Red and White Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 It's a really gutsy format. Home/away knockout rounds have potential for dramatic upsets (anything can happen over two games). I would do everything possible to avoid legged series and begin as close as possible to the fourth round group stage. From I gather, this is the rumoured format? Round 1 - Rank 22-35 (March 2015) Round 2 - Rank 9-21 (June 2015) Round 3 - Rank 7-8 come in (September 2015) Round 4 - Semifinal groups Round 5 - Hex What's interesting is this paragraph from the article: "The first two qualification rounds take place before the Preliminary Draw for World Cup Qualification is held in Saint Petersburg, Russia on July 25th, 2015. We will likely see FIFA hold a smaller draw in the months before those rounds to determine the match-ups." So the draw for round 2 would use the April or May 2015 FIFA rankings? At that point, we'd be safe if our ranking is mediocre because only countries ranked below 9th are in this round. Perhaps we can even climb to 8th and avoid round 2 altogether. With the draw for round 3 in July 2015, I take it that Gold Cup results will factor in to our rank? If so, we should push to end up, at least, in the 7-9 ranking region and draw as safe an opponent as possible for that third round. Then, we can take on the bigger nations in more open group stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympique_de_Marseille Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I generally like this format. However if I understand this correctly we will need to try and stay at least 18th in the CONCACAF rankings until the draw. "another knockout round...where the seven first qualification rounds winner would be joined by the next 13 lowest-ranked nations (#9 thru #21) in the confederation" http://www.vavel.com/en-us/soccer/395446-a-look-at-the-proposed-concacaf-2018-world-cup-qualifying-format.html If "9th to 18th" plays "19th, 20th, 21st + 7(winners from round 1)", and Canada ends up 19th we could end up playing Trinidad, Jamaica or Haiti right in the 2nd round (our first). Those teams have a strong potential to spoil things for us. @Blackdude or anybody else good with ranking projections: Could we fall to 19th in CONCACAF by December? Say if we lose to Colombia and Panama in friendlies and Cuba and a couple of caribbean teams do well in Caribbean Cup Qualifying in Oct and during the Cup itself in November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I think 19th is CLOSE to impossible by then...but yes, if all went doomsday and the right minnows won, and T&T and Jamaica absolutely bunker, it IS technically still possible by December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympique_de_Marseille Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Could we fall to 19th in CONCACAF by December? I think 19th is CLOSE to impossible by then...but yes, if all went doomsday and the right minnows won, and T&T and Jamaica absolutely bunker, it IS technically still possible by December. Actually, I just read that this may in fact not be relevant: http://www.espndeportes.com/news/story/_/id/2186935/concacaf-estrenara-formato-de-eliminatoria%3b-sigue-el-hexagonal ESPN Mexico says: "CONCACAF propone el ranking FIFA publicado en Agosto del 2014 para ordenar a las selecciones en las rondas correspondientes y la premura del arranque de la eliminatoria bajo este nuevo formato prácticamente obliga a su inminente aprobación." They may end up using the August 2014 rankings for the early rounds! Since we were 9th we don't get a buy to round 3 (only 7th and 8th do). It would mean that the "toughest" teams we could play in June(round 2) would be: Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Nicaragua Belize Guyana St Kitts and Nevis Where would we play our home game if it's between June 8th and 16th (During the group stage of the Women's World Cup)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 August rankings. Good, we have the Gold Cup to make points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 August 2014. This is amazing, by using that ranking we avoid playing a team in the 7-12 spot in the 3rd round (we are in 15th spot right now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaub Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 And if we make the semi-final stage we'll likely have semi-final round home matches in November and March. Time to head back to Edmonton. Also the obvious answer to where we would play our home game in June 2016 is BMO... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Where would we play our home game if it's between June 8th and 16th (During the group stage of the Women's World Cup)? BMO Field will be open during that time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 August rankings. Good, we have the Gold Cup to make points. August 2014. This is amazing, by using that ranking we avoid playing a team in the 7-12 spot in the 3rd round (we are in 15th spot right now). What? A seemingly random decision from CONCACAF that benefits us greatly? Who would have predicted this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Bye the way, I'm hinting that I fucking predicted this! You both should bye me a drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Bye the way, I'm hinting that I fucking predicted this! You both should bye me a drink. Awesome. Well played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfitz Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 BMO Field will be open during that time... As is Saputo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Bye the way, I'm hinting that I fucking predicted this! You both should bye me a drink. You do realize this will greatly benefit the CFU also, right? T&T are in the top 6 because of this format and