In terms of scale, nothing compares with the competition and following that are characteristic of the FIFA World Cup. As such, it was no surprise that a lot of hype followed the draw procedure for the preliminary matches for this tournament. Through all of the pomp and circumstance, countries from Asia, Africa, Europe and
As a fan of the Canadian national team, the qualifying draw in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) was deemed the most significant. Here is how the draw worked out for nations in the North American region.
Stages One and Two
The 22 lowest-ranking nations in CONCACAF were drawn into match-ups for the first round of qualifying. The 11 winners of this stage and
Each match-up in the first two stages of qualifying in CONCACAF will be determined by a two-game, home-and-away playoff, in which aggregate goals will be the primary tiebreaker. Should a match-up be tied after the second leg, away goals, extra time and penalty kicks will be used as subsequent tiebreakers.
Match-ups:
Group 1A:
Group 1B:
Turks and Caicos Islands v.
Group 1C:
Bermuda v.
Group 1D:
Aruba v.
Winner v.
Group 2A:
Winner v.
Group 2B:
Group 2C:
Group 2D:
Group 3A:
US Virgin Islands v.
Winner v.
Group 3B:
Winner v.
Group 3C:
Group 3D:
Stage Three: Semi-Final
The 12 winners from Stage Two will be placed into three groups of four teams for the semi-final stage of qualifying. Teams will play a total of six games in this stage – one home game and one away game against each group opponent. The top two teams from each group will advance to Stage Four.
Group 1:
Winner of 1A
Winner of 1B
Winner of 1C
Winner of 1D
Group 2:
Winner of 2A
Winner of 2B
Winner of 2C
Winner of 2D
Group 3:
Winner of 3A
Winner of 3B
Winner of 3C
Winner of 3D
Stage Four: Final
The top two teams from each group in Stage Three will combine to form a single group of six nations for the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF. Teams will play a total of ten games in this stage – one home game and one away game against each group opponent. The top three teams will advance to the 2010 World Cup, while the fourth-placed team will play in the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff.
Final Group:
Winner of Group 1
Winner of Group 2
Winner of Group 3
Runner up of Group 1
Runner up of Group 2
Runner up of Group 3
CONCACAF/CONMEBOL Playoff
The fourth-placed team from CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean) will play against the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL (
Should
Despite the tough nature of the draw for