2011 FIFA Women's World Cup - CONCACAF Qualifiers

Caribbean Qualification

Group A
Cuba
Guyana
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
Suriname

Group B
Dominica
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Trinidad & Tobago

Group C
Antigua & Barbuda
Saint Lucia
United States Virgin Islands

Group D
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Turks & Caicos Islands

Group E
Anguilla
Barbados
Grenada

Top team in each group will qualify for next stage.
2nd Placed teams in Groups A and B will also qualify, along with the best 2nd-placed team from Groups C, D AND E. So, there will be 8 teams in the next stage. It seems that Jamaica are not taking part, unless they have received a bye.

Matches will be played on a home-and-away basis in each group.

Suriname fixtures:
23.01.10 - Cuba v Suriname
06.02.10 - Saint Vincent & the Grenadines v Suriname
13.02.10 - Guyana v Suriname
06.03.10 - Suriname v Cuba
20.03.10 - Suriname v Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
03.04.10 - Suriname v Guyana

http://www.svb.sr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=491&Itemid=36

Guyana has written to the CFU requesting that it be allowed to host the whole of Group A to avoid the prohibitive travelling costs of holding the group on a home-and-away basis, but there doesn't seem to be much time for the CFU to make a decision.

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2010/01/13/another-busy-year-envisaged-for-the-sport-klass/

good research

Suriname seems to have got it easy:

Cuba - debutants
Guyana - debutants
St Vincent and the Grenadines - admittedly only lost to T&T in last qualifying

i noticed Cuba beat USAU20 once in 2007?

USA,Canada,Mexico.....no chance for others.

yeah, Cuba are probably stronger than the "debutant" label indicates. Did beat Dominican Republic who are favourites in one group.

Also, it is possible that Jamaica got a free pass to the Gold Cup because of their semi-final appeareance in 2006?

Could be. USA, Canada, Mexico will most likely also get byes to the final tournament.

So, we could have USA, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica + 2 Caribbean qualifiers + 2 Central American qualifiers for an 8-team finals, or 1 qualifier each from Caribbean and Central America for 6-team finals.

I'm thinking that Cuba might win this group - though their national team has only started playing internationally recently, they have been playing women's football in Cuba for some time before this, and they lost only 0-1 and 0-2 to Jamaica a few years ago.

Guyana has just started recruiting girls with Guyanese roots from the US college system, and they beat Suriname 2-0 recently in a tournament in Guyana with the US-based team, and also beat Suriname 2-1 with an entirely Guyana-based team. So, I think Suriname will have it tough here.

My predictions would be:
Group A: Cuba and Suriname
Group B: Trinidad & Tobago and Puerto Rico
Group C: St.Lucia
Group D: Haiti (if they take part)
Group E: Tough to call - Grenada hasn't had great results, Anguilla has had good results at youth level but don't have much experience at full international level, and Barbados have only ever played one international match, losing 0-1 at home to Antigua & Barbuda.

The best 2nd placed team should be either Antigua & Barbuda or Dominican Republic.

St Vincent & The Grenadines Gen Secr confirmed to me that Guyana will be hosting one group :

Matches

17.3 SVG - Suriname
Guyana - Cuba

19.3 Cuba - SVG
Guyana - Suriname

21.3 Guyana - SVG
Suriname - Cuba

Thanks mcruic and jonny. I bow to superior expertise

Can I say that Barbados have it easy, then?

Some other groups may start playing this weekend ?

Group E been rescheduled for 10. to 14. March.

Has Cuba had any recent results?

Cuba only started playing with a women's national team in 2007. To date, they have played a grand total of 8 matches. They also have women's youth national teams.

The results of the women's national team:
http://roonba.com/cubawomen.JPG

What is the projected start date? This article seems to give another version

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/sports/02/03/gff-seeks-govt-cooperation-for-world-cup-drive/

Seems all the matches may have been moved to March. They were originally scheduled for a 23 January start. St.Vincent FA gave different dates (17-21 March) for their group, but I also saw the 3-7 March dates you've mentioned. I presume either the CFU or CONCACAF may announce the fixtures near the end of February. All maybes and ifs - but pretty sure they will play at some point!

Unsurprisingly, it would seem Haiti won't be playing these qualifiers.

http://www.tcweeklynews.com/default...bname=&pform=&sc=2404&hn=tcweeklynews&he=.com

Both matches in the Dominican Republic. These doesn't confirm no Haiti, but would appear to be a very poorly written article if they are playing.

J

Central American qualifiers

http://fedefutbol.org/2010/02/04/femenina-a-triangular-en-centroamericanos/

Triangular 1
Host: Guatemala / 19 - 25 April
El Salvador
Belize
Guatemala

Triangular 2
Host: Nicaragua / 26 April - 1 May
Costa Rica
Honduras
Nicaragua

Seems to suggest a play-off between group winners for the Gold Cup spot

So, Gold Cup itself should be:
USA, CAN, MEX, JAM, +Caribbean, +Central American. Jamaica is somewhat of an assumption based on last time (it could be 2 Caribbean qualifiers).

