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The United States men’s national team will face Panama in the semifinal of the Concacaf Nations League in March, avoiding the possibility of facing Canada or Mexico.
U.S. fans will be glad to see their team got the best outcome for the semifinals but must be wary not to celebrate too early. We all remember what happened in the Copa América group stage this summer when Panama stunned the USMNT 2-1.
Mexico and Canada will play in the other semifinal. Both games will be played at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, California.
Concacaf Nations League semifinal matchups
The Concacaf Nations League semifinals are set:
Canada vs. Mexico
USA vs. Panama pic.twitter.com/hrJu3KdPtP— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 20, 2024
The way Concacaf decides who plays who in the semifinals is rather interesting and ended up backfiring for Canada.
Concacaf treats the two legs of the quarterfinals like you’d see in a group stage or league, with a win counting as three points, a draw as one and a defeat resulting in no points.
The seeding for the semifinals is based on the following.
Concacaf Nations League semifinal seeding
- Points from the two legs
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
After the quarterfinals the seeding looked like this.
- Canada, 6 points (+4 goal difference)
- United States, 6 points (+3 goal difference)
- Panama, 4 points (+1 goal difference)
- Mexico, 3 points (+2 goal difference)
Canada and the United States won both of their two legs resulting in the two teams being tied on six points. Canada grabbed the top spot due to a better goal difference following their 4-0 aggregate victory vs. Suriname.
The USMNT looked set to secure the No. 1 seed when leading Jamaica 4-1 in the second leg (5-1 on aggregate), however Demarai Gray’s goal against the U.S. in the 68th minute dropped the U.S. behind Canada.
Demarai Gray gets one back for Jamaica
Watch USA vs. Jamaica on TNT, truTV or Max pic.twitter.com/lrb1SWi5B2— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 19, 2024
Gray’s goal ended up helping the U.S. avoid playing Mexico in the semifinal. El Tri finished fourth in the seeding due to losing their first game against Honduras.
So, while Canada got the No. 1 seed they wanted, they ended up getting the team they least desired, Mexico.
The USMNT defeated Panama 2-0 in an October friendly which was Mauricio Pochettino’s first game in charge. The U.S. will look to further avenge their devastating Copa América defeat to Panama with another win in the Nations League semifinal on March 20.
