By AARON CRANFORD
CONCACAF’s road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia begins Sunday when U.S. Virgin Islands visits Barbados in the first qualifier of the first round.
Seeding in January decided that the CONCACAF member nations ranked 22nd through 35th would play in the first round, and that action will start later today and end March 31.
One of the bigger nations competing in the first round, Nicaragua, will face Anguilla, one of the smallest nations competing in all of FIFA’s qualification matches for the World Cup and the second worst member nation competing based on the latest FIFA Rankings.
Meanwhile, the winner of the two-legged affair between Dominica and British Virgin Islands will meet Canada in June for the second round of qualification.
Check out a full list of the first round matchups below:
CONCACAF FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (All matches in Eastern Time)
U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Barbados (March 22, 7 p.m. and March 26, 3:30 p.m.)
Winner plays Aruba in the second round (June 8, 16).
Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. Turks and Caicos Islands (March 23, 8 p.m. and March 26, 7 p.m.)
Winner plays El Salvador in the second round (June 8, 16).
Nicaragua vs. Anguilla (March 23, 8 p.m. and March 29, 5 p.m.)
Winner plays Suriname in the second round (June 8, 16).
Bahamas vs. Bermuda (March 25, 7:30 p.m. and March 29, 3 p.m.)
Winner plays Guatemala in the second round (June 8, 16).
Belize vs. Cayman Islands (March 25, 10 p.m. and March 29, 8 p.m.)
Winner plays Dominican Republic in the second round (June 8, 16).
British Virgin Islands vs. Dominica (March 26, 7 p.m. and March 29, 5 p.m.)
Winner plays Canada in the second round (June 8, 16).
Curacao vs. Montserrat (March 27, 8 p.m. and March 31, 6:30 p.m.)
Winner plays Cuba in the second round (June 8, 16).
User222, the host of the 2026 will go to which ever nation can sucure the most vital votes for Blatter’s cover up. Wouldnt be surprised to see the Caymon Islands hosting or maybe the USA as a “we are still friends, right? Now deliver the votes” award
Personally, I think a “confederation-hosted” World Cup is a fantastic and completely achievable idea. UEFA is already planning on experimenting with this for Euro 2020, and I am very interested to see how it goes.
Why should World Cups be held in only one country? Too often, this involves the construction of hugely unnecessary infrastructure (as well as an obviously corrupt and inefficient bid process).
I think a “CONCACAF 2026” World Cup could be utterly fantastic. Why not stage a few group stage games in the Caribbean or Central America, even if the majority tournament is staged in the US/MEX/CAN? Considering the fact that the World Cup is typically a “destination event” for global soccer tourists, I can’t imagine anybody would be all that upset by having to visit Costa Rica or Jamaica to see their teams play early-round games
I’m not saying it will happen… simply asking, “Why not?”. Logistical problems? Those can always be solved, particularly with that much money on the table.
will Concacaf host World Cup 2026? in this confederation only the “big” 3, US, CAN, MX can deliver…
How about a WC hosted in the Caribbean, hosted by all the islands from including Cuba, PR, DR, TT, Jamaica and all the dozen other FIFA members? it’d be football in paradise as those places are 100% tourist destinations… the main problem is they dont have stadiums.
Also, you’d need to set aside about a dozen automatic qualifying spots…
Tom, i’m assuming you are American? If so, then you should know that population size doesnt correlate to success in soccer. Just look at the Usmnt. The reason Nicaragua is bad is because according to some metrics, they are the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti.
UclaBruinGreat, I do not know what being an American has to do with your statement. Your statement carried a lot weight without it.
I bring it up because nobody follows the USMNT more than Americans. The United States is a clear example of population size in a country not translating to success for the national team. I don’t get why that wasn’t clear.
What? Population size doesn’t correlate to success? Then why do China and India always win the World Cup?
I am well aware of the fact that population doesn’t correlate to success – countries like Uruguay (half the population of Panama) have been extremely successful on the world state and even little itty bitty countries like Martinque (1/20th the size of Nicaragua) manage to find a few decent players for regional competitions.
I would like to take this time to formally apologize for offering an opinion in an online forum. I should have known that someone would make a patently obvious statement to sarcastically refute any attempt at a dialogue.
Sincerely,
A presumed American
Whoa, sensitive much? First of all, you made a comment saying you are surprised about something, and I responded to you saying why you shouldnt be. Second of all, there was nothing sarcastic about my response to you. If you think it was then look up the word sarcasm in the dictionary. Third, how did I refute any attempt at dialogue? Me responding to your comment is engaging in dialogue.
Basically you are way off on all counts.
With over 6 million people I’m always surprised by how crappy Nicaragua is…
Nicaragua is more of a baseball country than a soccer country.