By ADAM TROXTELL
The groups for the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying were announced on Saturday, and the U.S. Men’s National Team has landed in a favorable group.
The USMNT will begin its road to Russia 2018 by playing in Group C alongside Trinidad & Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines or Aruba, and one of Guatemala or Antigua and Barbuda. The final two spots in the group will be decided by games this fall before fourth-round matches commence on Nov. 7.
Meanwhile, Mexico was drawn into Group A alongside fellow 2014 World Cup participant Honduras. The winners of Curacao/El Salvador and Canada/Belize will join them.
Costa Rica and Panama lead the charge in Group B, which could wind up being the Group of Death. Gold Cup finalists Jamaica will play Nicaragua to determine which of them joins the Central American nations, while Grenada and Haiti will play for the other spot.
The fourth round of qualifying will see the top two teams advance from each group to make up the final six teams that will be grouped together to compete for places at World Cup 2018 in Russia in the fifth round.
The top three teams in the fifth round will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the fourth-placed finisher plays the fifth-placed team from Asia in a playoff.
Fourth round games will commence Nov. 7 and wrap up on Sept. 16, 2016. The fifth round begins on Nov. 7, 2016.
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What do you think of the USMNT’s draw? How much tougher are the other groups? Could Canada be any unluckier? Who do you see making it into the Hexagonal?
Share your thoughts below.
The problem is that Klinsmann keeps strating his son in the midfield instead of Landon Howard, dammit
Cant call them weak teams, a lot of their players call north american teams their home. The level of play may not be top 3 european league but Very active and decent in a constant basis. We have to admit these national teams are good more than we think. Not to mention we have to stick with the players we used in europe, those player can e one of the best usa teams. Time to move from MLS dinasours and move to the new gen. This was literally the death of the old guard.
Which old players are you referring to? Dempsey, Bradley, Guzan, Beckerman, of the 4 only Beckerman had a bad tournament (Wondo and Gordon played so little that they are arguably there more for situational things than anything else.)
Well Bradley did not take the team on his back and carry it victory, but he was the best player on a consistent basis. Dempsey did have moments of greatness and scored goals. Guzan did make a couple bad mistakes in the semifinal, but on the whole, he kept the US in games they really had no business winning.
The shortcomings mostly came from young players like Alvarado, Yedlin, Brooks, AJ, Gonzo, Morales, Zusi and Mix . Of the young guys, only Zardes was impressive.
Players in the mid-age range Bedoya, FJ and even Ream did well.
So yes, Beckerman, Wondo, and Gordon may not be back, but some of the young guys should not be back for some time either.
Im going to suggest Bradley is still mid-range. Isnt he 28 or 29? I looked it up for you. 27 today. 28 Friday
I can. They are weak. Of the 5 other teams drawn in USA’s group only T&T is even a mild threat to the USA, and from what I saw in the tournament- no better or worse than Panama or Haiti. There is no reason to lose to them in theUS and it the away fixture there is 50/50 at worst for the US
Honduras, El Salvador and Canada presumably won’t be push overs for this USMNT under Klinsmann. We’re woeful and may continue to be under the grand German impresario. This isn’t
a weak group, mark my words.
I have to agree with you. No way they are winning away to El Sal or Honduras, and god forbid they don’t get the 6 points against Canada, who even when inferior gives us tough games. So, they need to get all 9 points at home.
We’ll never win our group with Mexico, Suriname, & Puerto Rico. Read first, Post second.
I will go so far as to predict we will win 0 (ZERO!) points from El Salvador, Hondorus or Canada in the next round of CONCACAF WC qualifying.
It will be like we aren’t even on the field with those teams.
As a believer Gary, I do not judge. A person’s track record is a reflection of their ability. Thus far, when presented with all the tools and resources, JK’S track record as a coach is left to be desired. Not all good players become good coaches. As a supporter of the USA Team, I want the Coach to place the Team in the best position at all times to succeed. Do you think JK has the ability to do so? It’s time people stop making excuses for him. Yes, Honduras did not make it through the Group Stage but they play more attractive and cohesive football than the USA. JK is like a kid who admired his dad’s ferrari all his life. One day the dad gave him the keys and told him it’s his. Now with the keys in his hands he does not know what to do with the car.
Excellent, well said.
With teams in CONCACAF obvioulsy getting better maybe its time to expand the HEX to 8 teams? I dont think its crazy talk anymore.
lol what a coincidence and all the most dangerous teams to the US and Mexico land in the same group lol.
Wow! USA got lucky. Oh my beloved Jamaica, it’s going to be a tough road but I’m sure Shafer will see us through this Group. To my adopted Country, if you don’t get a new Coach then you’ll probably end up in the playoff with Asia. To my fellow Americans, why is Shafer able to build such a cohesive fluid Team in 2 years? This has eluded JK since he was hired. Is it the Coach or the players? Some have lamented our European based players returning to the MLS. However, most of the top Carribbean and Central American Teams have benefited from their players plying their trade in the MLS. We have a better player pool than what’s reflected on the field. JK is allowing his prejudice/ego to cloud his judgment. He left Besler off the squad for the Gold Cup and Donovan off the WC Team to prove a point. This was at the detriment of the Team. I’ve not seen the best players the USA has on the pitch in a single game since JK took over. He keeps experimenting with Chandler, but is reluctant to give Ream a chance to play LB. He is more technical and reads the game better than Garza or Shea. If JK was coaching a NBA or NFL Team he’d be gone by now with so much money invested in him. There has been improvement with the depth of the player pool and quality of the players. However, this does not translate to quality on the field or results in match that count. T&T, Haiti, JA, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and other Teams are improved and playing attractive football. Sometimes it seems like the USA is regressing.
