Related items

• Jamaica, T&T drawn in Group B of League A for 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League

  Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are set to cross swords in the group stages of this year’s fourth edition of the Concacaf Nations League, as both were drawn in Group B of League A for the 2024/25 campaign which is scheduled to kick off in September.

  This year’s Concacaf Nations League will again be contested in a three-league format –Leagues A, B and C –and will see the Confederation’s 41 senior men’s national teams doing battle during the FIFA match windows of September, October, and November 2024. The semi-finals and finals of the tournament, which serves as the qualifiers for next summer’s 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, are scheduled for March 2025.

  The teams have been grouped across the respective Leagues based on their results from the 2023/24 staging. The Reggae Boyz and their Soca Warriors counterparts, who contested the business end of the competition for the first time in that campaign, will be hoping to do so again on this occasion.

  They are among 12 teams, split in two groups of six teams each to contest League A in a “Swiss style” league system, with each team playing a total of four games (two at home and two away).

  Jamaica, last edition’s semi-finalist, and Trinidad and Tobago, who made the quarterfinals, are drawn alongside Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, and French Guiana, while Group A comprises, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Suriname, and Guyana.

  After group stage play in September and October, the first and second-place finishers of each group, will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A teams, Mexico, United States, Panama, and Canada. The quarterfinals will be played in a home-and-away format, with the winner of each fixture, on aggregate, set to secure a berth in next year’s Finals.

  Meanwhile, League B will feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams. Each team will play every team in its group twice. The groups were drawn as follows:
   
  Group A -El Salvador, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Bonaire

  Group B -Curacao, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Saint Martin
  Group C -Haiti, Puerto Rico, Aruba, and St Maarten
  Group D -Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominic 
  Matches in each group will be played at a centralized venue instead of the previous home-and-away format, to alleviate travel challenges that Member Associations face.

  The third best-ranked teams in each group will host the September matches, the second best-ranked teams will host the October matches, and the best-ranked teams will host the decisive November matches.

  Over in League C, which consists of nine teams, divided into three groups of three teams, the format takes a similar shape, where each team will play every team in its group twice.

  Group A -Barbados, Bahamas, and US Virgin Islands
  Group B -Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Anguilla
  Group C-Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cayman Islands, and British Virgin Islands

  Where centralized venues are concerned, the second highest-ranked teams in each group will host the September matches, and the highest-ranked teams will host the October matches.

  Schedule:

  Group Stage: September 2-10, October 7-15, and November 11-19, 2024
  Quarterfinals: November 11-19, 2024
  Semifinals: March 20, 2025
  Final and Third Place Match: March 23, 2025

• Napoli determined to finish poor season on a high with European qualification

  Napoli coach Francesco Calzona is determined to see the Partenopei finish the season on a high despite their European hopes being further hit by Monday's 1-1 draw with struggling Udinese. 

  Victor Osimhen nodded home to give Napoli the lead in the 51st minute before Udinese forward Isaac Success bundled in the leveller in stoppage time.

  The result – which came on the same ground where Napoli clinched the Scudetto last season – leaves them nine points adrift of Atalanta and Roma, who sit fifth and sixth in Serie A respectively, with just nine to play for.

  "Clearly I thought we could do better, without a doubt. Unfortunately that wasn't the case," Calzona told DAZN.

  "We have to ask the management about the future of Napoli, it's clear that we have the qualities to do better. 

  "It was a disappointing and unfortunate year, but we absolutely must finish this championship on a high note."

  Napoli had 50 points halfway through their Scudetto-winning 2022-23 campaign but have just 51 after 35 games this term, with their ambitions now limited to a Europa League spot.

  Calzona says European qualification remains crucial as Napoli look ahead to 2024-25, adding: "Naples is a great place, perhaps after a year like this there will be many rumours circulating.

  "But it is not a justification, I repeated that there is still a possibility of reaching Europe.

  "We have improved a little, but it's not enough. We have to do more to win these games. We have also created, the team continues to have good possession, but at times it is sterile.

  "But we have to be more incisive. In the second half we did it but we have to avoid the end of the game where it gets dirty".

  Napoli next host fourth-placed Bologna on Saturday before they travel to Fiorentina, who are one point behind them in ninth and still have a game in hand.

• Eriksen says Man Utd players must take blame for Selhurst Park rout

  Christian Eriksen believes Manchester United's players must take the blame after their miserable season hit a new low with Monday's 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

  Erik ten Hag's injury-hit Red Devils were torn apart by Palace as Michael Olise scored a wonderful brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell.

  United's 13th loss of the Premier League season – their most in a league campaign since 1989-90 (16) – leaves them eighth in the table and facing an uphill battle to qualify for Europe.

  They have now conceded 81 goals across all competitions this season, their most in a single campaign since they shipped the same number in 1976-77.

  While the manner of the defeat will only raise further questions about Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford, Eriksen says the players are primarily responsible.  

  "It's a big disappointment. We just had an off-day, and we weren't in it," the midfielder told BBC Sport.

  "It is what it is. We can't really change the injury things. We have to do what we can on the pitch to change it. Today it didn't matter who we played, everyone could have done better.

  "I don't know what the conclusion is for how it went. We weren't good enough. We tried to do what we could but we were not good enough. We'll take the blame as players."

  Since the start of last season, only Nottingham Forest (five) have lost more away Premier League games by a margin of four or more goals than United (three), with the Red Devils also going down 4-0 at Brentford and 7-0 at Liverpool last term.

  They now trail sixth-placed Newcastle United by two points and are behind seventh-placed Chelsea on goal difference, with fixtures against Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle to come this season.