rdroze Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Finally a bit of official info on WCQ, though not yet confirming the full procedure: Play-off-matches in CONCACAF (FIFA.com) Tuesday 26 April 2011 The North, Central America and Caribbean Zone will contest play-off matches in June 2011 in order to reduce the number of teams included in the Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ in Rio de Janeiro on 30 July 2011. The region’s ten lowest ranked teams according to March’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking were paired against each other to produce a series of five play-off matches which will be played on a two-legged, home and away basis. Montserrat-Belize Anguilla-Dominican Republic US Virgin Islands-British Virgin Islands Aruba-St. Lucia Bahamas-Turks and Caicos Islands The winners of these fixtures will join the remaining 25 higher-ranked teams from the region in the Preliminary Draw. The first leg will be played on Friday 3 June, with the return leg scheduled for Tuesday 7 June. The teams taking part in this extra preliminary round of fixtures and their rank in the region according to March’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking are as follows: 26. Belize 27. Dominican Republic 28. British Virgin Islands 29. St. Lucia 30. Turks and Caicos Islands 31. Bahamas 32. Aruba 33. US Virgin Islands 34. Anguilla 35. Montserrat http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1424713/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 We're 8th in the March rankings if they use that for the entire process, which would mean top pot for the First Round (but no bye). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Also of note, Cuba is 6th in the March rankings and then dropped to 8th for April. That means Panama is 7th in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdroze Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 And finally some semi-official confirmation of the proposed format, including a mention that the March rankings would be used for all of the draw, not just the preliminary phase that needs to be completed before the main draw takes place in July. Note that the format is still not officially approved, so there's still time for some back-room shenanigans before and during the CONCACAF Congress this weekend. CONCACAF Announces Proposed Qualifying Format for 2014 FIFA World Cup Posted by ussoccer at 4/26/2011 4:19 PM CDT The United States would enter CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the semifinal phase under the proposed format brought by the CONCACAF Executive Committee. The proposal awaits the approval of the FIFA Executive Committee, which meets at the end of May in Zurich, Switzerland. In the previous two World Cup cycles, the U.S. has entered in the second round of qualifying. In this format, the U.S. would play up to 16 matches in the group phases, down from 18 in the last two campaigns. Under the plan, CONCACAF qualifying would take place in three group phases, and would be preceded by preliminary matches between the 10 lowest CONCACAF teams in the FIFA rankings in two-leg series June 3 and June 7. The winners of the five preliminary round matchups, between Montserrat- Belize, Anguilla- Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands-British Virgin Islands, Aruba-St. Luca and Bahamas-Turks and Caicos Islands would advance to the first group phase. They would join the next highest 19 teams from the March 2011 FIFA rankings in one of six, four-team groups set to play from September to November later this year. The group winners would then qualify for a three-group semifinal round - tentatively set for June-October 2012 -- along with the top six CONCACAF teams from the March FIFA rankings: the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba. The top two teams from each of the semifinal round groups would advance to a six-team final round group - referred to by some in previous years as the "Hexagonal" -- to be played from February to October 2013. The final round would determine CONCACAF's three guaranteed berths and a fourth team that will enter a playoff with a side from another confederation for another place. Although not yet approved, the preliminary round winners would be included in a pot at the World Cup Preliminary Draw in July along with Bermuda. Three other pots would include teams based on the March rankings. Puerto Rico, Barbados, Curacao, St. Vincent, the Cayman Islands and Nicaragua in one; Antigua, Guyana, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guatemala and Dominica in another; and Panama Canada, El Salvador, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti in the last. CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualifying Proposal Teams Entering Preliminary Round: Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands Teams Entering First Round: Antigua, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent, Suriname Trinidad & Tobago Teams Entering Semifinal Round: Costa Rica, Cuba. Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, United States http://bit.ly/hGUrGt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Worst case scenario is Bermuda, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. We can handle that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Worst case scenario is Bermuda, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. We can handle that. If we can't, we don't deserve to advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I hope Chuck Blazer knows something we don't. His reasoning for changing the format was a lack of dates due to the intercontinental play-off being scheduled over two international windows in Oct/Nov 2013 rather than just a single window like they did in the past. Now they've come back with a format that has even more matches and plays hex games in october 2013 anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Assuming there are no upsets and they put Mexico, US and Honduras in the same pot... Best Case Semi-Final Group: Honduras, Cuba, Canada, Haiti Worst Case Semi-Final Group: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xabuep2 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 My question is about the main draw in Brazil on 31 july 2011. According to wikipedia the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round will be drawn that day. What about the semi - final draw? it will be a general draw to predetermine wich teams of the second round will be paired with the seeded team of the semifinal round? or CONCACAF will make a second draw other day for the Semi-final round? About Canada , I believe the best case scenario is to have Cuba or Jamaica and avoid COSTA RICA !! in the semi final round. If you will paired with Costa Rica it will be very complicated: So Canadians keep your fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdroze Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 That's a good question. I haven't seen any description anywhere about "how much" of the draw they're doing in July of this year. Last time, the main draw pre-determined everything right through the semi-final round. For example, before the first preliminary round began, we knew that we would end up in Mexico's semi-final group. There was a separate draw for the final hex group later. It's only a guess, but I can imagine that they'll do something similar this time around: we'll get drawn into a certain 1st-stage group, and the winner of that group will also be drawn as the third seed in a certain semi-final group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 About Canada , I believe the best case scenario is to have Cuba or Jamaica and avoid COSTA RICA !! in the semi final round. If you will paired with Costa Rica it will be very complicated: So Canadians keep your fingers