Matches played 50 | Goals scored 179 (3.58 per match) | |
Dates 22 March 2016 – 8 January 2017 Teams 25 (from 1 sub-confederation) Top scorer(s) Gino van Kessel Felitciano Zschusschen(7 goals each) | ||
The 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification began in March 2016. The qualification competition determined which Caribbean national teams would play in the 2017 Caribbean Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Contents
Participants
A total of 25 teams from the 31 CFU members entered the qualification tournament. Sint Maarten are participating for the first time since 1997.
Draw
Twenty five nations were involved in the draw, which took place on 16 January 2016, 21:00 AST (UTC−4), at the Jolly Beach Resort & Spa resort in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Four teams were given a bye due to their involvement in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Fourth Round. The draw was conducted by Sonia Bien-Aime, Kirsy Rijo Charles Kullman, Chet Green and Lance Whittaker. The CFU used their own rankings to determine which teams would be given seeds based on their previous performances in the competition.
Match schedule
Format
In each three-team group, each team plays one home match against one opponent, and an away match against another opponent. If any team withdraws, the remaining two teams play each other, with one home match and one away match.
Should the score remain level after regular playing time, extra time will be played and should the score still be level after extra time has been played, a penalty shoot-out will take place to determine the match winners. This rule was introduced to reduce the chance of a team's fate being decided by a drawing of lots.
Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win in regulation, extra time or penalties, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Goal difference;
- Goals scored;
- Away goals scored;
- Drawing of lots.
First round
A total of 21 teams competed in the first round:
Qualified teams for second round
A total of 14 teams from the first round (seven group winners and seven group runners-up) qualified for the second round.
Second round
A total of 15 teams competed in the second round:
Qualified teams for third round
A total of 9 teams from the second round (five group winners and best four group runners-up) qualified for the third round.
Third round
A total of 12 teams competed in the third round:
Qualified teams for Caribbean Cup
A total of 4 teams from the third round (four group winners) qualified for the 2017 Caribbean Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Qualified teams for fifth place playoff
A total of 3 teams from the third round (best three group runners-up) qualified for the fifth place playoff.
There is confusion as to whether wins and goals scored in extra time count when comparing teams between different groups as laid out by the CFU regulations. According to CONCACAF, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Haiti advanced to the fifth place playoff.
Fifth place playoff
A total of 3 teams competed in the fifth place playoff:
A total of 1 team from the fifth place playoff qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup CFU–UNCAF play-off.