January 13 – The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is fading into the distance as CONCACAF gathers in Miami, Florida on Thursday, January 15 for the preliminary draw for the qualification rounds for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Games will be played March 23-31.
CONCACAF has an elaborate process for its component nations to qualify for the world’s most illustrious tournament. There are five qualification stages in total, and the first two stage games will be determined during this initial draw.
Firstly, all competing CONCACAF associations are ranked, from 1-35, according to FIFA Rankings of August 2014. For example, Costa Rica, the highest positioned CONCACAF association in FIFA rankings, takes the number 1 spot for the purposes of the draw.
The first round draw will pair associations ranked 22-35 within the CONCACAF table. There will be a home and away leg that determines who proceeds to the next stage and who drops out of the competition altogether.
The winners of the first stage will join all national teams ranked 9-21 in the CONCACAF table to create the pool for the second round draw. Once again each association will be paired, whereupon a home and away game will be played with the winners progressing and the losers exiting the competition.
The winners of the second stage will join associations ranked 7 and 8 to make the pool for the third round draw. Six pairs will form to play two legs.
The winners of the third stage enter into a pool with associations ranked 1-6. The six survivors, and six joiners, will be drawn into three groups of four for a round robin tournament where home and away games will be played against each group member.
The first and second place teams in each stage 4 group will continue on to the final stage 5. The six teams will create one group, playing in a round robin format with home and away games against each team. The top three teams will automatically qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The fourth placed team will have a playoff against a team from an association from a separate region, which is yet to be determined, to establish who will qualify for the World Cup.
This qualification format naturally favors the highly FIFA ranked teams. For example, a team like St. Kitts & Nevis, ranked 22 in the CONCACAF table, will have to play 22 matches in order to qualify (24 if they finish fourth in stage 5). In comparison, a team like the USA, ranked 3 in the CONCACAF table, can play 6 games less and still qualify.
The initial draw on Thursday will decide the first and second stage pairings.
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