The 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2019–20 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF. The event was held from June 3 to 6, 2021 at the Empower Field at Mile HighinDenver, Colorado, United States,[1] and was contested by the four group winners of Nations League A. The event consisted of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and final to determine the inaugural champions of the CONCACAF Nations League.
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | June 3–6 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Mexico |
| Third place |  Honduras |
| Fourth place |  Costa Rica |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Goals scored | 10 (2.5 per match) |
| Attendance | 144,198 (36,050 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ten players (1 goal each) |
2023 → | |
The United States defeated Mexico 3–2 after extra time in the final to become the first champions of the CONCACAF Nations League.[2]
The Nations League Finals took place in June 2021 and was contested by the four group winners of League A.
The Nations League Finals was played in single-leg knockout matches, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final. The semi-final pairings were determined by the group stage rankings (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3),[3] and the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final were announced on March 9, 2020. All matches in the tournament utilized the goal-line technology and video assistant referee (VAR) systems.[4]
In the Nations League Finals, if the scores were level at the end of normal time:[5]
The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals.
| Group | Winners | Date of qualification |
CONCACAF Rankings June 2021[6] |
FIFA Rankings May 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | United States (host)
|
November 19, 2019 | 2 | 20 |
| B | Mexico
|
November 15, 2019 | 1 | 11 |
| C | Honduras
|
October 13, 2019 | 4 | 67 |
| D | Costa Rica
|
November 17, 2019 | 3 | 50 |
The tournament was originally to be held in Texas from June 4 to 7, 2020.[3] However, the tournament was postponed on 3 April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[7] On July 27, 2020, CONCACAF announced that the Finals would be held in March 2021,[8] though on September 22, 2020 CONCACAF announced that the tournament was again rescheduled until June 2021.[9]
On February 24, 2021, CONCACAF confirmed the dates for the rescheduled CONCACAF Nations League Finals: June 3 to 6, 2021, with the venue and times to be released at a later date.[10]
On May 9, 2021, CONCACAF confirmed the fixture dates and times.[11]
The four teams were ranked based on their results in the group stage to determine the semi-final matchups.
| Seed | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Mexico
|
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 |
| 2 | C | Honduras
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 |
| 3 | A | United States (H)
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 9 |
| 4 | D | Costa Rica
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
Initially, the competition was scheduled to be held in Texas, with the BBVA Stadium and NRG StadiuminHouston hosting the semi-final matches, and the AT&T StadiuminArlington hosting the third place play-off and final.[3] However, the planned venues were put into doubt following the tournament's suspension.[7]
CONCACAF announced the city of Denver, Colorado as the new hosts of the event on April 15, 2021, with Empower Field at Mile High hosting the two semi-finals, third place play-off, and final.[1]
| Denver, CO | |
|---|---|
| Empower Field at Mile High | |
| Capacity: 76,125 | |
|
Each national team had to submit an initial squad of forty players, five of whom had to be goalkeepers, at least 24 days before the opening match of the tournament.[11] The final squads of 23 players (including three goalkeepers) had to be submitted by May 27, 2021, seven days before the opening match of the tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament no less than 24 hours before his team's first match, he was allowed to be replaced by another player.[12]
On May 24, 2021, CONCACAF announced the fourteen officials for the tournament.[13]
|
Referees
|
Assistant referees
|
Video assistant referees
|
In the semi-finals and third place game, extra time was not played if tied after regulation, and the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, extra time was played if tied after regulation, and if still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations Article 12.11).[5]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||
| ||||||
| June 3 – Denver, CO | |||||
| ||||||
| Honduras | 0 | ||||
| June 6 – Denver, CO | |||||
| United States | 1 | ||||
| United States (a.e.t.) | 3 | ||||
| June 3 – Denver, CO | |||||
| Mexico | 2 | ||||
| Mexico (p) | 0 (5) | ||||
| ||||||
| Costa Rica | 0 (4) | ||||
| Third place play-off | |||||
| ||||||
| June 6 – Denver, CO | |||||
| ||||||
| Honduras (p) | 2 (5) | ||||
| ||||||
| Costa Rica | 2 (4) | ||||
| Honduras | 0–1 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Attendance: 34,451[16]
Referee: Oshane Nation (Jamaica)
Honduras |
United States |
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[18]
|
| Mexico | 0–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
 |
5–4 |
 Duarte Alfaro Lassiter Calvo Cruz |
Attendance: 34,451[16]
Referee: Bryan López (Guatemala)
Mexico |
Costa Rica |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[18]
|
| Honduras | 2–2 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
 80' |
Report |
85' |
| Penalties | ||
|
|
5–4 |
Calvo Lassiter Torres Mora Tejeda |
Attendance: 37,648[23]
Referee: Reon Radix (Grenada)
Honduras |
Costa Rica |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[25]
|
| United States | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
82' 114' (pen.) |
Report |
79' |
Attendance: 37,648[23]
Referee: John Pitti (Panama)
United States |
Mexico |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[25]
|
There were 10 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.
1 goal
Joel Campbell Alberth Elis Edwin Rodríguez Jesús Corona Diego Lainez Weston McKennie Christian Pulisic Giovanni Reyna Jordan PefokCONCACAF announced the following squad as the best eleven of the finals after the conclusion of the tournament.[28]
Weston McKennie was named MVP of the tournament, having scored a total of four goals in league and tournament play.[29]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luis López
|
John Brooks Francisco Calvo Néstor Araujo
|
Weston McKennie Héctor Herrera Giovanni Reyna Edwin Rodríguez
|
Diego Lainez Christian Pulisic Alberth Elis
|
