The Chelsea Theatre in Las Vegas will play host to the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League draw on Wednesday night (10:00 p.m. ET), where the Canadian men’s national team will learn its opponents for the 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League A competition.

Here’s what you need to know about the draw and the competition:

Format

The Nations League – split into three tiers, A, B, and C – is a new international tournament that replaces international friendlies and adds meaningful competition in-between FIFA World Cup Qualifying fixtures. This year’s Qualifying stage of 34 teams also provided a pathway to the region’s own top prize, the 2019 Gold Cup, with the top 10 teams earning a berth in the 16-team tournament.

By virtue of finishing with four wins out of four Nations League Qualifying matches – the last of which was Sunday evening’s 4-1 win over French Guiana at BC Place – Canada has booked a spot in the ‘A’ tier of the tournament; the top tier, alongside 11 other teams, six of whom were automatically entered due to their spot in the previous CONCACAF World Cup qualifying’s final “hexagonal” stage.

Canada has been placed in Pot 2 of three pots ahead of the draw, alongside Panama, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago; Pot 1 features the region’s heavy hitters of Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica and Honduras; Pot 3 is filled out by Martinique, Cuba, Curacao and Bermuda, who also finished in the top six of the 34-team CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying table.

These 12 teams will be split into four groups of three with Wednesday’s draw; one team from each pot.

These three teams will then play against one another home-and-away on FIFA match windows in September, October and November of 2019. The team that finishes with the most points heads into a four-team CONCACAF Nations League Championship bracket, to be played in March of 2020.

The four teams that finish second in their respective groups remain in Nations League A for the following season.

The four teams that finish bottom of their respective groups will be relegated to Nations League B for the following season, with the four teams that finish atop the four groups in Nations League B earning promotion into Nations League A.

As it stands, Canada has done as well as it could have in these circumstances; the team earned its highest-possible seeding in Pot 2 and will learn which two opponents it must face on Wednesday.

This same format will be used for Nations League B and C, with B featuring four more teams than A and C, and thus requiring four groups of four teams instead of three teams. League C will feature three groups of three and one group of four due to the odd number of teams in this tier of the 41-total team competition.

Nations League seeding

Nations League A

• Pot 1: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Honduras
• Pot 2: Panama, Canada, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago
• Pot 3: Martinique, Cuba, Curacao, Bermuda

Nations League B

• Pot 1: Jamaica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, French Guiana
• Pot 2: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Guyana
• Pot 3: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia
• Pot 4: Grenada, Aruba, Dominica, Montserrat

Nations League C

• Pot 1: Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Bonaire, Barbados
• Pot 2: Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
• Pot 3: U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla

Scenarios

Here’s where things get interesting.

Canada’s standing in Pot 2 sets up for some juicy matchups, with a 50% chance of taking on one of the United States or Mexico. Canada’s toughest test would be facing the latter.

A group of Mexico, Canada, and Martinique would likely be the toughest test.

Meanwhile, a group of Honduras, Canada, and Cuba might be the most preferred, though there’s very little separating the teams in Pot 3.

The only teams Canada cannot be drawn against are Panama, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago. So, no worries there.

While it may not be ideal, you can bet a few MLS-based Canadian players might be secretly hoping to meet the United States in the group stage, though; a Toronto FC midfield matchup between Jonathan Osorio and Michael Bradley would be a welcome sight at BMO Field.

All will be known on Wednesday evening once the draw is completed. CanPL.ca will have the full results once they are available, so make sure to check back to learn of Canada’s fate.

Key dates

• June 15, 2019 – July 7, 2019: Dates for the 2019 Gold Cup
• September, October and November 2019: CONCACAF Nations League A group stage matches, home-and-away, firm dates TBD.
• March 2020: CONCACAF Nations League A semi-finals and finals, home-and-away, firm dates TBD.