WCQ Oct Home Game Locations

Well, I'm old. And, yes, although Rio was always the main hang, there was occasional sharing with Morumbí,and a smaller city would get the odd game with a lesser opponent.

 

Thanks old man.
(I am getting old myself.)

 

The FIFA June rankings will be published on June 11th - just after the international window.

Canada is 14 points behind El Salvador, so they were all but eliminated from direct qualification to the HEX when the US beat the 4-1 last fall.

Scheduling lessons will hopefully be learned from last cycle's disaster. No games against meaningful opposition (i.e. everyone but El Salvador) on the east coast.

Pair the game at Azteca with a home game in SLC/DEN (CR/HON).

Play Mexico in a SSS in cold weather (Minnesota). Their fans will still find a way to get massive numbers of tickets but hopefully they'll freeze their a$$es off in the process.

Kansas City gets a game (CR/HON)

Seattle would be a guaranteed win but it won't happen given NFL conflicts.

Orlando got a great result with the Panama game last cycle but I do remember the field being in less than optimal condition.

Make Jamaica travel to the West Coast (PDX, if ready, otherwise SJC)

 

Players spend most of the time with their clubs. In a year with 3 home WCQs in different months, does having all 3 in the same stadium provide familiarity to players who haven't played there before and will play in a bunch of other stadiums before the next home WCQ?

That was a 1-0 win hosting T&T on August 17, 2005. We started the Hex with a 2-1 win at T&T, so 1-0 wasn't an impressive score. We could have had a lot more shots, but I don't know if the box score is available.

 

We got a good result. We always seem to get good results in Hartford. It is one of the only East Coast venues I trust going into the Hex.

 

The size it right. The field's always in good shape. The people in the area know the game.

 

The World has changed a lot the last few months and this thread has to be edited a bit.

Rumor has it there will be no HEX this cycle and there will probably be Three groups of 4 teams instead.

So No Mexico, Costa Rica to worry about.

And Not knowing if fans will even be allowed in the stands we can pretty much play in any stadium, anywhere.

We don't really have much to argue about now. Especially when it comes to best home field advantage.
Whichever has the best grass maybe? Maybe still altitude and cold Weather advantages for teams from hot climates? Play a possible Canada match in Orlando again?

It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

 

We would only need 3 windows to conclude qualifying. Maybe 5 if we end up in a playoff.

CONCACAF could push it out a bit and allow fans

 

Possibly.

But we are talking about some countries and regions that do not have good healthcare systems and immunizations in place.
Would it be fair to allow some countries to have fans and some not to? Especially if this can become a seasonal flu type of thing with various waves?

Not sure. I guess looking at it optimistically we could have social distancing in big stadiums or something like that.

 

Who knows at this point? Maybe a 2nd wave will hit and we'll be having this same issue 1 year from now, that said qualifying wouldn't need to start for almost 13 months.

Hopefully sports with fans is safe again at that point.

 

God willing things get back to semi normal not only for us but for most of the region and the rest of the World.

For selfish reason I will say let's have a centralized location in an NFL stadium with built in social distancing.

Soldier Field for each match so I can attend all of them with minimal travel and money spent.

 

Well here's a fun twist to the final Hex:

This screenshot is Google Translated from a story published by RPC, a Panamanian TV network. (Original link in quote tweet)

Suggests CONCACAF WCQ for 2022 will be three groups of four, seeded by FIFA world ranking. Group winners qualify, best runner up faces playoff. -d https://t.co/XRLtzmF41s pic.twitter.com/7vc3Sks4Zj

— Total Soccer Show (@TotalSoccerShow) May 29, 2020

Three groups of four, top three in FIFA rankings will be seeded teams.

That means only three home WCQ matches this cycle.

 

That has been mentioned already.

 

Sorry.

 

I have to say I'm super disappointed by the structure. I'd rather they find a way to do it right, more hex style, and simply play behind closed doors if we have health concerns rather than pre-emptively trying to lock down a shorter time frame and having less matches. In this set up, the draw is so important.

I'd prefer they cancel Nations League. If you start in September, you still have 6 windows not including July of next year (which may be getting close).

 

For USA home games during World Cup qualifying for me definitely would be:

Arlington, Texas (Cowboys Stadium) (AT & T Stadium)

Seattle (CenturyLink Field)

Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)

FedEx Field (DC area)

 

Curious why you think USSF would choose those large NFL stadiums, especially when I can imagine people will still be very cautious to go to a sporting event with tens of thousands of people.

They've played in large stadiums in previous WCQ cycles, but the last time was 2016 in Jacksonville when they only sold tix in the lower bowl. In that same stage of qualifying, they also played in St. Louis' Busch Stadium.

I'd imagine they'll choose new MLS stadiums before NFL stadiums, which sucks for me in Atlanta because I think we'd offer a superb atmosphere in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

 

MetLife Stadium is another venue that the USMNT can use

 

That is true they can which is why I suggested the USMNT play in larger stadiums

 

Yup.
I mentioned that in a previous post.

If people are allowed to attend it would make sense to use Big NFL stadiums and just space out the fans to sell more tickets.

 

Are people still pretending to care about social distancing since the protests happened?

 

Then for WCQ home games should instead then be in:

1- Boston
2- Seattle
3- Chicago
4- New York
5- Miami