New Concacaf Qualifying System?

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New CONCACAF Qualifying Proposal Levels Playing Field By going away from the six-team Hexagonal

Under a new proposed qualifying format, the Hexagonal would go the way of the VCR. Instead of one six-team group, the final round would feature two four-team groups, each team playing their group rival home and away. Group winners would advance directly, runners-up would play each other with the winner claiming the third and final direct berth. Playoff loser would then play a team from another confederation for another World Cup spot.


www.goal.com/en-us/news/67/world-cup/2010/08/31/2097344/buenos-views-new-concacaf-qualifying-proposal-levels-playing

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CONCACAF qualifying system news update
18 games to reach the 2014 World Cup, according to www.Diez.hn.

The info comes from Mr. Alfredo Hawit Banegas, member of CONCACAF's Executive Committee.

There's also this article in www.LaPrensa.hn, with the info provided by Mario Monterrosa, CONCACAF's deputy secretary.

The system
1. Preliminary round (if needed) to trim the number of teams to 32.
2. 8 groups of 4 teams. Top two in each group through to the next round.
3 .4 groups of 4 teams. Top two in each group through to the next round.
4. 2 groups of 4 teams.

- If CONCACAF will have 3.5 spots, the winners of the groups will qualify directly to the World Cup, while the second placed teams will play-off against each other first, then against a team from another confederation (CONMEBOL).

- If CONCACAF gets 4 spots as they hope, the top two teams in each group will qualify to the World Cup.

The system needs to be approved by FIFA's Executive Committee and I can't see why FIFA wouldn't approve it. Also according to Mr. Hawit, the allocation of places for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will be announced in October. Mr. Monterrosa, however, thinks the allocation will be known in December.

www.football-rankings.info/2010/08/concacaf-qualifying-system-news-update.html

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New Rankings 10/20/2010

25 1 USA 838 -7 -61
28 2 Mexico 786 0 -9
54 3 Honduras 540 -2 -25
59 4 Panama 515 11 28
66 5 Costa Rica 490 -13 -71
79 6 Jamaica 412 -3 -13
83 7 Canada 407 5 47
98 8 Guyana 330 22 148

106 9 Trinidad and Tobago 302 -9 -25
107 10 Barbados 287 14 107
113 11 Suriname 261 24 128
114 12 El Salvador 245 -4 -8
121 13 Cuba 218 -8 0
122 14 Guatemala 214 -7 0
125 15 Grenada 195 3 35
126 16 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 194 27 101

128 17 Haiti 187 -5 12
129 18 St. Kitts and Nevis 184 22 90
129 19 Puerto Rico 184 41 132
131 20 Antigua and Barbuda 183 -8 8
132 21 Dominica 182 46 149
158 22 Cayman Islands 92 23 66
161 23 Nicaragua 86 -3 0
162 24 Dominican Republic 85 19 59

170 25 Netherlands Antilles 63 -4 0
170 26 Bermuda 63 -7 -11
174 27 Belize 54 -6 0
175 28 British Virgin Islands 41 13 23
187 29 St. Lucia 19 -1 0
187 30 Turks and Caicos Islands 19 -1 0
194 31 Bahamas 13 0 0
199 32 Aruba 7 0 0

200 33 US Virgin Islands 5 0 0
203 34 Anguilla 0 0 0
203 35 Montserrat 0 0 0

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FIFA approve the new CONCACAF qualifying format

According to various articles in the Mexican and Central American press (see this Univision article (futbol.univision.com/centroamerica/article/2010-11-03/la-fifa-aprobo-el-nuevo) for instance, FIFA have approved the new CONCACAF 2014 World Cup qualifying format (www.football-rankings.info/2010/08/concacaf-qualifying-system-news-update.html).

It's interesting to know the draw for CONCACAF will take place on May 31st, 2011 in Zurich and will use the May 2011 FIFA ranking to seed the teams.

The Brazilians have announced the main draw will take place on July 31st, 2010 in Brazil

Also, there some info regarding the spots - both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL will keep their quota (3.5 and 4.5).

