Last week I wrote about how Canada had been seeded at the u17 CONCACAF qualifying tournament and about how that was good news for the boys as they attempt to get back to the World Cup for the first time in 15 years.
Scratch that.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Apparently CONCACAF changed its mind. Canada is no longer seeded and is instead in pot B with the rest of the Central American qualifiers. Honduras is now seeded. Mexico is hosting the World Cup and is therefore excluded from qualifying.
It's not known whether this was a simple mistake by CONCACAF in the first place -- by merit Honduras likely deserves the seed -- or a case of Canada being outmanoeuvred politically by the Honduran federation.
Regardless, qualifying just got a whole lot harder. Canadians must hope to be drawn into host Jamaica’s group, or Costa Rica's. Otherwise they will need to get by one of the United States or Honduras to go to the World Cup. Honduras has been to the last three World Cups at this age level (which is why they kind of got screwed before).
The draw is tomorrow. The new pots are as follows:
Pot A: Jamaica, Honduras, Costa Rica and the United States
Pot B: El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada and Panama
Pot C: Haiti, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba