montserrat were reversed from the original schedule due to access challenges for teams and officials travelling to Montserrat.[8][17][18][19]
^Montserrat will play their home match against Nicaragua at the Wildey Turf stadium in Wildey (Barbados) due to flight issues.[20]
^The Barbados v Dominican Republic match, originally scheduled at 19:00 EDT (UTC−4),[9] was re-scheduled to 20:00 EDT.[22]
^ abThe Dominican Republic v Barbados match, originally scheduled at Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86 in Moca, 20:00 EDT (UTC−4),[9] was rescheduled at the Estadio Cibao FC in Santiago de los Caballeros, 22:00 EDT due to heavy rainfall in the city of Moca.[25]
^The Nicaragua v Dominican Republic match, originally scheduled on 20 November 2023,[3] was rescheduled to be played on 21 November 2023.[10]
^The Bermuda v French Guiana match, originally scheduled at 19:30 EDT (UTC−4),[8] was re-scheduled to 16:00 EDT.[28]
^The Belize v Saint Vincent and the Grenadines match, originally scheduled at 17:00 EDT (UTC−4),[8] was re-scheduled to 16:00 EDT.[28]
^Belize played their home match against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France (Martinique) following a joint decision of both the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) and the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) to play on a neutral venue due to both federations expressed having "flight issues” in getting to their destination for their next matches on 12 September.[29][30]
^The French Guiana v Saint Vincent and the Grenadines match, originally scheduled on 17 October 2023, 15:00 EDT (UTC−4),[9] was re-scheduled to 16 October 2023, 19:00 EDT.
^The French Guiana v Saint Vincent and the Grenadines match, originally scheduled at Stade Municipal Dr. Edmard Lama, Remire-Montjoly was re-scheduled to be played at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France (Martinique) due to the French Guiana's home stadium field did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[33][34]
^French Guiana played their home match against Bermuda at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France (Martinique) due to the field of their regular home stadium Stade Municipal Dr. Edmard Lama, Remire-Montjoly did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[37]
^Saint Vincent and the Grenadines played their home match against Belize at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St. George's (Grenada) because their regular home stadium Arnos Vale Stadium was undergoing rehabilitation in preparation for hosting matches in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[38][39]
^The Puerto Rico v Guyana match, originally scheduled at the Centro de Desarrollo de Fútbol del Oeste in Añasco,[9] was re-scheduled at the SKNFA Technical Center in Basseterre (Saint Kitts y Nevis) due to the Puerto Rico home stadiums were undergoing renovation.[41]
^The Guyana v Puerto Rico match, originally scheduled at the Synthetic Track and Field Facility in Leonora,[9] was re-scheduled at the SKNFA Technical Center in Basseterre (Saint Kitts y Nevis) due to the Guyana's stadiums did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[44][45]
^Referee Benjamín Pineda from Costa Rica, who was originally assigned to the Guyana v Puerto Rico match,[46] was replaced by the fourth official Sergio Rozenhout from Suriname.
^The Bahamas–Guyana match was postponed from its original start time (19 November at 17:00) due to multiple days of adverse weather. CONCACAF subsequently cancelled the game on 19 April 2024.[47][48]