📈📉 Concacaf men's national team power rankings: May 2025 edition
You can probably guess who's first, but you might not be able to guess who's ... 7th?
This weekend will be all about club soccer, but massive men’s international matches are right around the corner. On the penultimate day of May, here are my power rankings ahead of World Cup qualification contests taking place in early June.
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Today: This newsletter you are reading.
Saturday a.m.: The stakes of the Club World Cup playoff between LAFC and Club América
Sunday a.m.: A Concacaf Champions Cup preview, looking at Vicente Sanchez’s tenuous situation with Cruz Azul & what victory would mean for the Whitecaps
Monday a.m.: Post-match CCC thoughts, plus the Conca-catch-up. As always, Monday newsletters will be exclusive to premium subscribers, who keep this whole thing running!
Borrowing from Dallas’ actual Sportsstack king Marc Stein, I’m forming a committee of one and starting mens’ national team power rankings for the Concacaf region that will come out after each international window. Elo has numbers, FIFA has its formula, but I have … vibes.
This is functionally a written version of a video I posted earlier this month on YouTube, where I’m creating videos & doing silly faces for the thumbnails. Ideally, the video+written components will launch together. Your YouTube subscription is appreciated as I begin to do more storytelling on that platform.
10. Guatemala 🇬🇹
Recent matches: Lost to Guyana 3-2 in Gold Cup qualification, beat Guyana 2-0 in Gold Cup qualification
Up next: Friendly: May 31 v. El Salvador
WCQ: June 6 v. Dominican Republic
June 10 @ Jamaica
Luis Fernando Tena arrived in Guatemala with a simple ambition: Qualify for the 2026 World Cup. So far, that hope is still alive - and Guatemala also avoided disaster by returning to the Gold Cup with a second-leg victory over Guyana after Isaiah Jones’ hat trick put them on the ropes.
Perhaps this team will register another great Gold Cup like the one it had last time around. But it’s worth asking why Guatemala isn’t consistently in a stronger position.
It’s the Central American country with the largest population, and it’s actually not even close. Guatemala has around 18 million people, with Honduras the next largest of the seven countries in the subregion with 11 million. So, where are the players making waves in Concacaf? Why are the few players playing abroad unable to stick?
Perhaps a game in Chattanooga, home to a huge Guatemalan-American population, will help spur on the discovery of players who can help boost the national team in the future. Right now, they’ve got to do it with the group they have. Faltering in a difficult June World Cup qualification stretch will open the way for regional rivals like El Salvador or fellow World Cup hopefuls like the DR to hop into the top 10.
9. Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹
Recent matches: Beat Cuba 2-1 & 4-0 in Gold Cup qualification, fell to Jamaica 3-2 in May 27 friendly
Up next: Friendly: May 31 Unity Cup v. Ghana
WCQ: June 6 v. St. Kitts & Nevis
June 10: @ Costa Rica
Dwight Yorke’s simple presence has gone a long way toward boosting the mood in the double-island nation. However, the team is about to be tested on the field, with World Cup qualification and the Gold Cup giving us a good barometer of whether or not this team has any chance to be a regular competitor in the next couple of years.
Depth remains a question for Trinidad and Tobago, something that still looks unresolved in the Unity Cup. T&T fell late to Jamaica in the semifinals of the tournament taking place in London - with none of the four teams relying on their biggest stars during the non-FIFA dates.
Yorke is clearly starting to make changes. Will he be able to do enough in a short period of time to return T&T to the heights of the 2000s when he was playing?
8. Honduras ðŸ‡ðŸ‡³
Recent matches: Beat Bermuda 5-3 & 2-0 in Gold Cup qualification
Up next: Friendly: May 31 Unity Cup v. Ghana
WCQ: June 7 @ Cayman Islands
June 10: v Antigua & Barbuda
A 7-3 aggregate victory over two legs looks like easy work, but Honduras labored in its first match in Bermuda, conceding in the first minute and taking a 2-0 deficit into the halftime break. Eventually, the considerable talent advantage took hold, and Honduras turned the match - and the tie - around.
