The winner of each of these two play-off matches also qualify to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Panama and Mexico have already qualified for the 2015 World Cup 2015.
The last 2 sports will go to the winner of the above games.
This site is about CONCACAF soccer with an American view. Concentration on the tournaments like the Gold Cup, World Cup qualification, U-20, U-18 and Olympic qualifications. Also a look at the New Nations League and Champions League and a little MLS as it competes in international tournaments.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
World Cup U-20 berths is on the line tonight for USA
The winner of each of these two play-off matches also qualify to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Panama and Mexico have already qualified for the 2015 World Cup 2015.
The last 2 sports will go to the winner of the above games.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
WCQ 2018 Russia predictions of round 1 and round 2
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
The draw was tonight.....so here is my quick predictions before my research starts
Match 1
Match 2 Dominica over British Virgin Islands big. The British Virgin Islands lost to the US Virgins in last cycle. British Virgins suck…no pun intended. Dominica big.
Round 2
1) Canada will beat Dominica
2) Guatemala no one wanted. They are tremendous at home and will not allow a Caribbean nation to beat them there. Bermuda is the second best nation coming out of the 1st round and they journey to Russia will end in Guatemala City.
3) El Salvador will beat Saint Kitts and Nevis and this should be the biggest lopsided Match in the Second round. El Salvador will be getting ready for the next round.
4) Cuba will be tested against Curaco but will get by.
5) Dominican Rep will play Belize and I see this Caribbean nation advancing past a Central American nation. Dominican Republic are small, fast and determined....they however lack technical skills, Remember this is/was a baseball playing nation....
6)Aruba gets a lucky by drawing Barbados but we could see an upset or a correction in the rankings
7) Nicaragua unfortunately has to play the South American nation of Suriname. Suriname. I have been hoping Nicaragua will finally catch up to their Central American neighbors and advance. They however got a very tough draw in Suriname. Suriname (South America) are talented and tactically sound....This will be the best Round 2 series.
8)Antigua and Barbuda will face off against a tough Saint Lucia. Two small members
9)Guyana should beat Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
10) Puerto Rico fans got a very difficult draw against Grenada. This is a game I hope the better team wins and on paper Puerto Rico will get their international players and advance.
The biggest problem I have is Round 2 and round 3 is it only has home and away. I think that these nations and their fans need more games like the 2014 qualification. Nations like Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Cuba could only have 2 games to promote the sport for the 2018 World Cup qualification. This will be very unfortunate for all the fans and an opportunity missed.
The draw was tonight.....so here is my quick predictions before my research starts
Match 1
Match 1 Bermuda was in a difficult group for the 2014 WCQ with
winner Guyana 13 pts, T&T 12 pts and Barbados 0 pts. Bermuda was tied by
Guyana in the 81 minute to push Guyana to the next round. I see Bermuda again
playing on in the next round. Bahamas with over 300,000 in population is still
considered a minnow because of their lack of quality play. Their last game was
in 2011. The Federation dropped out of WCQ last time around with lack of funds.
Bahamas just isn’t supported.
Match 2 Dominica over British Virgin Islands big. The British Virgin Islands lost to the US Virgins in last cycle. British Virgins suck…no pun intended. Dominica big.
Match
3 Barbados over US Virgin
Islands. Barbados is not an awful club just a bad one. They kept it tight
against Guyana, T&T and Bermuda last cycle but did not win a game. US
Virgin is awful.
Match 4 This is the battle of the multiple islands. Turks and something agaisn St. Kitts and some other island....confused...so is CONCACAF. Turks did not get past Bahamas in the
last cycle losing 10-0 aggregate. St Kitts will advance.
Match 5 Nicaragua is glad they have to play
in round 1….just to warm up. They should slaughter Anguilla and be ready for
next round.
Match 6 Cayman are not that bad but not as
good as Belize. Belize has international experience in the Gold Cup 2013. Belize
wins here
Match 7 Monserrat
lost 3-8 to Belize in the last WCQ cycle. Curacao is about as good as Belize
was. I see the same result.
Round 2
1) Canada will beat Dominica
2) Guatemala no one wanted. They are tremendous at home and will not allow a Caribbean nation to beat them there. Bermuda is the second best nation coming out of the 1st round and they journey to Russia will end in Guatemala City.
3) El Salvador will beat Saint Kitts and Nevis and this should be the biggest lopsided Match in the Second round. El Salvador will be getting ready for the next round.
4) Cuba will be tested against Curaco but will get by.
5) Dominican Rep will play Belize and I see this Caribbean nation advancing past a Central American nation. Dominican Republic are small, fast and determined....they however lack technical skills, Remember this is/was a baseball playing nation....
6)Aruba gets a lucky by drawing Barbados but we could see an upset or a correction in the rankings
7) Nicaragua unfortunately has to play the South American nation of Suriname. Suriname. I have been hoping Nicaragua will finally catch up to their Central American neighbors and advance. They however got a very tough draw in Suriname. Suriname (South America) are talented and tactically sound....This will be the best Round 2 series.
8)Antigua and Barbuda will face off against a tough Saint Lucia. Two small members
9)Guyana should beat Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
10) Puerto Rico fans got a very difficult draw against Grenada. This is a game I hope the better team wins and on paper Puerto Rico will get their international players and advance.
The biggest problem I have is Round 2 and round 3 is it only has home and away. I think that these nations and their fans need more games like the 2014 qualification. Nations like Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Cuba could only have 2 games to promote the sport for the 2018 World Cup qualification. This will be very unfortunate for all the fans and an opportunity missed.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
CONCACAF U-20 Championship 2015
January 9th - 24th, 2015
Ok, Our attention now turns to Jamaica. Jamaica is hosting CONCACAF 2nd most prestigious tournament (excluding the women). The U-20 Championship.
AS you know the USA host the Gold Cup every other year. IT hosted in the states since it is so successful and profitable there. CONCACAF gets the money from this tournament. The only chance another nation has to host is the U-20, U-18 or U-15 tournaments. Lets face it the younger the players the less interest.
The Championship Era started in 2009 which was a good idea by CONCACAF to promote the sport and the age group. The hosting started with a Caribbean nation, then a Central American, next 2013 was Mexico. The next host went back to the Caribbean (Jamaica). I see this trend continuing. I believe Costa Rica or Nicaragua will host this nice little tournament in 2017 then Back to North America's -Canada in 2019.
| Year | Host | Champions | Runner-up | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Trinidad and Tobago |  Costa Rica |  United States |  Honduras | |
| 2011 |  Guatemala |  Mexico | Costa Rica | Guatemala | |
| 2013 | Mexico | Mexico | United States |  El Salvador | |
| 2015 |  Jamaica |
Mexico has dominated this tournament with 12 Titles. Canada, Honduras and Costa Rica each have two. The only other nation to win is El Salvador in 1964.
However in 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007 there was no Champion declared. The USA did win their group in 3 of the 5 tournaments.
This will be a very competitive tournament that will be played in Jamaica. There will be two groups of 6 nations. You will play every team in your group once. This guarantees nations will play at least 5 games at the international level. This is a good idea to grow the sport in all nation, not just the consistently successful nations. Predictions to follow...
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