2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
Tournament details
Dates 15 June 2011 – 15 October 2013
Teams 35 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 144
Goals scored 444 (3.08 per match)
Attendance 2,205,645 (15,317 per match)
Top scorer(s) Belize Deon McCaulay (11 goals)
  Country qualified
  Country failed to qualify

The CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup consisted of four rounds of competition, in which the 35 member nations competed for three automatic berths at the finals in Brazil.

The United States, Costa Rica, and Honduras qualified. The fourth-place finisher, Mexico, played a two-game series against New Zealand, the first-placed team from Oceania and qualified to the Finals.

Format

In March 2011, following news that CONCACAF would not receive four spots in the 2014 World Cup, officials within CONCACAF indicated that the first format proposed would be revised.[1] Several days later, officials within CONCACAF announced the qualifying format they would present to FIFA. The proposed format, which was subsequently accepted by FIFA, consists of 4 stages.[2]

  1. Round One. Teams ranked 26–35 will play-off to reduce the number of entrants to 30.
  2. Round Two. 6 groups of 4 teams. This round includes the 5 qualifiers from the preliminary round plus teams ranked 7–25. The top team in each group advances to the next stage.
  3. Round Three (Semifinal round). 3 groups of 4. Teams ranked 1–6 face off against the 6 group winners from the previous round. The top two in each group advance.
  4. Round Four (Hexagonal). The top two teams in each group from the semifinal round compete in one group of 6. The top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the 4th place team advances to an intercontinental play-off.

Entrants

All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF entered qualification. The seeding – used to draw the first three rounds of the qualifiers – was based on the FIFA World Rankings of March 2011.[3] (World rankings shown in parentheses)[4]

Bye to third round
(Ranked 1st to 6th)		 Bye to second round
(Ranked 7th to 25th)		 Competing in first round
(Ranked 26th to 35th)
  1.  United States (19)
  2.  Mexico (27)
  3.  Honduras (38)
  4.  Jamaica (48)
  5.  Costa Rica (53)
  6.  Cuba (64)
  1.  Panama (68)
  2.  Canada (84)
  3.  El Salvador (92)
  4.  Grenada (94)
  5.  Trinidad and Tobago (95)
  6.  Haiti (99)
  7.  Antigua and Barbuda (101)
  8.  Guyana (109)
  9.  Suriname (114)
  10.  Saint Kitts and Nevis (119)
  11.  Guatemala (125)
  12.  Dominica (130)
  13.  Puerto Rico (131)
  14.  Barbados (137)
  15.  Curaçao (146)
  16.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (148)
  17.  Cayman Islands (158)
  18.  Nicaragua (164)
  19.  Bermuda (165)
  1.  Belize (166)
  2.  Dominican Republic (166)
  3.  British Virgin Islands (177)
  4.  Saint Lucia (182)
  5.  Turks and Caicos Islands (193)
  6.  Bahamas (193)
  7.  Aruba (199)
  8.  U.S. Virgin Islands (200)
  9.  Anguilla (202)
  10.  Montserrat (202)

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.[3][5]

Round Matchday Date
First round First leg 15 June – 17 July 2011
Second leg
Second round Matchday 1 2–18 September 2011
Matchday 2
Matchday 3 7–15 October 2011
Matchday 4
Matchday 5 11–15 November 2011
Matchday 6
Third round Matchday 1 8–12 June 2012
Matchday 2
Matchday 3 7–11 September 2012
Matchday 4
Matchday 5 12–16 October 2012
Matchday 6
Round Matchday Date
Fourth round Matchday 1 6 February 2013
Matchday 2 22–26 March 2013
Matchday 3
Matchday 4 4–18 June 2013
Matchday 5
Matchday 6
Matchday 7 6–10 September 2013
Matchday 8
Matchday 9 11–15 October 2013
Matchday 10

The inter-confederation play-off between the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF (Mexico) and the winning team from OFC (New Zealand) was played between 13–20 November 2013.[5]

First round

The first round of the CONCACAF qualifiers saw the bottom 10 teams being paired up into five home-and-away series, with the highest ranked team facing the lowest ranked team and so on. The winners of these series proceeded to the second round.

The matchups were announced by FIFA on 26 April 2011.[6] Early indications were that the matches would be played on 3 and 7 June 2011; However, the matches were postponed to scattered days in June and July, between 15 June and 17 July.[7] The 5 winners (in bold, below) advanced to the second round of the CONCACAF qualifiers: Belize, Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Lucia, and the Bahamas.[8]

The two wins for the U.S. Virgin Islands were their first two ever in World Cup play, with their only other win prior to this coming in 1998.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Montserrat  3–8  Belize 2–5 1–3
Anguilla  0–6  Dominican Republic 0–2 0–4
U.S. Virgin Islands  4–1  British Virgin Islands 2–0 2–1
Aruba  6–6 (4–5 p)  Saint Lucia 4–2 2–4 (a.e.t.)
Turks and Caicos Islands  0–101  Bahamas 0–4 0–6

Second round

In the second round, the teams ranked 7–25 were joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams were drawn into six groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. The matches were played from 2 September to 15 November 2011.[2]

The top team from each group advanced to the third round.

