CONCACAF to submit its proposed format for 2014 WCQ to FIFA

[CanadianSoccerFan]

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated has a piece on the new qualifying format with quotes from Chuck Blazer. I won't recommend reading it as it's mostly a self centred USA fanboy whine fest you'd expect from a bigsoccer poster. However the key points are:

- Warner's caribbean mafia and their 23 votes pushed the change to get more games

- Format will likely be approved in December

- The first group stage will begin in September of next year.

I'm kind of excited that the gold cup will mark the start of non-stop meaningful matches for the next few years.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/grant_wahl/09/29/concacaf.kills.rivalry/1.html

[Keegan]

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated has a piece on the new qualifying format with quotes from Chuck Blazer. I won't recommend reading it as it's mostly a self centred USA fanboy whine fest you'd expect from a bigsoccer poster. However the key points are:

- Warner's caribbean mafia and their 23 votes pushed the change to get more games

- Format will likely be approved in December

- The first group stage will begin in September of next year.

I'm kind of excited that the gold cup will mark the start of non-stop meaningful matches for the next few years.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/grant_wahl/09/29/concacaf.kills.rivalry/1.html

I glanced over it and wow talk about self centered pricks. US and Mexico are still going to be in the World Cup, this move has to be done for the better of CONCACAF its laughable that they are complaining about losing TWO US Mexico games like give me a break

[TFCRegina]

I glanced over it and wow talk about self centered pricks. US and Mexico are still going to be in the World Cup, this move has to be done for the better of CONCACAF its laughable that they are complaining about losing TWO US Mexico games like give me a break

If they want some more games maybe they should try to not qualify for the World Cup so some other teams can be seeded.

Idiots.

[jayhoo62]

Wow, at least he thinks we'll make it to the final stage too.

[Free kick]

I glanced over it and wow talk about self centered pricks. US and Mexico are still going to be in the World Cup, this move has to be done for the better of CONCACAF its laughable that they are complaining about losing TWO US Mexico games like give me a break

Yeah what a whinny piece. Who cares about whether Mex and US meet or not? Aside from South america, the most heralded sides in a region dont ever get to face each other in WCQ anyways .

And Blazer is absolutely right, THE PURPOSE OF WCQ IS TO QUALIFY TEAMS FOR THE WC... NOT TO CROWN A CHAMPION. teams play to to qualify, not to finish first and Wahl is extremely naive if he doesn't get that. How often does Italy get to play France in WCQ or germany get to play Holland or England in a WCQ group?

[Keegan]

Exactly this is like a mini UEFA version of qualifying with two automatic qualifiers and then the rest of the close teams left to fight it out, great move by CONCACAF imo. Also the Gold Cup is the most frequent of any continental competition and the US and Mexico seem to always meet in it anyways

[rdroze]

I wonder if this could be an unintended benefit of the new qualification system: a Gold Cup tournament with an added sense of importance. The US and Mexico have not always treated the Gold Cup as a premier event, but if this is now the only time they meet competitively, perhaps they will now care more about who wins. (Though having better US and Mexican teams may not directly benefit Canada.)

[oreo]

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/warner-dares-baje-to-dream/

[BuzzAndSting]

http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/seleccion-mexicana/noticias/2010/11/03/habra-nuevo-formato-en-eliminatoria-de-concacaf

Looks like the new format was approved but the 4th spot was not.

[paul-collins]

Also looks like the May 2011 seeding is what counts.

[Keegan]

Also looks like the May 2011 seeding is what counts.

That kinda sucks, I wonder why CONCACAF wouldn't use the July rankings? It would make a lot more sense considering our annual tournament is then

[jpg75]

World Cup draw will take place on May 31, 2011 - just under 7 months away - in Zurich. I guess that's a good reason why the July rankings won't be used.

[Keegan]

World Cup draw will take place on May 31, 2011 - just under 7 months away - in Zurich. I guess that's a good reason why the July rankings won't be used.

Oh my bad I thought I read it was at the end of July

[jpg75]

Oh my bad I thought I read it was at the end of July

I think that had been posted earlier by Edgar, but the line in the article above mentions the draw as being May 31st:

"...el sorteo para conformar los grupos se llevará a cabo en Zurich el día 31 de ese mes."

