World Cup Qualifying Update: CONCACAF, going into the 3rd Round
This week we’re going to take a look at how things are shaping up when it comes to World Cup qualifying in the various confederations.
Today? CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football.
(Are you interested in blogging about any of these teams, or any other national teams currently not being covered for World Cup Blog? Email our editor, Daryl Grove, at daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com.)
CONCACAF and World Cup 2010
How many countries? 35 (Complete list at the bottom of the page)
How many teams qualify for World Cup 2010? 3 qualify automatically. One more can qualify if they win a two-game playoff with the 5th place CONMEBOL (South America) team.
How do teams qualify?
Two preliminary rounds are played to narrow the field to twelve. The first takes the pool from 35 countries to 24. The second takes it from 24 to 12. These twelve are divided into three groups of four teams each, and then then play a home and away leg, round-robin style. Top two teams from each group advance to the fourth round, where they’ll also play a home-and-away leg round robin. And the top three finishers from that final group of six go to the World Cup. The fourth place finisher will play the 5th place team from CONMEBOL in one home and one away game for the final spot.
The thirteen teams in the top four “pots” got a round one bye — Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Guatamala, Canada, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines .
The remaining twenty-two teams had to play for the final 11 Round 2 spots. The teams that advanced to Round 2 were: Barbados, Saint Lucia, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Grenada, Suriname, El Salvador, and Netherlands Antilles.
(Round 1 results are here.)
Where do things stand now?
Round 2 has just finished, and we have our final twelve teams.
The US beat Barbados 9-0 on aggregate. The first leg was a painful 8-0 thrashing. In the second leg, coach Bob Bradley tried out some new players, and the US won 1-0.
Guatamala beat Saint Lucia 9-1 on aggregate — 6-0 in the first leg and 3-1 in the second.
Trinidad and Tobago beat Bermuda 3-2 on aggregate — losing 1-2 in the first leg, but coming back with a 2-1 victory in the second.
Cuba beat Antigua and Barbuda 8-3 on aggregate — winning 4-3 in the first leg and 4-0 in the second.
Mexico beat Belize 9-0 on aggregate — 2-0 in a rather lackluster first leg, and a much more promising 7-0 in the second.
Jamaica beat Bahamas 13-0 on aggregate — 7-0 first, 6-0 second
Honduras beat Puerto Rico 6-2 on aggregate — 4-0 first, 2-2 draw second
Canada beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines 7-1 on aggregate — 3-0 first, 4-1 second
Costa Rica beat Grenada 5-2 on aggregate — 2-2 draw first, 3-0 2in second
Suriname beat Guyana 3-1 on aggregate — 1-0 first leg, 2-1 second
El Salvador beat Panama 3-2 on aggregate — losing 1-0 in the first leg before coming back 3-1 in the second.
Haiti beat Netherlands Antilles 1-0 on aggregate — 0-0 draw in the first leg, 1-0 win in the second.
And now the qualifying groups for Round 3 are set:
Group A
United States
Guatemala
Trinidad & Tobago
Cuba
Group B
Mexico
Jamaica
Honduras
Canada
Group C
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Haiti
Suriname
Complete list of all CONCACAF teams, lovingly ripped off from Wikipedia:
North American Zone
Canada
Mexico
United States
Central American Zone
Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Caribbean Zone
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
French Guiana
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Martinique
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint-Martin
Sint Maarten
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
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Comments
By muzica | June 24th, 2008 at 6:50 am 
uau.. i`m still very confused…
Posted from 
Romania
By Timba | June 24th, 2008 at 7:07 am Boycott the 2010 World Cup. Mbeki is protecting a murderous dictator. Mbeki’s legacy will forever be tied to his inaction. http://zimsolidarity.blogspot.com/
Posted from 
United States
By aja | June 24th, 2008 at 9:26 am can teams like guadeloupe and martinique actually qualify for the world cup? given that they are departements of france?
13-0 on aggregate is a very good look for the reggae boyz.
By Laurie | June 24th, 2008 at 4:03 pm Aja, no. Teams like Guadaloupe can play in CONCACAF competitions like the Gold Cup, but they’re not recognized by FIFA and so aren’t eligible for World Cup. That’s why there are 40 teams listed as CONCACAF members, above, but only 35 competing for the CONCACAF slots in the World Cup.
Posted from United States
By Evil Han | July 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm Unfortunately, the CONCACAF is one of the most weakest continental regions throughout the world. Other than the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation).
My prediction is USA, Mexico, and Canada will most likely qualify for 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Plain and Simple! The reason is the NAFTA states have the economic, finance, and people to create prospective soccer players.
Therefore, all of the other CONCACAF members are third world soccer nations. Well I guess the truth hurts! Need I write more?
Posted from United States
By Weston | July 11th, 2008 at 9:55 am ya gotta love how a 1-2 first leg and a 2-1 second leg add up to a 3-2 aggregate! Go T.’N'T. (Trinidad and Tobago) I thought T&T won 2-0 but correct me if im wrong.
Posted from United States
By bluemeanies | July 11th, 2008 at 2:46 pm Evil Han obviously doesn’t know his Concacaf if he thinks Canada is on the shoe in level of the US & Mexico. Costa Rica has been the most consistant third country of the last decade. Most of the central american zone is not bad and there are only a couple not laughable teams from the carribean.
Of course based on post 2006 WC play I’d have made the Hex (next group stage) the US, Guatamala, Mexico, Canada, Hondurus & Costa Rica. So the groups look far from even to me and one of the better teams in the region is going out of group b.
Want a Hex of US, Guatamala, Canada, Hondorus, Costa Rica & El Salvador expext much the same with Mexico instead of Canada.
Posted from United States
By junior | July 27th, 2008 at 8:38 pm honduras
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