Jamaica and Haiti are both top 8. Guatemala and El Salvador suffer brutally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 The thing that scares me about this is that two shitty games could eliminate us. Just think back to 2011, we were in a group with really bad opponents and still had two poor games (0-0 St Kitts, 0-0 Puerto Rico). A bad stretch of two similar games could see us out which scares me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maccaliam Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Bye the way, I'm hinting that I fucking predicted this! You both should bye me a drink. The thing that scares me about this is that two shitty games could eliminate us. Just think back to 2011, we were in a group with really bad opponents and still had two poor games (0-0 St Kitts, 0-0 Puerto Rico). A bad stretch of two similar games could see us out which scares me. Scares me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Gagne Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 You do realize this will greatly benefit the CFU also, right? T&T are in the top 6 because of this format and Jamaica and Haiti are both top 8. Guatemala and El Salvador suffer brutally. Worse teams ranked higher... better for us I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 The thing that scares me about this is that two shitty games could eliminate us. Just think back to 2011, we were in a group with really bad opponents and still had two poor games (0-0 St Kitts, 0-0 Puerto Rico). A bad stretch of two similar games could see us out which scares me. We only conceded one goal in that round. Unless we start leaking goals against minnows and actually lose a match we're not in real danger. But I know what you mean, I remember in 2011 we were worried about the home and home with St Kitts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 August 2014 rankings is a really good thing for us. I built a pretty likely bracket from the information we have we have a pretty nice cake walk to the first group stage. If what we have read is true our June 2nd round matchup would be between the winner of #28 Nicaragua and #29 Cayman Islands. Then our September 3rd round match would be between the winner of #16 St. Vincent & #17 St. Lucia. For reference: At #7 Jamaica has an easier road - they'd be against the winner of #21 Puerto Rico / #25 Dominica or #32 Bahamas game. At #8 Haiti would be against the winner of the #20 Guyana /#24 Monserrat or #33 Cayman Islands game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Prior world cup group stage draws had the top 6 seeds pre-populated into groups and qualifiers randomly drawn. If we're using the August 2014 rankings then the known groups would be: Costa Rica Honduras Qualifier Qualifier Mexico Panama Qualifier Qualifier United States Trinidad Qualifier Qualifier That's a pretty tough grouping for everyone. Here's hoping to be in the United States group I guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Gagne Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Prior world cup group stage draws had the top 6 seeds pre-populated into groups and qualifiers randomly drawn. If we're using the August 2014 rankings then the known groups would be: Costa Rica Honduras Qualifier Qualifier Mexico Panama Qualifier Qualifier United States Trinidad Qualifier Qualifier That's a pretty tough grouping for everyone. Here's hoping to be in the United States group I guess? Honestly, if all this turns out to be the case, I'm really hoping for the USA, TnT group. TnT is clearly the worst seeded team, and we usually do pretty well against the USA, as compared to Central American teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 How is T and T that high? Unbelievable, they haven't been relevant since 2006. I think it's fair to use the August 2014 rankings. Anything else would be unfair to CANADA and no one else, so a big thank you to whomever considered us (rightfully so but still, we're used to being a doormat). Central American and Caribbean teams would have greatly benefited from their respective tournaments while Mexico and the USA don't matter either way and we would be the odd ones out. Phew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Well the Costa Rica, Honduras pool would be quite the shop of horrors for us I think even with Honduras on it's way down right now. Mexico & Panama is no treat either; so yes we would definitely want the US, T&T group. T&T is very beatable for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addona Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Prior world cup group stage draws had the top 6 seeds pre-populated into groups and qualifiers randomly drawn. Are you sure that this is correct? I remember watching the draw that put Honduras and Cuba into a group together with the winners of our group and Panama's group last time around. I didn't think the Honduras / Cuba portion was pre-populated. I thought that was part of the random draw as well, i.e. top 3 in Pot 1 and 4-6 in Pot 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 How is T and T that high? Unbelievable, they haven't been relevant since 2006. Stephen Hart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympique_de_Marseille Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Are you sure that this is correct? I remember watching the draw that put Honduras and Cuba into a group together with the winners of our group and Panama's group last time around. I didn't think the Honduras / Cuba portion was pre-populated. I thought that was part of the random draw as well, i.e. top 3 in Pot 1 and 4-6 in Pot 2. Ya, you are right Addona. Only top 3 was pre-populated. Mexico, USA, Honduras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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