So it looks like leg 1 will be on Saturday, June 12 in Port-au-Prince, and leg 2 will be on Tuesday, June 15 in Chicago. Kickoff times TBD.
Good performance yesterday. Some shaky moments, but I don't feel that it was ever in much doubt. Especially once Davies and David got into gear. It will be really interesting to see how they perform after travelling to Haiti. It will be a good mental test - the pandemic isn't over, and Haiti is "very Concacaf" and different from Canada/Chicago in almost every way. Bring it on!
I don't understand the second round: "The second round will see the six group winners from the first round playing in three home-and-away ties of predetermined pairings. The winners will advance to the third round."
I don't understand the second round: "The second round will see the six group winners from the first round playing in three home-and-away ties of predetermined pairings. The winners will advance to the third round."
The wording is a bit awkward, but don't overthink it. From a Canadian perspective: win the upcoming 2 legged series vs. Haiti and we advance to the third round.
Once you're in the the third round, anything could happen. Which is why yesterday was huge and the Haiti matches are massive.
The Following User Says Thank You to Jimmy Stang For This Useful Post:
I don't understand the second round: "The second round will see the six group winners from the first round playing in three home-and-away ties of predetermined pairings. The winners will advance to the third round."
Second round, consisted of the bottom 30 of the 35, CONCACAF nations.
The top, 5 qualified (2020 FIFA Rankings) already for the third round;
USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, & Jamaica.
Of the 30 in the second round, they were assigned into 6 groups of 5.
Finish first in your group of 5, and you qualify for second round.
The 6 group winners, then pair off into home & away legs, to identify third round final entrants. This is where Canada currently is with Haiti.
There will then be 3 entrants added to the existing 5, to create a group of 8. This group of 8, then plays each other home and away, (7x2) 14 games to;
Identify the top 3 teams in standings. Those 3 qualify for 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
4th place, is entered into a tie with one of the other wild cards from either Asia, South America or Oceania. Oceania would be preferable. Win that leg, and you’re off to Qatar. This is how I see Canada qualifying, as top 3 CONCACAF likely to be; Mexico, USA, Costa Rica.
These upcoming pair of matches with Haiti, are the biggest for Canada in 30 years. Absolutely must win, so we can find out what we got in those 14 matches in the third round.
I think Canada is going to win easily, and this is coming from a long time CMNT fan with all kinds of pessimism. The only wildcard is having to go to Haiti, which frankly concacaf or fifa should step in and ban but won't because they are so mickey mouse. I read that their field is astroturf with no proper drainage and it turned into a lake in a recent game which they insisted needed to go on.
Force majeure is basically the only way they are in this series, they don't have half the talent of Suriname and their backline talent level is a major drop off, basically one french second div player and a bunch of lower league players from cyprus, kazahkstan and denmark and not from even the better clubs there.
I mean, it's a step up from caymans as these are all pros but they have losses to El Salvador and Curacao recently which tells you a lot. They basically are a team that gets a good result against a bigger team once in a while on graft but the two legs really reduce canada's risk here and our offence will cut them.
Anyway that's as positive as I get with the CMNT... bring em on
The Following User Says Thank You to Matty81 For This Useful Post:
To add to that, with this being a two legged tie if Canada collapses during the first leg like they did in the Gold Cup, they have a second leg to right the ship.
Canada are just far and away the better team in this tie, and they should go on easily. I don't think they qualify for the World Cup, but they won't finish 8th in the group either.
To add to that, with this being a two legged tie if Canada collapses during the first leg like they did in the Gold Cup, they have a second leg to right the ship.
Canada are just far and away the better team in this tie, and they should go on easily. I don't think they qualify for the World Cup, but they won't finish 8th in the group either.
If they finish 4th and play Oceania, we're the favourites.
South America or Asia though? We're in trouble.
Gotta get by Haiti, sports can be crazy in terms of luck and breaks, but if they do make the ocho I think they can win any game they play and I'd expect them to finish 3-5.
Jamaica has loaded up with real good plastic nationals and Panama still has a lot of players who've been picked up by clubs out of country, but Canada should beat the other 3 on paper.
CR is at a low ebb compared to their teams of the past just 5 MLS players and 3 or 4 others abroad, El Salvador is a weak side, Honduras has a good attack but is mostly domestic players everywhere else and have also really declined from their peak.
Total guesswork CONCACAF being what it is where a ref from Turks and Caicos could show up and hand out 3 red cards in 10 minutes, or your bus could get jacked on the way to an away match but I see them fencing with Panama and Jamaica for the final spot and the qualifier.
For me Jamaica are the wildcard, they get on a roll and they can be so good with that roster, but always seem to fall apart easily once adversity kicks in.
In those Haiti/Nicaragua highlights, the Haitians looked fairly quick and like to counterattack, but perhaps lacked overall skill and organization. I think that if Canada plays patient, disciplined, and defensively smart, Haiti will be no match for Canada's attack.
Concacaf variables aside, I'd be over the moon with even a close win in Port-au-Prince with a couple of away goals in the bank.
These upcoming pair of matches with Haiti, are the biggest for Canada in 30 years. Absolutely must win, so we can find out what we got in those 14 matches in the third round.
I'll disagree. They won the second round easily and then had a win (or draw) and in to get to a similar final group in 2012 for 2014, and lost in spectacular fashion to Honduras.
This one being a two stager, and, a short turnaround after yesterday is helpful, less time for them to overthink the situation and put unnecessary pressure on themselves.
If they can get the result, I think the pressure is off of the team collectively and you'll see them challenge for that last spot and at least get into the qualifier.
Again, I think anything short of a World Cup berth is disappointing even if that's unreasonable, but they need to learn how to win when it matters, consistentently, and being already deemed to participate in 2026 doesn't help that mentality in the next 4 years or even 8 years.
