Not just effectively. It DID eliminate them. Most points Cuba can get is 6. Both Guatemala and Curacao have 6 points already. Since Guatemala and Curacao still have to play each other, Cuba can't leapfrog either team into first place, therefore eliminating them. Dominica is also eliminated for a similar reason.
Looking through results from CONCACAF last night, some eyebrow raisers. Montserrat and El Salvador drew Puerto Rico snatching a point off of Trinidad, which means that (at least for now), St. Kitts and Nevis are in the driving seat of that group for the time being.
Yeah, lots of weird results in these qualifiers. Given the shortened format, I would not be surprised to see one or two of the top seeds drop out before the Hex playoffs. You've got to wonder if the compacted COVID schedule is impacting things. Lots of weird results in UEFA too, more than usual it feels like.
You would also think that lack of attendance attributes to more focus and communication in between peers, making it easier to stay compact.
Canada is 5-0 up against the Cayman Islands "away" (they're playing in Florida). Could be a long night for the Caribbean team.
Feels like bad karma. All comes down to the Suriname match, which they should win, but man ... running up the score...
It can get even worse. Canada's next qualifier is on June 5th against Aruba, a team ranked below the Cayman Islands in the FIFA Rankings, and who lost to Suriname by a worse margin than the Cayman Islands did.
Canada no longer has the biggest margin of victory as Japan beat Mongolia 14-0 this morning. Mongolia was eliminated last week. Shots on goal were 25 to 0. Japan had 5 in the first 54 minutes (60 percent) before scoring 9 more capped off with goals in the 90+1st, 90+2nd, and 90+3rd. If Saudi Arabia beats Palestine today, Saudi Arabia will pass Uzbekistan for first. The AFC groups will end at one site each from June 3 through 15.
Madagascar is minutes away from being dumped out of the AFCON because they can't beat Niger at home. Talk about anticlimactic endings.
The thing is, Suriname on Saturday could have scored 20 on Aruba. That's barely an exaggeration, if it is one at all. Which forced Canada to forego any gentlemanliness.
Anyone else like Haiti to make it into the ocho? Over the past few years I've seen a real improvement in their play when they are televised. I think they are a bit underrated, and if I'm in their group or if they top the group, drawn against them in the home and home series, I'm not looking forward to it. I just hope they don't get drawn against Canada, although that would be materially better for the US if one of those two were eliminated at that stage.
The draw is already done. Winner of Canada's group plays the winner of Haiti's group. Canada has a likely must win/tie game versus Suriname in the group, and a must win game against Haiti (or possibly Nicaragua) in the playoff. The Ocho will be: El Salvador/T&T/St. Kitts Who Knows at this point? Canada/Suriname/Haiti Curacao/Panama/DR/Guatemala US Mexico Costa Rica Honduras Jamaica The strength of the Ocho largely depends, I think, on how good you think the Canadians actually are and if Jamaica can recruit and integrate quickly enough to be a force. If so, even though Costa Rica and Honduras might not be at their best, this might be the toughest qualifying round ever in terms of comp / last ever with 3.5 slots.
Well, Turkey is being typical Turkey today and currently drawing Latvia 3-3 at home after having been 2-0 and 3-1 up. This is Turkey's sixth ever meeting with Latvia, and their fifth in the modern era. Turkey's only ever win against Latvia came in 1924 in a friendly. Talk about a bogey team.
Yes and it was also they place where Latvia surprisingly qualified for Euro 2004 by eliminating Turkey in the Euro qualifying playoffs...
Currently 72nd minute between Costa Rica and Mexico their friendly, still 0-0. Mexico have been controlling possession, but only just now got a shot on goal I'm only seeing things on FotMob, but if that's any indication Mexico seem toothless in attack without Jimenez.
Sucks for Haiti or Canada. I think Haiti might give Canada a run for its money in that series if they play each other.
I can’t believe that was the same Turkey that dismantled Norway and the Netherlands. They smoked Norway this weekend. It wasn’t even close.
Thanks for the highlight reel. Yeah, I was too lazy to write all of that in my post but it’s a pretty famous result. Probably the biggest bottlejob ever in European qualifying playoffs. For those who don’t know, Latvia ended up having a pretty respectable tournament with a goalless draw against Germany and a narrow 1-2 loss against a vintage Czech side after going 1-0 up. They’ve never come close to that level since but somehow they always seem to turn up for a Turkey game.
Raul Jiminez is going to be a major loss for Mexico if he can't go. This team was already a question mark for me because they are pretty old in midfield and defense. That's going to be an issue late in the cycle. I still think Mexico will qualify, but they have question marks on the other side of the spectrum of the USMNT. They have experience, but how long will their legs hold out?
Armenia temporarily sits atop its group with two late goals against Romania, with Germany to play North Macedonia at home later today. Having also beaten a declining Iceland in their last game, they could well be in the mix for a playoff spot, though I doubt they'd be able to win a playoff game anyway.