CONCACAF

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is best known for its absurdly long and convoluted acronym and until such time as a player becomes an international superstar or a team breaks into the semi-finals of the World Cup.


In prepping for the 2018 World Cup all 35 CONCACAF Member Nations will be thrown into a battle for three World Cup berths. Rather than follow the old system of group stage after group stage, the CONCACAF organizers seem to have given in to more of an FA Cup style approach. Where the lowest ranked teams play a pair of matches to move on to the next round versus slightly higher ranked teams. And the winners of those move on to another round to play other even higher ranked teams. And the winners of those matches move on to get whomped by the US, Mexico and Costa Rica.

I mean...they move on to a nice farm upstate where they can run and play...

Round 1: March 2015

Bahamas v. Bermuda
British Virgin Islands V. Dominica
Barbados V. US Virgin Islands
St. Kitts and Nevis V. Turks and Caicos
Nicaragua V. Anguila
Belize V. Cayman Islands
Curacoa V. Monserrat

Round 2: June 2015

Winners of Round 1 will play one of these teams: 
Canada/Dominican Republic/Guatemala/Aruba/El Salvador/Cuba/Suriname
Meanwhile these matches will also happen:
St. Vincent and Grenidines V. Guyana
Antigua and Barbuda V.  St. Lucia
Puerto Rico V. Grenada

Round 3: August-September 2015

Winners of Round 2 will play each other PLUS
Haiti
Jamaica

Round 4: Round Robin November 2015-September 2016

Winners of Round 3 will be drawn into groups led by:
Costa Rica
Mexico
United States
Honduras
Panama
Trinidad & Tobago

Round 5: THE HEXAGON!! November 2016-October 2017

First and second place teams from Round 4 Groups

If you've followed all this then you have no doubt realized that the acronym isn't the only convoluted thing about CONCACAF. If, contrary to all odds, you'd like to know more about North America, check out our CONCACAF section