2010 World Cup – CONCACAF qualification
The CONCACAF confederation have been assigned three guaranteed places for the 2010 World Cup with the 4th highest ranked nation contesting a play off with the 5th placed side in the CONMEBOL section. 35 teams contest these spots through several rounds of qualification.
The first round saw the lowest ranked 22 teams compete in two legged ties to find 11 nations for the second round. Teams ranked between 14 – 24 were randomly drawn against teams ranked between 25 – 35.
The second round saw a similar competition as the eleven teams who received a bye in round 1 entered the qualification stage. The 12 highest ranked teams were paired randomly against the 12 unseeded teams in a two legged tie with 12 nations going through to round 3.
The third round placed the remaining 12 nations in three groups of four teams with the top two sides going through to the 4th round. The groups were once again decided by ranking and although there were no shocks, Mexico were very close to a surprise exit as they only qualified ahead of Jamaica in 2nd on goal difference.
The fourth round placed the remaining 6 nations in one single league where every team plays eachother twice giving each team 10 matches. The league is being currently contested by the USA, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, El Savador and Honduras. So far, Costa Rica and the USA are a fair way ahead of the rest although they have played a game more. None of the other four sides have started particularly well including Mexico who recently parted with Sven Goran Erikkson as manager.
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