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EXPANSION MINDED

CONCACAF wants 4th World Cup spot

NEW YORK – CONCACAF wants another spot in the World Cup.

The executive committee of the confederation of North and Central America and Caribbean soccer on Sunday announced that it will fight for a guaranteed fourth place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

During a meeting in Panama City, Panama, site of the Copa Centroamericana, the executive committee said it felt that CONCACAF had earned the right to increase its allotment of slots at World Cup finals from the 3.5 it currently possesses.

“We believe that CONCACAF deserves another full place at the World Cup finals due to the performances of our teams on the field and the actions of our confederation off it,” CONCACAF president Jack Warner said in a statement. “We are unified in our efforts to make this happen.”

A decision on the subject is expected to be made at a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee in March.

www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=26308

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Goodbye Netherlands Antilles, Hello Curacao and Sint Maarten

Yesterday night, two of the islands that made up the former Netherlands Antilles, Curacao and Sint Maarten, celebrated newfound autonomy as their own separate entities within the Dutch kingdom. They now share similar status with Aruba, the US and British Virgin Islands; as far as we are concerned, they will now be able to represent themselves in World Cup qualifying, although they are not actual countries (e.g. they won't get to be represented in the Organization of American States).

As for current Netherlands Antilles team, they'll have a last hurrah in Suriname this week as part of Group C in qualifying for the Caribbean Cup, so I'd assume that as soon as they are knocked out, they'll disband.

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CONCACAF back to basics in new qual proposal

Tweaked WCup system would maintain Hex, see US get bye into semis

US vs. Mexico in World Cup qualifying is not going anywhere after all. At least, that's the case if FIFA approves the proposed format submitted by CONCACAF this week.

FIFA's rejection last month of CONCACAF's plea for additional World Cup berths – which could have resulted in the separation of the US and Mexico in World Cup qualifying entirely – sent the federation back to the drawing board. And what it came up with is more or less a return to the old system.

The new plan calls for the six top-ranked sides in the region, as per FIFA's world rankings for March – the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba – to automatically qualify for the semifinal round, which features three four-team groups.

www.concacaf.com/page/WCQ/NewsDetail/0,,12813~2347474,00.html

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new format is as follows:

FIRST ROUND
The 10 lowest-ranked CONCACAF nations play a two-leg 1st round June 3rd and 7th, 2011.

Montserrat vs. Belize
Anguilla vs. Dominican Republic
U.S. Virgin Islands vs. British Virgin Islands
Aruba vs. St. Luca
Bahamas vs.Turks and Caicos Islands

SECOND ROUND
The second round will see the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams at the main group draw in Brazil on 31 July 2011.

The top team from each group will advance to the third round.

Seeding
Teams were seeded into four pots - Pot A included teams ranked 7–12, Pot B teams ranked 13–18, Pot C teams ranked 19–24, and Pot D the team ranked 25 along with the 5 first round winners; Athough not yet officially approved:

Pot A
Panama
Canada
El Salvador
Grenada
Trinidad & Tobago
Haiti

Pot B
Antigua
Guyana
Suriname
St. Kitts and Nevis
Guatemala
Dominica

Pot C
Puerto Rico
Barbados
Curacao
St. Vincent
the Cayman Islands
Nicaragua

Pot D
Bermuda
the 5 first round winners


THIRD ROUND
The semi-final round includes the six group winners from the first round
and
the top six ranked nations, who get a bye for the first round.
Three groups of four, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the final round. This starts in June, 2012.

THE FOURTH ROUND (THE HEX)
The hexagonal round is a single table composed of the six teams which advanced from the semi-final round.
The top three teams advance to the World Cup
The fourth place team plays off against an Asian, Oceania, or South American side.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONCACAF)

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CONCACAF RANKINGS
Last Updated 09 Mar 2011
Ranking Zonal Ranking Team Pts Mar 11 +/- Ranking Feb 11 +/- Pts Feb 11

19 1 USA 894 -1 25
27 2 Mexico 811 0 8
38 3 Honduras 620 1 7
48 4 Jamaica 555 11 30
53 5 Costa Rica 542 -5 -18
64 6 Cuba 503 1 5

