2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs

The 2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs or play-in round were contested by four CONCACAF teams to earn the final two places in the 2024 Copa América. It was the second time that a qualifying tournament was organized for CONCACAF teams to enter into the Copa América. Both play-off matches were held at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.^[2]

2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs

The Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas hosted the matches
Tournament details
Host country	United States
Dates	23 March 2024[1]
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	2
Goals scored	6 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Six players (1 goal each)
← 2016

Background

Following the signing of a strategic collaboration agreement between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL in January 2023, six CONCACAF teams were permitted to join the ten member nations of CONMEBOL in the 2024 Copa America.^[3][4] The four winners of the two-legged 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals qualified for the Copa América, while the losing quarter-finalists were then paired to play in two single-legged qualifying play-off matches for final qualification into the tournament.

Qualification via CONCACAF Nations League

Main article: 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A

League phase

Group A Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Panama 4 10 2  Trinidad and Tobago 4 9 3  Martinique 4 7 4  Guatemala 4 4 5  Curaçao (R) 4 3 6  El Salvador (R) 4 1 Source: CONCACAF (R) Relegated

Group B Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Jamaica 4 10 2  Honduras 4 7 3  Suriname 4 5 4  Cuba 4 5 5  Haiti (R) 4 3 6  Grenada (R) 4 1 Source: CONCACAF (R) Relegated

Byes Pos Team Rank[lower-alpha 1] Pts 1  Mexico 1 1,967 2  United States 2 1,909 3  Canada 4 1,729 4  Costa Rica 5 1,676 CONCACAF rankings (as of October 18, 2023)[5]

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played from 16 to 18 November, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 November 2023.^[6]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Costa Rica	1–6	Panama	0–3	1–3
Jamaica	4–4 (a)	Canada	1–2	3–2
United States	4–2	Trinidad and Tobago	3–0	1–2
Honduras	2–2 (2–4 p)	Mexico	2–0	0–2 (a.e.t.)

Seeding

The play-off pairings were determined based on the CONCACAF Rankings published after November 2023 FIFA Match Window.^[7]

Pos	Team	Rank[lower-alpha 1]	Pts
1	Canada	4	1,710
2	Costa Rica	5	1,617
3	Honduras	7	1,454
4	Trinidad and Tobago	10	1,375

1. CONCACAF rankings (as of November 22, 2023)^[8][9]

The match-ups were as follows:

• First-ranked team vs. fourth-ranked team
• Second-ranked team vs. third-ranked team

Play-off matches

The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on November 22, 2023.^[7] All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses).^[10]

Canada vs Trinidad and Tobago

Canada	2–0	Trinidad and Tobago
Larin 61' Shaffelburg 90+1'	Report

23 March 2024

16:00 (15:00 UTC−5)

Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)

Canada qualified for Group A of the 2024 Copa América.

Canada

Trinidad and Tobago

GK 16 Maxime Crépeau RB 2 Alistair Johnston  45+1' CB 5 Joel Waterman CB 4 Kamal Miller LB 19 Alphonso Davies RM 17 Tajon Buchanan  42'  80' CM 8 Ismaël Koné  90+3' CM 7 Stephen Eustáquio (c)  90+4' LM 12 Iké Ugbo  70' CF 10 Jonathan David CF 9 Cyle Larin  80' Substitutes: GK 1 Dayne St. Clair GK 18 Jonathan Sirois DF 3 Luc de Fougerolles  90+3' DF 13 Derek Cornelius DF 20 Moïse Bombito MF 6 Samuel Piette  90+4' MF 15 Mathieu Choinière  80' MF 21 Liam Fraser FW 11 Theo Bair FW 14 Jacob Shaffelburg  70' FW 22 Jacen Russell-Rowe  80' FW 23 Liam Millar Interim coach: Mauro Biello

GK 22 Denzil Smith CB 2 Aubrey David (c)  5' CB 15 Neveal Hackshaw  71' CB 17 Justin Garcia RWB 16 Alvin Jones LWB 6 André Raymond DM 8 Daniel Phillips  45+1' CM 18 Andre Rampersad  56' CM 19 Ajani Fortune  81' SS 14 Shannon Gomez  81' CF 11 Levi García Substitutes: GK 1 Christopher Biggette GK 21 Adrian Foncette DF 3 Ross Russell DF 4 Jesse Williams DF 5 Robert Primus DF 7 Noah Powder  71' MF 9 Nathaniel James MF 10 Real Gill  81' MF 12 Kevon Goddard FW 13 Reon Moore  56' FW 20 Kaile Auvray  81' FW 23 Judah García Manager: Angus Eve

Man of the Match: Cyle Larin (Canada)[11] Assistant referees:[12] Christian Espinosa (Mexico) Jorge Sánchez (Mexico) Fourth official: Víctor Cáceres (Mexico) Video assistant referee: Erick Miranda (Mexico) Assistant video assistant referee: Guillermo Pacheco (Mexico)

Costa Rica vs Honduras

Costa Rica	3–1	Honduras
Galo 12' Madrigal 56' Brenes 62'	Report	Chirinos 10'

23 March 2024

19:15 (18:15 UTC−5)

Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 15,299^[13]

Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

Costa Rica qualified for Group D of the 2024 Copa América.

