The diagram and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Caribbean_Cup_qualification#Second_round both have a mistake. The Second Round will have 10 teams finish first or second. Those teams and the 3 that start in the Third Round make 13 teams, but the Third Round will have 12 teams. The Third Round makes no reference to the fifth best group winner, who might occupy the spot labeled for the best third place team. It's nice that the First Round, Third Round, and Fifth Place Playoff will be on FIFA matchdays.
And that probably comes from CFU making a mistake: http://www.cfufootball.org/index.php/caribbean-cup/9769-2016-scotia-bank-cfu-caribbean-cup-groupings Round 2 Group 3 contains - 1) "Best ranked team from rd 2" 2) "2nd best runner-up from rd 2" 3) "1st group winner from rd 2" Whats the different between 1) and 3)?!
Has anyone seen anything official on why those six teams not taking part chose not to enter? Bahamas, Cayman Islands, St Lucia, Bonaire, Montserrat and Turks & Caicos Is it just the usual financial and logistical difficulties or is there anything more ?
It would be great if all the countries entered, but of the six you listed all of them are 187th or worse out of 209 in the FIFA Rankings except for St. Lucia in 144th and Bonaire who is not a member of FIFA. 25 Caribbean countries (or areas that aren't countries) is the same amount that entered World Cup 2018 Qualifying.
The CFU article #9769 is now offline, replaced by #9770 which has no references to later rounds: http://cfufootball.org/index.php/ca...t-for-2016-scotiabank-cfu-men-s-caribbean-cup The Wikipedia now says that nine of the fourteen teams advance from round 2.
With the news of FIFA suspending its funding for CONCACAF (and CONMEBOL), and the federations already feeling the effects (e.g. Honduras finding itself in a debt crisis and unable to travel to neighboring Guatemala for a friendly), I wonder if the CFU will even be able to pull off this first round if the FIFA hasn't reopened the spigot by then. And on another note: with their current absence, the Bahamas have now sat out two Caribbean Cups in a row. According to the 2013 Gold Cup regulations, that means they're going to be suspended from CONCACAF...right?
Saint Martin withdrew. Round 1 Group 6 has two teams, Guadeloupe and Suriname. Both of them will advance. They will play each other twice, once on March 23 and once on March 29. Both of them will advance. The only impact of the games will be to determine who goes in what group for Round 2. I'm assuming Guadeloupe and Suriname play twice so that when comparing teams in different groups, every team has the same amount of games played. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Caribbean_Cup_qualification#Draw has the CFU's national team rankings based on performance in the last five Caribbean Cups, which were in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. I didn't know the CFU had their own rankings. Other than Group 6, Round 1 will be played on March 22, March 26, and March 29.
Guyana 7-0 Anguilla https://theworstintheworld.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/caribbean-cup-qualifier-guyana-7-0-anguilla/
Thanks for the link to that blog. I wonder why Belize is in the list of 34 worst countries. Belize is 119th (91st worst) in the FIFA Rankings.
Match reports from all three matches : http://www.cfufootball.org/index.ph...-as-scotiabank-cfu-men-s-caribbean-cup-begins
I like this new scheme, each team will play at least one game at home. I wasn't aware of it until now. Fun fact: Anguilla's capital population is 1,067.
Evan - it means that at some point in the life of the FIFA rankings (since 1993) Belize have been ranked last. The overall list of "worst" countries lists how long those nations have spent as the "worst in the world" rather than whether they are worst now. It's not a ranking system, it's merely a count in the same way the UFWC counts who has spent the longest as unofficial champions, as well as having a current champion for instance. In Belize's case they were ranked last from August 2006 to January 2008, but like you say they have risen significantly higher now. Montserrat have been "worst" for the longest but they aren't ranked last anymore - that honour belongs to six unfortunate nations currently: Anguilla, Bahamas, Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Tonga. It's a bit tongue in cheek of course, and those teams don't play very often but they can throw up some interesting stories, e.g. Bhutan winning in the World Cup last year, American Samoa and the "Next Goal Wins" story, "The Other Final" story between Montserrat and Bhutan, San Marino grabbing a draw and so on.
In the Bahamas' case, it's their own damn fault for not playing any games. Actually, they should be staring down a CONCACAF suspension for sitting out two Gold Cup qualifying tournaments (as per the 2013 Gold Cup regulations), unless the new administration in May is simply going to implement a clean slate policy with everyone.
Absolutely. And not bothering to enter this Caribbean Cup is a golden opportunity missed to get some action. Quite when they will play again is anybody's guess, but as you say the regulations ought to mean some sanction against them. They will plea financial desperation I imagine, but in terms of playing talent they are surely a notch or two above the likes of Anguilla, or certainly should be. But unless they prove it on the pitch they will remain dead last in the rankings. The other possibility is that they will drop off the rankings altogether if they spend too long without an A international fixture. It has happened to others before.
I know that World Cup qualifiers have been going on at the same time as Caribbean Cup qualifiers but did anyone else notice that Cuba just got knocked out of the tournament already? Pretty big shocker considering they won the whole thing in 2012 and came in 4th in 2014. Not to mention they made the knockout stages of the Gold Cup last year. But then again consistency has always been the Achilles heel of Caribbean nations.
I'd disagree with the bolded part - 2012 was the last Caribbean Cup before the CFU moved to schedule the tournament on FIFA dates, allowing teams to strengthen themselves with overseas players. Cuba has (had?) one of the strongest domestic development programs in the Caribbean, but are out of their depth once everyone gets to bring their best squads. As for the Gold Cup accomplishment: note that Cuba only made it by beating an equally bad Guatemala and lucking out with El Salvador failing to reach three points. Actually, now that I think about, Cuba might have had the worst group stage GD in history (-7) for a Gold Cup quarterfinalist. Having said that: it is a shocker, and the result of them being thrown into a GoD in this round. French Guiana just barely missed out on the last Gold Cup, and Bermuda are no slouches (just ask Trinidad and Tobago).
Yeah I didn't think about every squad being at full strength since the matches took place during FIFA dates. But Cuba's group definitely seemed like the toughest group by far. It does seem like it's much better organized this time. The whole format clearly laid out ahead of time, the games being on FIFA dates, teams rotating home games and all groups playing on the same dates are hopefully a sign of things to come. It's about time that Caribbean soccer is run by competent people that are interested in developing the game. Maybe all those arrests within CONCACAF have done some good and scared people straight.
I so understand that in all rounds can not be a draw? Then penalties beat as it was in a match Guadeloupe - Suriname. Why did do so?
I don't know why they use it, but I love it. Great moves by CFU, at laaaaast! Wikipedia says this was introduced to lower down chances of group order being decided by drawing of lots. Seems like all rounds beside final four will be held the way this round - three matchdays, each team plays one game at home, one away, one matchday is bye, and all in FIFA windows. Great. It would be awesome if they introduce that format for club competitions too. I am sure more teams would take part.
http://www.concacaf.com/article/grenada-targets-gold-cup-return is titled "Grenada targets Gold Cup return."