Yet, Honduras consistently falls short when it doesn’t have the stronger roster on paper. Los Catrachos beat Mexico in the first leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals - only to be throttled 4-0 in the second leg. Getting back to the World Cup or making a deep run in the Gold Cup this summer will require them to pull off a few surprises against top teams. They haven’t proven capable of that in the last several years.
It’s not just me. The rankings that matter may not be kind to Honduras, either. Sitting as the 7th Concacaf team in the FIFA rankings, it’s likely they’ll be drawn into a final World Cup qualification group with Panama, Jamaica or Costa Rica. How will manager Reinaldo Rueda chart the course back to the top tournament?
7. Haiti ðŸ‡ðŸ‡¹
Recent matches: Beat Azerbaijan 3-0 in March friendly
Up next: WCQ: June 7 @ Aruba
June 10: v Curacao (in Aruba)
Haiti is a team flying totally under the radar. Having fallen to League B of the Concacaf Nations League, Les Grenadiers haven’t squared off with many of the region’s powers lately. They’ll do so soon in a Gold Cup group that includes the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago, but before then it’s worth recognizing what they’ve been able to do so far.
Despite continued unrest in their country, Haiti had a perfect 2024, winning every official match and earning a ticket in the Gold Cup thanks to a first-place finish in its CNL group. There is experience, up-and-coming talent, and outsiders at strong clubs pushing the regulars.
French manager Sébastien Migné may have been a savvy appointment, having previously led a number of African national teams and now trying to apply those lessons in this region. Tougher tests are coming, but Haiti has passed all of its previous exams without difficulty.
6. Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Recent matches: Beat Belize 7-0 and 6-1 in Gold Cup qualification, fell 2-0 to Catalonia on May 28
Up next: WCQ: June 7 @ Bahamas
June 10: v Trinidad and Tobago
Miguel Herrera oversaw a 13-1 aggregate victory over Belize to get to the Gold Cup and has convinced Keylor Navas to return to the national team, but it still isn’t enough for a top-five slot.
Costa Rica continues to look well below Central American rival Panama, and the fall draws with Guatemala and Suriname before Herrera’s arrival still linger in the mind.
The performances under Gustavo Alfaro show the players are there for Costa Rica to aim for its place in the top three, the one that became traditional in the last decade. But there’s work to be done and results to be secured - and certainly a World Cup berth to be clinched - before Herrera can be credited with a comeback.
5. Jamaica 🇯🇲
Recent matches: 1-1 draw and 3-0 win v. St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Gold Cup qualification, beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-2 in Unity Cup friendly
Up next: Friendly: May 31 - Unity Cup final v. Nigeria
WCQ: June 7 @ British Virgin Islands
June 10: v Guatemala
Vincy Heat put a scare in Jamaica, but the Reggae Boyz survived it, earning a draw late in the first leg of their Gold Cup qualification series and sealing it in the second leg. More importantly, Jamaica generally has excelled when it has its best possible group, and it should have something resembling that together not only this summer but carrying into the 2026 World Cup.
The two qualification matches in June can’t be overlooked, with the Reggae Boyz hoping to hold their place in Pot 1 and avoid some of the other World Cup hopefuls in the region. That could mean a lot of goals vs. the BVI and an intense performance against Guatemala. Only then will it be time for manager Steve McClaren to think about the Gold Cup and how he could take Jamaica back to the final.
4. United States 🇺🇸
Recent matches: Lost to Panama 1-0 in CNL semifinal, lost 2-1 to Canada in CNL third-place match
Up next: Friendlies: June 7 v. Turkey (in Hartford)
June 10 v. Switzerland (in Nashville)
At the moment, it’s impossible to justify a top-three spot for the United States - something that would’ve been unthinkable to say at this time last year. Yet, fans in the region know the story. Panama helped knock the U.S. out of the Copa América, then Panama knocked the ‘new-look U.S.’ out of the Concacaf Nations League at the semifinal stage. Oh, and there was a friendly loss to Mexico mixed in as well, making the mood much more sour than when Mauricio Pochettino first arrived as the new manager in the summer.
