The Concacaf World Cup Qualifying first round finished up on Tuesday with several expected favorites booking a spot into the second round.
Canada, Panama, and El Salvador were among the teams to advance to this month’s second round after picking up wins. A total of six National Teams advanced to the second round, which will then see the party reduced to three winners for the octagonal.
Jonathan David’s hat trick and Alphonso Davies stunning finish helped the Canadians defeat Suriname 4-0 on Tuesday night in Illinois. The victory for John Herdman’s side now sets them up for a two-legged date with Haiti starting June 12th.
Saint Kitts and Nevis had already clinched a stunning spot in the next round thanks to Trinidad and Tobago’s shocking draw with the Bahamas on Monday. Despite a 2-0 defeat to the Soca Warriors on the final matchday, Saint Kitts and Nevis will have the hefty task of eliminating El Salvador over two legs.
Curacao also advanced despite a scoreless draw with Guatemala on Tuesday, setting up a two-legged showdown with Panama. Panama rolled to a 3-0 victory over the Dominican Republic after goals scored by Anibal Godoy, Edgar Barcena, and Cecelio Waterman.
El Salvador moved on to the second round after a 3-0 victory of its own against Antigua and Barbuda. Toronto FC defender Eriq Zavaleta was among the goalscorers for El Salvador, who visits Saint Kitts and Nevis in the first leg.
The first leg matches will take place on June 12 and the second leg will be on June 15. The winners from those matches will join the USMNT, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras in the hexagonal round, which is slated to begin in September.
Here’s a closer look at the second round pairings:
June 12 – First leg
Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. El Salvador
Haiti vs. Canada
Panama vs. Curacao
June 15 – Second leg
El Salvador vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis
Canada vs. Haiti
Curacao vs. Panama
With eight teams in the final round, is it now an Octagonal?
Yes switch was made when qualifying was postponed for the pandemic.
Did anyone see Canada? Do they have enough talent surrounding David and Davies to overtake the other Concacaf teams?
They didn’t look great but Suriname had a lot of European experience but they were starting 7 players over 30. I saw the first 30 minutes or so before switching over to Cur vs Gua. Canada eventually just wore them down. Davies and David make them dangerous but their backline still is weak and their midfield is mostly average MLS guys. Assuming they get passed Haiti, they’ll be in that mix of teams in the 3rd thru 6 spot during qualifying. They’ve played a lot of games around Concacaf for NL and WCQ but not really at soccer powers so we’ll see how they manage on the road in Panama or Honduras.
Canada can’t sleep on Haiti…they lost to Haiti in the last Gold Cup..
I think they’ve solidified their defense enough that they’ll be fine. They were better for most of that 3-2 match and over two legs that should give them an advantage. I’d say their odds of winning is at least 80%. Haiti also has a history of blowing it in qualifying and playing well in GC. I can’t remember the last time they even made it to the final round of qualifying.
Curaçao vs Guatemala was a fun game even though it ended 0-0. Guatemala outscored their opponents 14-0 in group play and still got eliminated, that’s pretty Concacaffy.
——————————
Suriname is following the Curaçao plan bringing in a bunch of Dutch dual nationals, most of them are in their thirties though but they might surprise someone at the GC.
———————————
Looks like the US will open at El Salvador facing off with Hugo Perez and former YNTer Josh Perez.
Is Rubio Rubin playing for Guatemala? If so, how did he look?
He has not filed any paperwork yet. He trained with them last week, like Efra training with US in Dec. Just feeling out the situation. Now that Guatemala is eliminated from WCQ this might slow him down more. They should win their qualifying tournament for the GC against Guyana & either Bahamas or Guadalupe so they would have the GC in July. With Hoppe and Dike likely being in European preseason by GC time Gregg may invite him to the US GC camp. Guatemala will always be there, they started Lom at CF who plays in the NISA for Cal United, apparently that’s considered third division in the US.
Curacao scored 15 goals, which is why they advanced….
I know but not many competitions will you lose when you outscore your opponents 14-0. Curaçao 15-1.