Girish Mahajan (Editor)

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

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Top scorer(s)
  
Carlos Ruiz (9 goals)

Teams
  
35

Attendance
  
1,063,536

Matches played
  
88

Dates
  
22 Mar 2015 – 10 Oct 2017

Location
  
Americas

Goals scored
  
257


Similar
  
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualificati, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualificati, 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2016 Copa Verde

2018 fifa world cup qualification concacaf second round


The North, Central American and Caribbean section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). A total of 3.5 slots (3 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for CONCACAF teams.

Contents

In a change to previous qualification tournaments for this confederation, the first three rounds will be played as knockout rounds, with both the fourth round and the final round (referred to as 'The Hexagonal') played as group stages. The first round was played during the FIFA international dates of 23–31 March 2015. CONCACAF announced the full format details on 12 January 2015.

Format

The qualification structure is as follows:

  • First round: A total of 14 teams (teams ranked 22–35) played home-and-away over two legs. The seven winners advanced to the second round.
  • Second round: A total of 20 teams (teams ranked 9–21 and seven first round winners) played home-and-away over two legs. The ten winners advanced to the third round.
  • Third round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 7–8 and ten second round winners) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 1–6 and six third round winners) were divided into three groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group advanced to the fifth round.
  • Fifth round: The six teams which advance from the fourth round will play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group (often referred to as the "Hexagonal"). The top three teams will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fourth-placed team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
  • Entrants

    All 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams from CONCACAF entered qualification. The seeding – used to draw the first four rounds of the qualifiers – was based on the FIFA World Rankings of August 2014 (shown in parentheses).

    Schedule

    The schedule of the competition is as follows.

    The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

    First round

    The draw for the first round was held on 15 January 2015, 19:40 EST (UTC−5), at the W Hotel at Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

    Second round

    The draw for the second round was held on 15 January 2015, 19:40 EST (UTC−5), at the W Hotel at Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

    Third round

    The draw for the third round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

    Fourth round

    The draw for the fourth round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

    Fifth round

    As with every World Cup qualification campaign since 1998, CONCACAF is holding a six-team, home-and-away round-robin group known as the 'Hexagonal', or 'Hex', as its final and decisive round. As a result of the abolition of the February and August fixtures from the FIFA calendar, the 'Hex' will for the first time not be contained within a single calendar year, but instead began in November 2016 and will conclude in October 2017.

    The draw for the fifth round (to decide the fixtures) was held on 8 July 2016, 10:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami Beach, United States.

    Inter-confederation play-offs

    The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg. The fourth-placed team from CONCACAF was drawn against the fifth-placed team from AFC, with the CONCACAF team hosting the first leg.

    Goalscorers

    As of 15 November 2016

    Note: Players in bold are still active in the competition.

    9 goals
    6 goals
    5 goals
    4 goals
    3 goals
    2 goals
    1 goal
    1 own goal

    References

    2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) Wikipedia