Seems that the USA might again be forced into an horrendously tough 1-game qualification schedule for the World Cup. How will they cope.

J

Following on - keen eyes will note the absence of Panama from the list of Central American entrants. Panama (along with Mexico) qualified to the Gold Cup finals last time, so their absence is somewhat odd. It may be that they have (like Jamaica may have) received a bye to the finals, and if so, that would suggest 2 Caribbean qualifiers (+Jamaica) in an 8 team tournament. Some confirmation would be really nice from any source.

J

The 8-team finals seems a nicer idea. If Panama have indeed received a bye, then it means of the 6 teams who participated at the 2006 Finals, only Trinidad & Tobago would enter qualifying (and then it would be an assumption that they were ranked 6th at the Gold Cup 2006 because of their slightly worse result in the 1st round (0-3 v Mexico against Panama's 0-2 v Jamaica). Of course, this is not really fair, as Mexico are a much stronger team than Jamaica - but in any case, it would seem to be the only explanation IF Panama have received a bye.

Meanwhile, in Group B of Caribbean qualification, the Puerto Rican FA is reporting Martinique as a participant instead of Dominica - interesting, as Martinique would not be eligible for qualification for the World Cup should they have an amazing run à la Gwada Boyz.

As an aside - the Central American qualifiers for the Gold Cup (and World Cup) are also qualifiers for the Central American & Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico, with the top 2 in each group qualifying for that tournament. I presume that the Caribbean Gold Cup qualifiers will also be qualifiers for the CAC Games.

Originally Posted by Samuel Vimes

Also, it is possible that Jamaica got a free pass to the Gold Cup because of their semi-final appeareance in 2006?

Jamaica is not entering a senior team. they are focusing on their U20 and other youth teams while building towards WC 2015.

Who has St. Vincent played lately?

Do you have a source for this?

Given that it doesn't actually seem possible for Panama to be in (as there doesn't seem to be a route for them in the Panamerican games) and this information, it looks like the old 6 team finals. USA-CAN-MEX-Carib1-Carib2-Central America.

J

Source: JFA coaching staff member

Would there not be 8 teams in the final round? USA, MEX, CDA, 3xCaribbean, 2xCentral America?

In 2006 there were only 6 teams. Panama played Jamaica and Mexico played Trinidad and Tobago. Then the winners, Jamaica and Mexico, played Canada and the U.S.

No. We know USA.MEX and CAN. Caribbean is already announced as only 2 (but we didn''t know about JAM). Central America is definitely announced as 1 definite (but we didn't know about Panama - but they can't be in). It must be six again in the finals.

J

Okay, it would appear that the whole Concacaf website is a deadzone for news. So it how ranks 6th best news source of the confederation websites (but, you know, 6th aint too bad now is it?)

Anyways, scratch Cuba.

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/sp...llers-getting-ready-for-world-cup-qualifiers/

3.Mar.10 - Georgetown Cricket Club - Guyana v St Vincent and the Grendines.

Presumably that would make
5.Mar.10 - St Vincent and the Grenadines v Suriname
7.Mar.10 - Guyana v Suriname

Although the reverse could be true.

Presumably also, qualification is now
1st+2nd from Group B (4 team group)
1st from Groups A, C, E (3 team groups)
Winner Group D tie (2 teams)
Top 2 runners-up from Group A,C,E.

J

Complete schedule for Caribbean qualifiers :

FIRST ROUND
Group A
At Georgetown, Guyana
Wednesday, March 3
Suriname vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Friday, March 5
Guyana vs. Suriname
Sunday, March 7
Guyana vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Group B
At Puerto Rico
Wednesday, March 17
Trinidad and Tobago vs. St. Kitts and Nevis
Puerto Rico vs. Dominica
Friday, March 19
St. Kitts and Nevis vs. Dominica
Puerto Rico vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Sunday, March 21
Trinidad and Tobago vs. Dominica
Puerto Rico vs. St. Kitts and Nevis

Group C
At Antigua and Barbuda
Friday, March 12
Antigua and Barbuida vs. U.S. Virgin Islands
Sunday, March 14
U.S. Virgin Islands vs. St. Lucia
Tuesday, March 16
Antigua and Barbuda vs. St. Lucia

Group D
At Dominican Republic
Friday, March 26
Cuba vs. Haiti
Dominican Republic vs. Turks and Caicos
Sunday, March 28
Turks and Caicos vs. Haiti
Dominican Republic vs. Haiti
Tuesday, March 30
Cuba vs. Turks and Caicos
Dominican Republic vs. Haiti

Group E
At Barbados
Sunday, March 28
Barbados vs. Anguilla
Tuesday, March 30
Anguilla vs. Grenada
Thursday, April 1
Barbados vs. Grenada



http://www.concacaf.com/page/WOQ/NewsDetail/0,,12813~1982292,00.html

Haiti did not withdraw , Cuba been moved from Guyana group.