68 7 Panama 482 -8 -36
84 8 Canada 391 -4 -23
92 9 El Salvador 373 6 26
94 10 Grenada 360 -2 3
95 11 Trinidad and Tobago 352 -1 1
99 12 Haiti 325 -3 -24
101 13 Antigua and Barbuda 313 3 10
109 14 Guyana 284 3 10
114 15 Suriname 257 3 0
119 16 St. Kitts and Nevis 245 -1 3
125 17 Guatemala 220 1 0
130 18 Dominica 193 -2 -3
131 19 Puerto Rico 187 -1 0
137 20 Barbados 167 -5 -16
146 21 Curacao 115 0 0
148 22 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 113 0 3
158 23 Cayman Islands 90 -2 2
164 24 Nicaragua 75 -3 -4
165 25 Bermuda 74 2 7

166 26 Belize 66 3 2
166 27 Dominican Republic 66 2 0
177 28 British Virgin Islands 41 0 0
182 29 St. Lucia 37 -1 0
193 30 Turks and Caicos Islands 13 -7 -6
193 31 Bahamas 13 1 0
199 32 Aruba 7 0 0
200 33 US Virgin Islands 5 0 0
202 34 Anguilla 0 1 0
202 35 Montserrat 0 1 0


www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=23914&rank=202

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FIRST ROUND
The 10 lowest-ranked CONCACAF nations played a two-leg 1st round June 3rd and 7th

Aggregate scores
Montserrat 3:8 Belize
Anguilla 0:6 Dominican Republic
U.S. Virgin Islands 4:1 British Virgin Islands
Aruba 6:6 (4:5p) St. Lucia
Turks and Caicos Islands 0:10 Bahamas

SECOND ROUND
The second round will see the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams at the main group draw in Brazil on July 30, 2011. The matches are foreseen to be played from 2 September to 15 November 2011.

The top team from each group will advance to the third round.

Seeding

Pot 4
Panama
Canada
El Salvador
Grenada
Trinidad and Tobago
Haiti

Pot 5
Antigua and Barbuda
Guyana
Suriname
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Guatemala
Dominica

Pot 6
Puerto Rico
Barbados
Curaçao
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Cayman Islands
Nicaragua

Pot 7
Bermuda
Belize
Dominican Republic
Saint Lucia
Bahamas
U.S. Virgin Islands

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The second round will see the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams were drawn into six groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. The matches are foreseen to be played from 2 September to 15 November 2011.

Group A
El Salvador
Suriname
Cayman Islands
Dominican Republic

Group B
Trinidad and Tobago
Guyana
Barbados
Bermuda

Group C
Panama
Dominica
Nicaragua
Bahamas

Group D
Canada
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Puerto Rico
Saint Lucia

Group E
Grenada
Guatemala
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Belize

Group F
Haiti
Antigua and Barbuda
Curaçao
U.S. Virgin Islands

The third round will see the top 6 seeds joined by the 6 group winners from the second round. These teams will be drawn into three groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. The matches are foreseen to be played from 8 June to 16 October 2012. The top two teams from each group will advance to the fourth round.

Group A
United States
Jamaica
Winner of Group E
Winner of Group F

Group B
Mexico
Costa Rica
Winner of Group A
Winner of Group B

Group C
Honduras
Cuba
Winner of Group D
Winner of Group C

Inter-confederation play-off
The fourth-placed team of CONCACAF will play OFC's first-placed team in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualifies for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONCACAF)

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Groups set for World Cup qualifying in June


The US will be joined in Group A when the third round of the qualifying tournament begins in June by Jamaica, Guatemala and, thanks to their 1-0 upset over rival Haiti on Friday night, Antigua-Barbuda

Group B is headlined by Mexico, and boasts Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guyana.

Canada, meanwhile, sealed their passage into the next round with a scoreless draw against St. Kitts and Nevis on Friday. They’ll compete in Group C against 2010 World Cup qualifier Honduras, as well as Cuba and Panama.


www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/11/12/us-group-set-world-cup-qualifying-june