Dates for the New Proposed CONCACAF WCQ

Ok here are the new proposed dates for the “New” CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. There is a preliminary round with a few dates to reduce the field to 30. The top 6 nations get a bye. The top nations that get this lucky bye are (USA, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba). These top 6 nations go directly to the Second round of qualifying that starts in 2012. This is the semi-final round that always seems to have the "group of death". The most interesting part of the proposal is the First round.

The first round now has 24 nations participating. All these nations will be placed in 6 groups of 4. These smaller countries will get a chance to play many more games than they ever had before. This new proposal will also bring back the HEX. This is good for the USA vs Mexico rivalry game and good for the region to have such popular World Wide appealing game.


2011 dates
The first round has 6 dates in 2011. There will be 6 groups of 4 nations that will play a home and away series. CONCACAF officials are changing the format to benefit the smaller Caribbean nations. These nations will now have an opportunity to host a World Cup qualifying game. Not just one game but host 3 home games and play a total of 6 World Cup qualifying games. These countries will ahve a chance to capture their nations attention throughout the 2011 year. These countries could be in striking distance if they can get a result on the road. They could also benefit from an upset of the favorite of the group. Some countries could benefit greatly from this experience. WCQ is the best way to bring attention to the sport.

Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname and Puerto Rico are some of the nations that could benefit from this experience. All of these countries are trying to develop the sport and this would be great attention to the national team and their domestic leagues. Nicaragua has been building a national Stadium in Managua to host the national team. Playing 3 World Cup qualifying matches here would get the whole countries attention. Pueto Rico has the Islanders who won the D-2 Championship in the USa last year. Many Puertricans play for bothe the national team and the Islanders. This would be great if they beat Panama on the island. The excitement that it would bring not only to Puerto Rico but also to the other 3 nations in the group.