Instead of entering the summer in a white-hot heat for revenge, the country’s most important player is skipping the continental championship to rest, while other absences for the Club World Cup and injury also dampen some of the hopes that the U.S. will win its last major tournament before the 2026 World Cup that has dominated most soccer fans’ minds since it was announced years ago.
The U.S. still has the talent to win the Gold Cup, something that would shift the vibes going into fall friendlies and into the 2026 stretch run. For now, it’s looking up at the podium.
3. Panama 🇵🇦
Recent matches: Beat the USA 1-0 in CNL semifinal, lost 2-1 to Mexico in CNL final
Up next: WQC: June 7 @ Belize
June 10 v. Nicaragua
Panama continues to reap the rewards of sticking with manager Thomas Christiansen, who despite missing the 2022 World Cup, has established a style of play, pushed players to find larger challenges at clubs outside Panama and Central America, and gotten the nation to consecutive Concacaf finals.
They remain, until they lift a trophy, however something of a ‘nearly’ team. They nearly were able to win the Gold Cup. They nearly surprised Mexico in the CNL final. Almost there.
The focus has always been to get back to the 2026 World Cup. Thus far, they haven’t run into any difficulties on the path to North America. Taking that next step to go from nearly to ‘winner’ will be much harder.
2. Canada 🇨🇦
Recent matches: Fell to Mexico 2-0 in CNL semifinal, beat USA 2-1 in CNL third-place match
Up next: Friendlies in Toronto: June 7 v. Ukraine
June 10 v. Ivory Coast
Canada is another ‘nearly team’ in many ways. Their last major trophy came back in 2000, and their only final in recent memory was the 2023 Nations League, in which it never really battled with the U.S. in a 2-0 loss that was wrapped up by the half-hour mark.
But things have changed since then, with Jesse Marsch overseeing an eyebrow-raising run to fourth place in the Copa América. I do believe Marsch’s side would’ve topped Panama had they met in the CNL Final Four looking at both teams’ rosters, their style and their depth - plus a friendly they themselves played just a couple months before. We may get to see a direct meeting soon, but for now Canada looks like Concacaf’s second-best.
There will be hurdles for Canada at the Gold Cup, notably with star Alphonso Davies out with a long-term injury. But it’s time to stop coddling Canada. The expectation, both in their camp and from fans, should be to win the Gold Cup.
1. Mexico 🇲🇽
Recent matches: Beat Canada 2-0 in CNL semifinal, beat Panama 2-1 in CNL final
Up next: Friendlies: June 7 v. Switzerland (in Salt Lake City)
June 10 v. Turkey (in Chapel Hill)
There really can be no question as to which team is currently atop the rankings in the Concacaf region. Mexico is defending their Gold Cup title this summer and in March was able to finally end their frustration by lifting the Concacaf Nations League trophy for the first time since its advent with a 2-1 win in the final against Panama.
The frustrations of the 2022 cycle still have not been totally eradicated, and Mexico’s place atop the list feels tenuous. Yet, if El Tri is able to lift the Gold Cup again, it will go into the 2026 World Cup as the clear best team in the region - and the one that feels best about delivering on fans’ hopes of making an historic run at the World Cup taking place in the region.
Where’d I go wrong? Did I disrespect your nation … or give them too much credit?
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It sure would be great if the USA were hosting and playing in a Confederations Cup this summer instead of what we get.
Do you think Keylor Navas is a good choice for Costa Rica, or do they need to move on?
I remember the stories about how World Cup qualifying brought some peace to Côte d’Ivoire. It would be great if Haiti could see some success and its people get some similar respite.
Sadly this is spot on.