Costa Rica

Honduras

GK 1 Keylor Navas (c) CB 6 Julio Cascante CB 3 Pablo Arboine CB 15 Francisco Calvo RWB 2 Gerald Taylor  69' LWB 8 Joseph Mora  90+2' RM 17 Warren Madrigal  87' CM 14 Orlando Galo CM 13 Jefferson Brenes LM 21 Álvaro Zamora  45+2'  69' CF 9 Manfred Ugalde  87' Substitutes: GK 1 Kevin Chamorro GK 23 Patrick Sequeira DF 4 Juan Pablo Vargas  90+2' DF 5 Fernán Faerrón DF 22 Haxzel Quirós  69' MF 10 Elías Aguilar MF 11 Ariel Lassiter MF 12 Joel Campbell  69' MF 16 Alejandro Bran MF 20 Brandon Aguilera FW 7 Anthony Contreras  87' FW 19 Kenneth Vargas  87' Manager: Gustavo Alfaro

GK 18 Jonathan Rougier RB 14 Andy Najar (c) CB 3 Raúl Santos CB 4 Luis Vega LB 2 Wesly Decas RM 7 Rigoberto Rivas  83' CM 20 Deybi Flores  30' CM 23 Jorge Álvarez  65' LM 8 Michaell Chirinos  84' SS 16 Edwin Rodríguez CF 11 Jerry Bengtson  65' Substitutes: GK 1 Harold Fonseca GK 23 Alex Güity DF 5 Carlos Meléndez DF 6 Javier Arriaga DF 15 Julián Martínez MF 10 Alexander López MF 12 David Ruiz  65' MF 14 Carlos Argueta MF 19 Carlos Pineda FW 9 Douglas Martínez  84' FW 13 Darixon Vuelto  83' FW 21 Bryan Róchez  65' Manager: Reinaldo Rueda

Man of the Match: Orlando Galo (Costa Rica)[14] Assistant referees:[12] Corey Parker (United States) Kyle Atkins (United States) Fourth official: Armando Villarreal (United States) Video assistant referee: Allen Chapman (United States) Assistant video assistant referee: Chris Penso (United States)

Qualified teams for 2024 Copa América

The following six CONCACAF teams qualified as guests for the 2024 Copa América held in the United States.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in Copa América1
United States	20 November 2023[15]	4 (1993, 1995, 2007, 2016)
Panama	20 November 2023[16]	1 (2016)
Jamaica	21 November 2023[17]	2 (2015, 2016)
Mexico	21 November 2023[18]	10 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016)
Canada	23 March 2024	0 (Debut)
Costa Rica	23 March 2024	5 (1997, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2016)

¹ Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References

1. Stejskal, Sam; Rueter, Jeff; Kloke, Joshua (February 28, 2023). "CONCACAF unveils qualifying process for 2024 Copa America, 2026 World Cup". The Athletic. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
2. "Dallas Metropolitan Area to host a decisive week of Concacaf Nations League matches in March 2024". CONCACAF. November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
3. "CONMEBOL and Concacaf sign strategic collaboration agreement". CONCACAF. January 27, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
4. "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023–2026 cycle". CONCACAF. February 28, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
5. "Selección de Panamá escala posición en Ranking de Concacaf" (in Spanish). RPC Televisión. October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
6. "Concacaf confirms 23/24 Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal pairings". Miami: CONCACAF. October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
7. "Concacaf confirms Concacaf Nations League Semifinals and Play-In pairings and schedule". CONCACAF. November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
8. "CONCACAF RANKING INDEX As of November 30, 2023". CONCACAF. November 22, 2023. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
9. CONCACAF [@CNationsLeague] (November 22, 2023). "The Concacaf Nations League Play-In pairings are confirmed!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
10. "Tickets now on sale for Concacaf Nations League Play-In matches in Dallas". Miami: CONCACAF. January 24, 2024. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
11. CONCACAF [@CNationsLeague] (March 23, 2024). "Cyle Larin's game-changing goal makes him today's Player of the Match!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Twitter.
12. "Referees appointed for the Concacaf Nations League 2024 Play-In matches announced". CONCACAF. March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
13. "Costa Rica 3-1 Honduras (Mar 23, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
14. CONCACAF [@CNationsLeague] (March 23, 2024). "¡El golazo y partidazo de Galo lo corona como el Jugador del Partido!" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Twitter.
15. "USA survive Trinidad and Tobago charge to reach CNL Finals". Port of Spain: CONCACAF. November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
16. "Panama top Costa Rica to punch CNL Finals ticket". Panama City: CONCACAF. November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
17. "Jamaica mount comeback to down Canada and reach CNL Finals". Toronto: CONCACAF. November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
18. "Dramatic rally sees Mexico secure CNL Finals berth". Mexico City: CONCACAF. November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.

External links