The United States will have a pretty simple path through the semifinal round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.
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The top two teams in each group will advance to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, which will start in November 2016. The top two teams advancing to the final round of qualifying. The top three nations from that hexagonal round clinch berths at the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation, while the fourth-place finisher will face an Asian opponent in an intercontinental playoff. Assuming the higher ranked teams win, the group will be Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Aruba, which is a very manageable group.
In an immediate response, TT head coach Stephen Hart warned that the Group will be a challenging one.
The MNT will play each of its Group C opponents twice, once at home and once away, in round-robin play.
“They would be a formidable opponent at home”. They’ll play the victors from games between Granada/Haiti and Jamaica/Nicaragua.
The draw is favourable on paper, Hart said.
Ideally, Hart would like to have his Soca Warriors play worldwide friendly matches on every Federation Internationale de Football Association date before CONCACAF action kicks off in November.
“I don’t know what sort of system FIFA use anymore, and I’m not even sure FIFA know what sort of system they use”, said O’Neill, who captained Northern Ireland at the 1982 World Cup, long before FIFA created its rankings.
In 2008, TT and USA were also in the same semi-final group for the 2010 qualifiers with TT coming in second, defeating a second string USA 2-1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on goals by Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke.
Group B will feature Costa Rica, Panama, the victor of the Grenada vs. Haiti matchup, and the victor of the Jamaica vs. Nicaragua matchup.
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Four years ago, Wales slumped into pot six of the World Cup qualifying draw alongside the minnows of European soccer. Jamaica, who edged T&T 4-3 on penalties at last year’s Caribbean Cup, face a tough group which might contain four 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finalists.