Seeding

Teams were seeded into four pots – designated Pots 4 to 7 in the draw.[2] Pot 4 included teams ranked 7–12, Pot 5 teams ranked 13–18, Pot 6 teams ranked 19–24, and Pot 7 the team ranked 25 along with the 5 first round winners.

Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6 Pot 7

 Panama
 Canada
 El Salvador
 Grenada
 Trinidad and Tobago
 Haiti

 Antigua and Barbuda
 Guyana
 Suriname
 Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Guatemala
 Dominica

 Puerto Rico
 Barbados
 Curaçao
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Cayman Islands
 Nicaragua

 Bermuda
 Belize†
 Dominican Republic†
 Saint Lucia†
 Bahamas†
 U.S. Virgin Islands†

† First round winners

Groups

Note: Scores marked by * are results awarded by FIFA.

Group A

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 El Salvador 6 6 0 0 20 5 +1518
 Dominican Republic 6 2 2 2 12 8 +48
 Suriname 6 2 1 3 5 11 −67
 Cayman Islands 6 0 1 5 2 15 −131
  Cayman Islands Dominican Republic El Salvador Suriname
Cayman Islands  — 1–1 1–4 0–1
Dominican Republic  4–0 — 1–2 1–1
El Salvador  4–0 3–2 — 4–0
Suriname  1–0 1–3 1–3 —

Group B

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Guyana 6 4 1 1 9 6 +313
 Trinidad and Tobago 6 4 0 2 12 4 +812
 Bermuda 6 3 1 2 8 7 +110
 Barbados 6 0 0 6 2 14 −120
  Barbados Bermuda Guyana Trinidad and Tobago
Barbados  — 1–2 0–2 0–2
Bermuda  2–1 — 1–1 2–1
Guyana  2–0 2–1 — 2–1
Trinidad and Tobago  4–0 1–0 3–0* —

Group C

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Panama 4 4 0 0 15 2 +1312
 Nicaragua 4 2 0 2 5 7 −26
 Dominica 4 0 0 4 0 11 −110
  Dominica Nicaragua Panama
Dominica  — 0–2 0–5
Nicaragua  1–0 — 1–2
Panama  3–0 5–1 —

Group D

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Canada 6 4 2 0 18 1 +1714
 Puerto Rico 6 2 3 1 8 4 +49
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 6 1 4 1 6 8 −27
 Saint Lucia 6 0 1 5 4 23 −191
  Canada Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia
Canada  — 0–0 4–0 4–1
Puerto Rico  0–3 — 1–1 3–0
Saint Kitts and Nevis  0–0 0–0 — 1–1
Saint Lucia  0–7* 0–4* 2–4 —

Group E

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Guatemala 6 6 0 0 19 3 +1618
 Belize 6 2 1 3 9 10 −17
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6 1 2 3 4 12 −85
 Grenada 6 1 1 4 7 14 −74
  Belize Grenada Guatemala Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Belize  — 1–4 1–2 1–1
Grenada  0–3 — 1–4 1–1
Guatemala  3–1 3–0 — 4–0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  0–2 2–1 0–3 —

Group F

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Antigua and Barbuda 6 5 0 1 28 5 +2315
 Haiti 6 4 1 1 21 6 +1513
 Curaçao 6 2 1 3 15 15 07
 U.S. Virgin Islands 6 0 0 6 2 40 −380
  Antigua and Barbuda Curaçao Haiti United States Virgin Islands
Antigua and Barbuda  — 5–2 1–0 10–0
Curaçao  0–3* — 2–4 6–1
Haiti  2–1 2–2 — 6–0
U.S. Virgin Islands  1–8 0–3 0–7 —

Third round

The third round saw the top 6 seeds joined by the 6 group winners from the second round. These teams were drawn into three groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011. These matches were played from 8 June to 16 October 2012.[2]

The top two teams from each group advanced to the fourth round.

