2006 Qualification Process Announced

[Canadian_Supporter]

Originally posted by Metrofan CP

Is it me, or is that not at all true?

I seem to remember Barbados and St. Vincent & Grenadines ... and not Cuba and Haiti

You are right, Cuba and Haiti did not make the semi-final round.

[RalRhino]

Originally posted by Metrofan CP

Is it me, or is that not at all true?

I seem to remember Barbados and St. Vincent & Grenadines ... and not Cuba and Haiti

Yeah, you're right.

It usually takes concacaf.com 2 or 3 times to get their stories straight. However, I'd bet they keep Cuba and Haiti in Pot C based on Gold Cup performance, FIFA rankings, whatever.

I'm planning on checking the site throughout the day for revisions to the original release.

[USAsoccer]

Originally posted by Canadian_Supporter
Martinique, Saint Martin, Sint-Maarten, Guadeloupe are not members of FIFA as of this year and French Guyana didn't compete in the last WCQ.

Just curious, but does anyone know why these five countries do not field a team....

I mean, isn't French Guyana much larger in population than many others who are particpating...

Can you imagine the score between the US v. P. Rico... the Mutiny beat them like 12 to 0....

[JG]

Originally posted by USAsoccer
Just curious, but does anyone know why these five countries do not field a team....

I mean, isn't French Guyana much larger in population than many others who are particpating...


Not sure about Sint-Maarten, but I don't think the French overseas departments are allowed to be part of FIFA. Their leagues are officially part of the French pyramid, although the winners are never promoted for obvious reasons.

[IASocFan]

Guadalope and Martinique are part of France, and are allowed to participate in CONCACAF events and not FIFA events. Notice they aren't listed as FIFA teams on fifa.com.
I suspect the other 3 are in this category also.

[JG]

Originally posted by michael greene
What are the odds that the smaller countries have the $$ to pay for all this travel?

It's only two away games per country--that's fewer than the caribbean team had to play to reach the semifinals last time.

I think a lot of these countries lose as much money on the home games as the away games.

[Metrofan CP]

The official unofficial CONCACAF mock-draw:

(Assuming they do indeed decide to use the 2002 semifinalists instead of 1998's)


Group A
St. Vincent and The Grenadines
Anguilla
Grenada


Group B
Canada
Netherlands Antilles
US Virgin Islands


Group C
Panama
Bahamas
Guyana


Group D
Trinidad and Tobago
Montserrat
Cayman Islands


Group E
Honduras
Dominica
Dominican Republic


Group F
Costa Rica
British Virgin Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands


Group G
Guatemala
Bermuda
Antigua and Barbuda


Group H
Barbados
Nicaragua
Saint Lucia


Group I
USA
Suriname
Puerto Rico


Group J
Jamaica
Belize
St. Kitts and Nevis


Group K
Mexico
Aruba
Cuba


Group L
El Salvador
Haiti

[JG]

Originally posted by RalRhino

It usually takes concacaf.com 2 or 3 times to get their stories straight.

I'm planning on checking the site throughout the day for revisions to the original release.

The offending phrase has already been removed :)

[BuffloSoldier]

Is my math right--if you draw a group of three in the First Round, you have to face 20 matches to qualify?

First round: 4
Second Round: 6
Hex: 10

[DCUPopeAndLillyFan]

Originally posted by ChuckA
Pot C: The other 6 semifinalists (Can't remember them all but here goes: Guatamala, Barbados, Canada, El Salvador, ?, ?)

Neither can CONCACAF apparently, they have Cuba when I believe Barbados qualified at their expense.

[Metrofan CP]

Originally posted by BuffloSoldier
Is my math right--if you draw a group of three in the First Round, you have to face 20 matches to qualify?

First round: 4
Second Round: 6
Hex: 10

Sounds right. I believe this makes Concacaf the longest qualifying campaign for the teams that qualify. So suck on THAT Conmebol.

[IASocFan]

Originally posted by JG
The offending phrase has already been removed

Nice catch JG.. ;)
We must have mis-read it before. :eek:

[ThreeApples]

Originally posted by JG
Not sure about Sint-Maarten, but I don't think the French overseas departments are allowed to be part of FIFA. Their leagues are officially part of the French pyramid, although the winners are never promoted for obvious reasons.

I believe that Sint-Maarten is considered part of the Netherlands Antilles for FIFA competitions.

[IASocFan]

I'll bet Montserrat will be looking forward to Canada or New England for first game in February '04. :cool:

[cmonaco]

I really like this plan.

Positives:
- single-group final round maintained
- keeps all teams playing over 20 matches to qualify
- 35 out of 36 teams will play at least 4 matches
- seeding regardless of region means fairer qualifying process for all teams

Negatives:
- some real blowouts are going to happen in the first round.
- teams like US and Mexico will have to play on high-school-quality (or less) fields

But for once it seems CONCACAF has managed NOT to eff things up.

Pot D should be seeded into 2 sub groups, based on FIFA ranking, so you don't have the 2 best Pot D teams in one group.

[peteo]

Originally posted by BuffloSoldier
Is my math right--if you draw a group of three in the First Round, you have to face 20 matches to qualify?

First round: 4
Second Round: 6
Hex: 10


yep,

"CONCACAF approves 20-game format"
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=257332&cc=5901 :)

On the glass-half-empty side, I just hope it doesn't increase the chances of injuries.

[OBartleby]

Since the first round will be comprised of 11 groups, I would assume that the nations in pots A, B and C would be placed at the top of each of the 11 groups. That leaves one left over. So, one of the Pot C nations would have to play another nation from pot A, B or C. Theoretically, Guatemala (C) could get drawn into a group with Honduras (B) and Nicaragua (D), which (political ramifications aside) could be a "group of death" at least from those nations' perspectives.

It will be interesting to see how the seeding process works out, especially which two nations get drawn into the 11th first-round group by themselves. Hell, THAT one could be Guatemala and Honduras....

Overall, I like the system. It does promote a system which is more fair than previous qualification systems, and there's the element of the David vs. Goliath struggle in the first round. However, what concerns me is seeing the US travel to one of the minnow countries to play on a sub-standard field (you thought Jamaica was bad!) and all the potential injuries that could arise from playing on a moon crater with crab grass.

[ThreeApples]

I'd bet the distinction between pots A, B, and C is for the semifinal round. Each semifinal group could have no more than one team from pot A, no more than one from pot B, and no more than two from pot C.

[ThreeApples]

Originally posted by OBartleby
Since the first round will be comprised of 11 groups, I would assume that the nations in pots A, B and C would be placed at the top of each of the 11 groups.

There are 12 first round groups.

[um_chili]

Originally posted by BuffloSoldier
Is my math right--if you draw a group of three in the First Round, you have to face 20 matches to qualify?

First round: 4
Second Round: 6
Hex: 10

Yep, unless you're fourth in the hex and have to do the home-and-away. That means that under the new format, you could qualify in as few as 18 or take as many as 22. But the chances of either are slim.

My only concern at this point is that we get drawn against some sweet carribbean paradises in the first round, in which case I'm totally going to travel there. Sand, surf, sun, and a seven-nil US win. Nice.