crossed. Which ever group Canada is in (if we get out of the first round) is going to be a tough semi final group. Jamaica is a tough opponent as well. I consider Cuba somewhat of an unknown but they are in the top 6 so that alone deserves some respect. We'll need to be extremely lucky to end up in a semi-group with say Honduras and Cuba (which I think is the easiest, if US/Mex/Hond are in one pot). It's the other countries that should have their fingers crossed they don't draw us, not the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 My question is about the main draw in Brazil on 31 july 2011. According to wikipedia the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round will be drawn that day. What about the semi - final draw? it will be a general draw to predetermine wich teams of the second round will be paired with the seeded team of the semifinal round? or CONCACAF will make a second draw other day for the Semi-final round? About Canada , I believe the best case scenario is to have Cuba or Jamaica and avoid COSTA RICA !! in the semi final round. If you will paired with Costa Rica it will be very complicated: So Canadians keep your fingers crossed. Meh, I'd take Costa Rica any day over Honduras we haven't lost to the ticos in our last 3 matches while Honduras has had our number since 08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killgod Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Meh, I'd take Costa Rica any day over Honduras we haven't lost to the ticos in our last 3 matches while Honduras has had our number since 08 Isn't Honduras in some disarray right now tho? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they just do a coaching change, then went away to (Asia I think) and got utterly thumped in some friendlies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Right now I'd take Honduras over Costa Rica. The Ticos have played better in the past months. They have been the more consistent team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I don't care about Honduras or the Ticos, I just want a group that includes Cuba! One week all inclusive road trip to Havana to support our lads sounds good to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Enceladus09 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I don't care about Honduras or the Ticos, I just want a group that includes Cuba! One week all inclusive road trip to Havana to support our lads sounds good to me! I never thought of it that way... Trying to get permission to make our trip this year to Detroit was too tough a sell (the beaches on the lake weren't the sell I was hoping for and I had my honesty put into question when I gave my word that the shopping there was like Milan). I think Cuba might work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshieScores Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I think from match up perspective, both Costa Rica and Honduras are equally tough opponents for Canada. So I would look at the intangibles. Costa Rica has recently completed construction of brand new national stadium to replace the old Saprissa, which is considered by many players and coaches to be extremely difficult place to play due to the plastic pitch and crowd atmosphere. I've heard reports that the new stadium doesn't have the same vibe and "fortress" feel so the intimidation factor may no longer exist. So for this reason, I want Costa Rica all the way. Plus traveling to Honduras' capital, Tegulcigalpa is absolutely brutal as their airport is one of the most dangerous in the world. Apparently San Pedro Sula ain't much better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Honduras and Costa Rica are in different pots for the draw so it's not a choice of which one we'd rather have. We could potentially have both or neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xabuep2 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 That's a good question. I haven't seen any description anywhere about "how much" of the draw they're doing in July of this year. Last time, the main draw pre-determined everything right through the semi-final round. For example, before the first preliminary round began, we knew that we would end up in Mexico's semi-final group. There was a separate draw for the final hex group later. It's only a guess, but I can imagine that they'll do something similar this time around: we'll get drawn into a certain 1st-stage group, and the winner of that group will also be drawn as the third seed in a certain semi-final group. According to FIFA web site the CONCACAF main draw will pre-determine the groups of the second and semi final round: http://es.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/loc/01/44/46/33/2014fwc_drawprocedures_northcentralamericacaribbean.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killgod Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 It's kind of exciting that WCQ officially starts on Sunday. Aruba and St. Lucia's first leg is that date, with the 2nd leg on the 9th. MISSION 2014 IS ABOUT TO OFFICIALLY LAUNCH!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hectorj Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 What happened to the Netherlands Antilles? Aruba and Curacao are now on their own but what about Bonaire, Saba, Statia and Sint Maarten? I did not see them on the official FIFA document? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 What happened to the Netherlands Antilles? Aruba and Curacao are now on their own but what about Bonaire, Saba, Statia and Sint Maarten? I did not see them on the official FIFA document? They had a referendum last October the smaller islands voted to be more politically aligned with the Netherlands while curaçao did not. Sint Maarten I believe still holds similar concacaf status like Guadeloupe but not FIFA status. It explains it better on wikipedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I'm pretty sure as well that Aruba had a team for several years now they just rarely play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munseahawk Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm pretty sure as well that Aruba had a team for several years now they just rarely play According to their fixtures on FIFA.com, they played twice in 2010. They lost to Venezula and the Netherlands Antillies (now Curacao). Those were their first matches since the 2008 Carribean Championships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 I hope Chuck Blazer knows something we don't. His reasoning for changing the format was a lack of dates due to the intercontinental play-off being scheduled over two international windows in Oct/Nov 2013 rather than just a single window like they did in the past. Now they've come back with a format that has even more matches and plays hex games in october 2013 anyway. Re Hex dates, 2013 England has just set a friendly with Scotland for August 14, so I expect they know that FIFA is thinking of adding match dates for mid-August 2013 to meet the need for some more WCQ dates prior to the intercontinental playoffs in November, 2013 (maybe the 15 and 19) . I thought that they would have dates in late February like they did this year, and that could still happen instead of August. FIFA has yet to officially set international fixture dates for anytime in 2013 yet, but UEFA has set their WCQ dates already. So it appears the Concacaf hex schedule for 2013 will probably be: (maybe last week in February, 22 and 26, either one matchday or two as an alternative to mid-August) March 22, 26 June 7, 11 (maybe August 16 and 20, or just one midweek match on August 14, or maybe none if two in February) September 6, 10 October 12, 15 This is all speculation on my part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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