Soca Warriors coach Angus Eve and his players will avoid facing Haiti and Guatemala among their matches for promotion back to Pool A when the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League Pool B group stage qualifiers presented by Qatar Airways (CNL) kicks off in June.
The competition’s group stage matches, featuring the men’s national teams of all 41 Concacaf member associations are scheduled to take place during the FIFA Match Windows of June 2022 and March 2023.
The Concacaf Nations League Finals presented by Qatar Airways (CNLF), between the four League A group winners, will be played in June 2023.
Concacaf launched the region’s men’s Nations League in March 2018, to ensure all Member Associations have the opportunity to compete in more official matches, drive the development of the game and provide a compelling tournament for fans in all parts of the Confederation.
During their League A Group C campaign, T&T under former coach Dennis Lawrence failed to win any of its four matches, suffering defeats to Honduras, 4-0 and 2-0 and a draw against versus Martinique, 2-2 and 1-1 to finish bottom of the three-team group to be demoted to League B.
The trio of Haiti, Bermuda, and Cuba was also relegated from their respective pools in League A while Bahamas, Barbados, Guadeloupe, and Guatemala gained promotion as League C pool winners.
The eight demoted and promoted countries from League A and C respectively are joined by Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guyana, Montserrat, Nicaragua, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who were second and third-placed finishers in their respective League B pools in the 16-team draw for the 2022/2023 League B competition.
The draw will take place on Monday, April 4, in Miami, Florida featuring the participation of Concacaf President and FIFA vice-president, Victor Montagliani, as well as current and former coaches and players, and guests from the world of international football.
The three draws, one for each league (A, B, and C), will all be done using a single-blind system involving three pots for League A, four pots for League B, and three Pots for League C.
The 41 participating Concacaf Member Associations will be allocated in their respective League pots according to their Concacaf ranking following the FIFA international match window of March 2022.
And for League B, the four highest-ranked teams will all be in Pot 1 which means, 87th ranked Haiti, T&T (#100), Guatemala (#122) and Antigua & Barbuda (#127) will be bunched together.
The second pot in League B will comprise Nicaragua (#143), Dominican Republic (#156), Barbados (#162), and Bermuda (#166) while Pot Three comprises Belize (#170), St Vincent and The Grenadines (#174), Guyana (#176), and Montserrat (#178) while Pot Four will feature 179th-ranked Cuba, Bahamas (#201) and non-Fifa members, French Guiana, and Guadeloupe, both French overseas departments.
League A comprises 12 teams inclusive of USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador (promoted), Grenada (promoted), Honduras, Jamaica (promoted), Martinique, Mexico, Panama, and Suriname (promoted) while League C features 13 nations, Anguilla, Aruba (relegated), Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica (relegated), Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis (relegated), Saint Lucia (relegated), Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, and US Virgin Islands.
As part of their preparations for the qualifiers in June, T&T will host Barbados and Guyana in a tri-nation tournament beginning Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
The Soca Warriors meet Barbados on Friday before meeting Guyana on Tuesday while the two visiting nations clash on Sunday, with all three matches kicking off at 7 pm.