CONCACAF's new League of Nations plan might hurt the USMNT and Mexico
For the U.S. men's national team and Mexico, their window to schedule friendly matches vs. the best teams in the world may soon be closing.
CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has revealed the confederation is close to finalizing a League of Nations competition that would force all CONCACAF's 41 teams to compete with one another during FIFA dates.
The final plan has not yet been presented to CONCACAF's member associations for approval, but if it becomes reality, it probably won't do the likes of USA or Mexico any favors.
It would eliminate open FIFA dates that the USMNT, Mexico and other top regional teams can currently use to schedule friendlies against quality sides from Europe, South America and elsewhere. Instead, CONCACAF's best teams would be forced to play matches against other CONCACAF teams, which are often well below the likes of the USMNT, Mexico and Costa Rica in terms of quality.
As Montagliani put it: "Once this is an official competition it is not like you will have a choice to opt out."
But that's been one of the common criticisms of World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF: It's too easy for the top teams, takes too long and the competition isn't very good. Watching the USMNT rout St. Vincent & the Grenadines 6-0 last year wasn't exactly thrilling soccer and such matches could become more common under the proposed plan.
Montagliani argues that friendlies like the USMNT's ones in recent years vs. Germany and the Netherlands will become harder to come by anyway now that UEFA is implementing its own Nations League competition. The CONCACAF League of Nations format is similar to one that Europe will implement starting next year.
"What people need to realize is that the world of friendlies is going to change, with Europe changing to the Nations League, it is going to get harder to get friendlies," he told Reuters.
That may be true, but friendlies against top-tier sides throughout the rest of the world would still be a better alternative to playing the minnows of CONCACAF. The USMNT, for instance, faced Brazil in a very good litmus test in 2015, but that likely won't be possible if the USMNT is bound by the League of Nations.
The move to the CONCACAF League of Nations is, in part, driven by the idea that matches in a tournament will be better than friendlies, even if the competition isn't as good.
"The truth of the matter is that a lot of the friendlies our nations play, including the bigger nations, are a waste of time," Montagliani said. "Let's be honest: A lot of them are not quality. You are better off playing a game that actually means something against an opponent, that on paper anyway, may not be as good."
"We need to develop our own competition in our region to make everybody better," he added. "And then you need to do it at club level as well, to raise the standards of our professional leagues and the clubs in them.
"This is the only way that our countries will get better. It's not about playing friendlies against England."
It's clear that the proposed plan should help CONCACAF's weaker sides get more quality games against similar-level competition. For many of CONCACAF's minnows, getting good-quality games that matter is a problem that the Leagues of Nations would help solve.
But what is unknown, and likely a concern for the USMNT, Mexico and Costa Rica, is that it won't do much to help the region's powerhouses test themselves. It's still unclear if there will be any windows available for friendlies outside the region, but either way, the plan would drastically reduce the chance to play top teams throughout the rest of the world outside of the World Cup.
Montagliani said the idea has been met with "overwhelming acceptance" so the key may be in the details and just how much it limits the USMNT and Mexico's ability to schedule matches with teams outside the region. But if it eliminates those sorts of matches entirely, it will certainly be a step back for CONCACAF's two top teams from a competitive standpoint.
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