Seeding

As the draw for the third round was held before the previous matches were held, only the six teams with byes to the round were known at the time of the draw. Teams were seeded into three pots, with Pot 1 containing the top 3 seeds, Pot 2 seeds 4 to 6, and Pot 3 the 6 group winners from the second round. Each third round group contains one team from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2 and two teams from Pot 3.[2]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3

 United States
 Mexico
 Honduras

 Jamaica
 Costa Rica
 Cuba

 El Salvador†
 Guyana†
 Panama†
 Canada†
 Guatemala†
 Antigua and Barbuda†

† Second round winners whose identity was not known at the time of the draw

Groups

Group A

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 United States 6 4 1 1 11 6 +513
 Jamaica 6 3 1 2 9 6 +310
 Guatemala 6 3 1 2 9 8 +110
 Antigua and Barbuda 6 0 1 5 4 13 −91
  United States Jamaica Guatemala Antigua and Barbuda
United States  — 1–0 3–1 3–1
Jamaica  2–1 — 2–1 4–1
Guatemala  1–1 2–1 — 3–1
Antigua and Barbuda  1–2 0–0 0–1 —

Group B

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Mexico 6 6 0 0 15 2 +1318
 Costa Rica 6 3 1 2 14 5 +910
 El Salvador 6 1 2 3 8 11 −35
 Guyana 6 0 1 5 5 24 −191
  Mexico Costa Rica El Salvador Guyana
Mexico  — 1–0 2–0 3–1
Costa Rica  0–2 — 2–2 7–0
El Salvador  1–2 0–1 — 2–2
Guyana  0–5 0–4 2–3 —

Group C

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Honduras 6 3 2 1 12 3 +911
 Panama 6 3 2 1 6 2 +411
 Canada 6 3 1 2 6 10 −410
 Cuba 6 0 1 5 1 10 −91
  Honduras Panama Canada Cuba
Honduras  — 0–2 8–1 1–0
Panama  0–0 — 2–0 1–0
Canada  0–0 1–0 — 3–0
Cuba  0–3 1–1 0–1 —

Fourth round

In the fourth round, the three group winners and three runners-up from the third round competed in a double round robin, including a home and away match against the other five teams between 6 February and 15 October 2013. The round is informally referred to as the 'Hexagonal' or just 'The Hex'.[11] The draw for 'The Hex' was conducted by FIFA on 7 November 2012.[12]

The top three teams qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals, while the fourth-placed team will play a home-away series against New Zealand, the winner of Oceania. Teams are ranked first by total points in all games, then, if tied, by best goal differential in all games, then by total goals in all games. If still tied, the same criteria are applied to games among the tied teams.

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 United States 10 7 1 2 15 8 +722
 Costa Rica 10 5 3 2 13 7 +618
 Honduras 10 4 3 3 13 12 +115
 Mexico 10 2 5 3 7 9 −211
 Panama 10 1 5 4 10 14 −48
 Jamaica 10 0 5 5 5 13 −85
  Costa Rica Honduras Jamaica Mexico Panama United States
Costa Rica  — 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 3–1
Honduras  1–0 — 2–0 2–2 2–2 2–1
Jamaica  1–1 2–2 — 0–1 1–1 1–2
Mexico  0–0 1–2 0–0 — 2–1 0–0
Panama  2–2 2–0 0–0 0–0 — 2–3
United States  1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 —
  Top three teams qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup
  Fourth-placed team advanced to the CONCACAF v OFC play-off

Intercontinental play-off

The winner of the OFC qualification tournament, New Zealand, played against CONCACAF's fourth-placed team, Mexico, in a home-and-away play-off. Mexico, the winner of this play-off, qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The first leg was played on 13 November 2013 in Mexico, and the second leg was played on 20 November 2013.[13]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mexico  9–3  New Zealand 5–1 4–2

Goalscorers

There were 444 goals scored over 144 games, for an average of 3.08 goals per game.

11 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

References

  1. ↑ CONCACAF to seek change in World Cup qualifying Archived 18 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Preliminary Competition Format and Draw Procedure – North, Central and Caribbean Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  3. 1 2 "World Cup qualifying to begin June 3". Concacaf.com. 27 Aug 2009. Retrieved 6 Nov 2012.
  4. ↑ "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - March 2011 (CONCACAF)". Fifa.com. Retrieved 6 Nov 2012.
  5. 1 2 "FIFA Calendar". FIFA.com.
  6. ↑ "Play-off-matches in CONCACAF". The-FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 Apr 2011. Retrieved 26 Apr 2011.
  7. ↑ "Montserrat-Belize to open World Cup qualifying". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Concacaf Fixtures". fifa.com. FIFA. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  9. ↑ "Bahamas withdraws from World Cup qualifying". concacaf.com. CONCACAF. 19 Aug 2011. Retrieved 20 Aug 2011.
  10. ↑ "Bahamas withdraw from 2014 World Cup qualifiers". fifa.com. FIFA. 22 Aug 2011. Retrieved 22 Aug 2011.
  11. ↑ "Whitecaps FC players set for important World Cup qualifying matches". WhiteCapsFC.com. 11 Oct 2012. Retrieved 15 Oct 2012.
  12. ↑ "World Cup qualifying - draw set for CONCACAF 'hex' round - ESPN FC". Soccernet.espn.go.com. 19 Oct 2012. Retrieved 6 Nov 2012.
  13. ↑ "International Match Calendar 2013–2018" (PDF). FIFA.com.

External links

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