Also shot in the dark but has anyone heard a rumour about when the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs) matchups will be announced?
Canada need to go for broke and play one of the big guns with all they got: Argentina, Belgium, Spain, Brazil. Only way to get those points in time. Play it like a final. You either get the win or get slaughtered, but at least tried and didn't hide like El Salvador.
Why does everyone think we cant get the points in time? If we win all three of these matches we'll be 9 points back with two official FIFA windows left. Plus there has been discussion of playing matches in May. So no, we dont need to play Brazil lol
Or, Canada could take a more sinister, blatantly un-Canadian route: Montagliani channels his inner Jack Warner and works out a backroom deal with Cordeiro, the USSF withdraws from the Nations League...and all of a sudden, Canada's got a juicy semifinal with Honduras with literally nothing to lose
7 January Canada(1331) vs. Barbados(1011) 4-1 1 - (1/(10^(-320/600) + 1)) = 0.2265 5 * 0.2265 = 1.1325 CAN + 1 BRB -1 MEX 1621 USA 1540 CRC 1442 JAM 1437 HON 1377 SLV 1346 -- CAN 1332 (+1) CUW 1313 PAN 1304 HAI 1285
Mark my words: Canada fails to take a big risk, they won't be in the Hex. They need to play a big team and beat it.
I hope they announce it before the Oceanian qualifiers start in June. It used to be done at the WCQ draw for all confederations, which no longer exists.
Sure, and all we need to do to win the World Cup is to play a bunch of big teams and beat them. Playing a team like Brazil or Spain (assuming we could arrange it) would be like buying a lottery ticket: A huge pay off if you happen to win but really low odds of ever cashing in. We have a much better chance of getting to the hex by arranging a series of small but winnable steps. We still might not make it but the chances are far higher than risking everything on an all or nothing long shot.
A more reasonable calculated risk for Canada perhaps could be to arrange a friendly(ies) against relatively high-ranked mid-tier Euro team. UEFA teams will be free for friendly matches during the June window with the Euro coming up. I don’t think European sides that have qualified for the Euro would be likely to want to prepare by playing Canada, but perhaps Canada could convince some non-qualified Euro teams to make the trip to Canada. I think Canada is capable of beating a team like Serbia, Slovakia, or the Republic of Ireland at home. It’s not guaranteed, but the chances are high enough that the benefit may be worth the calculated risk.
Beating them by a couple of points, however, means SLV can schedule a couple of games against St. Vincent and recover those points.
Ok then, how about the CSA just say "F' it" and offer El Salvador a ton of money for a home-and-away series?
Why? Has FIFA ever prevented two teams in good standing from playing a friendly against each other? Teams get paid to play friendlies all the time.
He was talking about Canada offering them "a ton of money" for coming out of their den. I bet they'd find something wrong with that.
Regardless of what FIFA thinks, would El Salvador take the money if by not taking the money they thought they could sell tickets to Hexagonal games hosting the top teams?
All of this being hypothetical... The Salvadoran Fed could commission a study of how much they'd stand to make by playing in the Hex and demand the CSA offer at least half of that amount for the friendlies...knowing full well that la Selecta would just have to win one of the two games and their Hex spot is safe, basically fleecing the Canadians.
No one in the Salvadorian FA is going to commission that study. There are people on these boards that have already given more thought to the different scenarios that could play out over the next few months than anyone at the Salvadorian FA has. Recently the FA president in El Salvador said they were looking at possibly scheduling a friendly in March against either Greece, Switzerland, Hungry or Costa Rica. If Canada offered them money for the game they would take it and if asked why they did so they would spin it as them trying to prepare the team for the hex. The level of incompetence and corruption in the Salvadorian FA would surprise some of you.
10 January Canada(1332) vs. Barbados(1010) 4-1 1 - (1/(10^(-322/600) + 1)) = 0.2252 5 * 0.2252 = 1.126 CAN +1 BRB -1 MEX 1621 USA 1540 CRC 1442 JAM 1437 HON 1377 SLV 1346 -- CAN 1333 (+2) CUW 1313 PAN 1304 HAI 1285
I'm a bit late here: 15 January Canada(1333) vs. Iceland(1464) 0-1 1 - (1/(10^(-131/600) + 1)) = 0.3769 5 * 0.3769 = 1.8845 ISL +2 CAN -2 MEX 1621 USA 1540 CRC 1442 JAM 1437 HON 1377 SLV 1346 -- CAN 1331 CUW 1313 PAN 1304 HAI 1285 In my rounded-off version, Canada's January friendlies yielded a net zero points. In reality Canada gained approximately 1/3 of a point.
No one got as screwed by this new format as Canada. Not only they have to travel the longest distances now, to Central America and Caribbean lands, but this was also the time when they had a solid shot to make the Hex. And don't tell me the format was changed because the usual schedule didn't fit. Grab pen and paper and check yourself, keeping in mind all the windows that have gone by with friendlies only already. I'm a Yank fan but I'm convinced this change in format was made to avoid the USA not making it again. C-CAF loses money when we don't make it. Since the 2026 is hosted in North America and by 2030 there's going to be 48 teams for sure, this is also the only time such little help will be needed.
If Canada was not always gifted qualification to the Gold Cup and had to play their way in like all the Central American and Caribbean teams, they would likely have a higher FIFA rank by virtue of probably doing well enough to still qualify in qualifying tournament.