[nolando]

US-centric commentary based on the announcement: http://usa10kit.com/2010/11/04/so-long-hexagonal-well-miss-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=so-long-hexagonal-well-miss-you

[CanadianSoccerFan]

Why is the intercontinental play-off not being rotated? Asia gets to face Oceania twice in a row? Bull****! In 2006 it was Oceania versus CONMEBOL, 2010 it was CONCACAF vs CONMEBOL, now it should be Asia vs CONMEBOL this time around. And when you consider the disgraceful showing of North Korea (0 pts, -11 GD) and the fact Bahrain continually loses the intercontinental play-off anyway, they shouldn't be getting the benefit of the doubt.

[snake]

last thing canada needs is for gaudaulupe(sp)to join concacaf

[Lord Bob]

Guadeloupe is in CONCACAF; they play in the Gold Cup. They're just not in FIFA, which means they can't take part in World Cup qualifying. Don't try to figure out why FIFA considers Guadeloupe part of France but also considers Puerto Rico its own country: it'll just make your head hurt.

[footballfreak]

I don't mean to go all doom and gloom, but a May draw seriously hampers our chances of qualification.

Jamaica and T&T are in the process of beating up CONCA-minnows right now in the Caribbean Cup, while the UNCAF Cup takes place in February. I could be wrong, but my understanding of the FIFA rankings formula would seem to indicate we have no chance of being ranked top-8 when the draw is made. That's not the end of the world, but it certainly makes things more difficult in the second group phase. A bad UNCAF cup by Costa Rica could see a second group stage with Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada all drawn together.

[Sam]

I don't like the excuse of the having a difficult group that we used last time. We're gonna have to beat them eventually why does it matter when we do it?

[CanadianSoccerFan]

I don't mean to go all doom and gloom, but a May draw seriously hampers our chances of qualification.

Jamaica and T&T are in the process of beating up CONCA-minnows right now in the Caribbean Cup, while the UNCAF Cup takes place in February. I could be wrong, but my understanding of the FIFA rankings formula would seem to indicate we have no chance of being ranked top-8 when the draw is made. That's not the end of the world, but it certainly makes things more difficult in the second group phase. A bad UNCAF cup by Costa Rica could see a second group stage with Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada all drawn together.

Are they doing the draw for ALL group stages in May? or just the first group stage?? If it's just the first group stage then it's nothing to worry about.

[Scottie]

Are they doing the draw for ALL group stages in May? or just the first group stage?? If it's just the first group stage then it's nothing to worry about.

I think we all know the answer to that question.

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

Why is the intercontinental play-off not being rotated? Asia gets to face Oceania twice in a row? Bull****! In 2006 it was Oceania versus CONMEBOL, 2010 it was CONCACAF vs CONMEBOL, now it should be Asia vs CONMEBOL this time around. And when you consider the disgraceful showing of North Korea (0 pts, -11 GD) and the fact Bahrain continually loses the intercontinental play-off anyway, they shouldn't be getting the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps they are trying to concentrate the growth of the game more in Asia where it has less of a foothold already and more potential.

I agree though, it should be rotated. CONMEBOL should get to distribute the beatings evenly.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Guadeloupe is in CONCACAF; they play in the Gold Cup. They're just not in FIFA, which means they can't take part in World Cup qualifying. Don't try to figure out why FIFA considers Guadeloupe part of France but also considers Puerto Rico its own country: it'll just make your head hurt.

From what I've heard/read in the past it's more down to French political attitudes about the indivisibility of their country than to FIFA.

[rdroze]

I don't mean to go all doom and gloom, but a May draw seriously hampers our chances of qualification.

Jamaica and T&T are in the process of beating up CONCA-minnows right now in the Caribbean Cup, while the UNCAF Cup takes place in February. I could be wrong, but my understanding of the FIFA rankings formula would seem to indicate we have no chance of being ranked top-8 when the draw is made. That's not the end of the world, but it certainly makes things more difficult in the second group phase. A bad UNCAF cup by Costa Rica could see a second group stage with Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada all drawn together.

I agree. I don't think there's any chance we catch T&T, Jamaica, Costa Rica, or Panama by May, all of whom will be ahead of us as of November's rankings, and all of whom still have plenty of high-points games over the next few months.

That puts us 8th in CONCACAF as of November, with Guyana and Grenada close behind. Both of those teams have at least two more continental qualifying games in the next month, including games against teams that are ranked lower than them. I can easily imagine that we'll be ranked 10th in CONCACAF by the time May comes around.