A home and home round robin is the sternest test of a team. We’ll see how everyone does in a couple of years, then be in a better place to judge. Based on the Gold Cup you would have to conclude that the Honduras coach, Pinto, is lousy since they didn’t get out of their group. That same coach took Costa Rica to the quarter finals of the World Cup. Two of my favorite verses in the Bible are judge not, lest ye be judged, and he who is without sin may cast the first stone.
Bro, you lead the Klinsmann apologetic fan club. Way to go.
Jamaica killed us with:
Watson, Barnes and Mattocks – MLS, Not even ALL-STAR material
McCleary, Austin, McAnuff, – Championship league (average age 31)
……all I can say Winfried Schäfer is a damn good coach.
Or his opposite number is a damn lousy coach.
could we maybe get a look at benny feilhaber in the middle with junior one of these days???
The biggest difference between Jamaica’s coach (Shafer) and the US coach (JK) are their teams faults.
1) Historically Jamaica has almost always had a dangerous attack, but lacked defensive Discipline while in the past the US has had a disciplined defense but relied on a counter attacking style of play. Shafer has instituted rigid discipline and has relied on counter attacks & set pieces. JK is trying to get the US to play a possession type of game with flair and a fluid attack. Of the two Possession and Flair are harder to implement.
2) As referenced in some articles written about Jamaica during this Gold Cup….Jamaica’s team has been together training and playing competitive matches for nearly 2 months. This has greatly improved the chemistry and cohesiveness of the Jamaican players during their GC run.
I’m not trying to belittle what Jamaica has accomplished or make excuses for the poor performances that the US put together during the GC but both of these factors have played a part in where these 2 teams are now.
Last point I want to make….JK is not much of a tactical manager. His player selections (Wondo), formations, and substitution patterns have lead a lot to be desired. Hopefully going forward these areas improve and/or are resolved. If not the US will continue to struggle with teams that bunker on them.
Stop making grand conclusions based on one game. Jamaica will be lucky to make it out of this round and the USMNT will qualify for Russia easily. One fluke win doesn’t make you world beaters.
This was the biggest embarrassment in US soccer history, you have to admit that. I am not so confident now the USMNT will advance to the world cup.
Jamaica’s success was not a one-game thing. In South America, the lost three 1-0 games against very good teams. In 5 games in the Gold Cup, the allowed just 3 goals. They are big, strong and very well organized defensively. Perhaps their weakest performance was in the win vs the US. or maybe that was the US’s best performance,
A criticism of Jamaica is that they have lacked in goal-scoring and relied on scraping out 1-0 wins. That means they will lose some games, but I will be at the final today and expect Jamaica will be adequate to stop what has been a pretty toothless attack from Mexico. The challenge will be if they can score a goal or 2.
LOL…so going 3 and out in the Copa America proves Jamaica is now a big-time soccer country? Enjoy your success in this Gold Cup, it’ll probably be your last one for a while.
Go back to Jamaica .
It doesn’t matter how weak the group is, with the USMNT you just never know.
After losing consecutive games to Jamaica and Panama, this has never been more true
The USMNT is weak right now because their head coach (I am not even going to mention his name) has demoralized them by losing to teams that Bruce and Bob beat handily, teams that only have one WC appearance combined.
The thing tat burns me about the draw is that Jamaica has to earn a berth in the next round of qualification when they could be the CONCACAF champion tomorrow. Shouldn’t the results of the Gold Cup bear some relevance in determining who the seeded teams are in WC qualification. Couldn’t the draw have been postponed by 1 day (or the GC final advanced by one day) to take the GC finals into account?
Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you get screwed over when you haven’t done anything wrong. My sister won an employee of the year award one year at a large company and a couple of years later lost her job in a mass layoff.
Please send your sister my condolences, Gary.
Please send your sister my phone number, Gary.
Please, tell your sister that I have an extra room in da house.
The seeding was set on the basis of August 2014 rankings. How do expect FIFA/CONCACAF to account for future performances?
he clearly doesn’t, he’s suggesting the draws could happen after the Gold Cup to keep current. This is different than “expect[ing] FIFA/CONCACAF to account for future performances”
Can’t imagine Panama is happy about a possible group of Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti, and themselves… they could easily be the weakest team in the group despite getting a bye to the fourth round. I suppose while they are making allegations of improprieties, they can add the WCQ draw to their list.
I’m sure some will say (and really believe) the draw is part of the punishment for their on-field demonstrations.
If the US drops any points in this group, Klinsmann should be banned from coaching.
Whether the U.S. drops points or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is qualifying for the World Cup. Performance in the qualifiers is not indicative of how the U.S. will play in Russia.
Well, if they drop one to many points then qualifying for the World Cup won’t be possible. Therefore, it does matter whether they drop points or not.
Dropping points might happen the away games can be tough and the fields really bad. But how the US plays is really important. As my son and I agreed during the group play in the Gold Cup the US sucked. They could not maintain possession, let the opponents have way too much time in the attacking third and lost way too many 50-50 balls. The scores matter, but if the soccer is not better, it is either fire Klinsmann or fire the team.
Really? of course we should win this group but it wouldn’t be that crazy to see TnT take some points from us- did you not watch them go toe to toe with Mexico in the best game of the Gold Cup? They’re legit
Basn him anyway. Germans raus hier
Alles wird gut gehen.
They will drop points for sure, the question is, how many? If they don’t get all 6 points against Canada, they are in big trouble, because they are not wining away to El Sal or Honduras. This based on recent developments at the Gold Cup when we played at home.
No offense, but I would recommend reading the article again.