CONCACAF Got it Right.... Finally!!!!

I'm super glad that CONCACAF found a way to give every team a shot at one of the three automatic spots for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Canada, who sits seventh in Concacaf was faced with a daunting challenge before the Coronavirus which was to only compete with .5 of a spot for the upcoming world cup. This was going to be a challenge because they were going to punished because of lack of ranking points among other things.

This format isn't perfect by any means but it will do because of the current pandemic. Canada has six games between them and the new Octagonal last stage that the region has adopted this time around.

Early predictions are that Canada is the favorite to be one of the three teams to reach the final stage of qualifying. They would join the other five that have already qualified.

Personally, I'm not going to get much good sleep from now until when the draw takes place on August 14th. I don't want to see Guatemala in the group stage. Yes, I believe that we are better then them but with no home and away currently scheduled for the first group stage, I am very concerned that we will draw an away game for Pot 2. If that happens, that could be the Achilles heel for the Canadian Men's National team. Playing in Central America without a return leg is one thing that I believe would derail Canada's Qualifying hopes.

If they qualify for the second phase, they will play a home and away with Group E winner that is projected to be Haiti. Despite losing to Haiti at the 2019 Gold Cup, over a two legged tie I really fancy our chances. For one, we had a 2-0 lead in that quarterfinal game. Two, at home we still should be able to win at home and therefore we would have a different mindset up 2-0 in a two legged tie.

Here is a potential mock draft for the qualifying:

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	El Salvador	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	A2  Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	A3 Grenada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	A4 Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	A5 Bahamas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on a day in October 2020. Source: FIFA

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	B2 Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	B3  Barbados	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	B4 Dominica	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	B5 Aruba	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on a day in October 2020. Source: FIFA

Group C[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Curaçao	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	C2 Suriname	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C3  Guyana	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	C4  Montserrat	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	C5 Anguilla	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on a day in October 2020. Source: FIFA

Group D[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Panama	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	D2 Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	D3 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	D4 Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	D5 Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on a day in October 2020. Source: FIFA

Group E[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Haiti	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	E2 Guatemala	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	E3 Bermuda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	E4 Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	E5 U.S. Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on a day in October 2020. Source: FIFA

Group F[edit]

Pos	Team [  v t e  ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round
2	F2 Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	F3 Belize	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	F4 Saint Lucia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	F5 British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

   As the mock draw indicated, there is not much to worry about. If they draw an away game in pot 2 then they need to dig deep to get a result. There is not many teams to be concerned about in pots 3, 4 and 5 but I would hate for my worst nightmare to come true.


I'll have more on this in the coming weeks.