Our episode last time was a manic one, as we covered the first two rounds of African qualifying. This involved 35 two-legged knockout fixtures, with the continent being whittled down to 20 sides.
We're going to do something similar today, as we cover the first three rounds of North American qualifying. This is the format of qualifying here:
We're going to do something similar today, as we cover the first three rounds of North American qualifying. This is the format of qualifying here:
So, like in Africa (and Asia beforehand), we are going through the knockout games, leaving us with the league games.
As you can see above, there's quite a lot of seeding in this continent. Below shows when each team will enter qualification:
As you can see above, there's quite a lot of seeding in this continent. Below shows when each team will enter qualification:
The teams are ordered by their rank, so (for example) Jamaica pipped El Salvador into automatically reaching Round 4. Anyway, that's for later. Now, it's Round 1, and this is the draw:
Round 1 - First leg
The round featured a few names well-known to followers of English football, as Vurnon Anita represented Curacao and Anton Ferdinand & Jay Emmannuel-Thomas represented St Lucia. Their teams got off to a good start, with Curacao beating Bahamas and St Lucia beat French Guiana.
Gini Wijnaldum's brother Giliano was at LB for Suriname as they eviscerated Dominica 8-1. This wasn't the only 7-goal winning margin, as Haiti walloped British Virgin Islands 7-0. Meanwhile, the round's top seeds Dominican Republic fell to a surprise 1-0 loss to Aruba courtesy of a long range Daniel Escalona shot.
It was a mixed bag for the four teams new to the DWC this year. Montserrat went down 2-0 to Martinique. Saint Martin and US Virgin Islands were drawn against each other, and the former won thanks to a late-minute Philemont Louis free kick. However, arguably the most impressive result of the round came as Saint Barthélemy thumped Turks & Caicos Islands 5-0 in their debut match.
The round featured a few names well-known to followers of English football, as Vurnon Anita represented Curacao and Anton Ferdinand & Jay Emmannuel-Thomas represented St Lucia. Their teams got off to a good start, with Curacao beating Bahamas and St Lucia beat French Guiana.
Gini Wijnaldum's brother Giliano was at LB for Suriname as they eviscerated Dominica 8-1. This wasn't the only 7-goal winning margin, as Haiti walloped British Virgin Islands 7-0. Meanwhile, the round's top seeds Dominican Republic fell to a surprise 1-0 loss to Aruba courtesy of a long range Daniel Escalona shot.
It was a mixed bag for the four teams new to the DWC this year. Montserrat went down 2-0 to Martinique. Saint Martin and US Virgin Islands were drawn against each other, and the former won thanks to a late-minute Philemont Louis free kick. However, arguably the most impressive result of the round came as Saint Barthélemy thumped Turks & Caicos Islands 5-0 in their debut match.
The standings after the first legs are below:
Round 1 - Second leg
Barbados, Curacao, Antigua & Barbuda, St Lucia, Martinique and Grenada all added their second victory of the round to progress with ease. It was less easy for Guyana, as St Kitts & Nevis halved their deficit, but they couldn't get level and the tie finished 2-1 on aggregate.
Suriname reached double figures for the tie, as they inflicted another heavy defeat on Dominica, 4-0 this time. St Barthélemy couldn't quite get to double figures, as a 3-2 win over Turks & Caicos Islands saw them triumph 8-2 on aggregate. Similarly, Haiti only reached 9 goals on aggregate following a 2-0 win over a much-improved British Virgin Islands.
In the actually-close games, St Vincent got the opening goal against Puerto Rico to go ahead on away goals. However, Nick Cardenas' deflected volley restored Puerto Rico's lead, and as their opponents went down to 10 men with a red, Puerto Rico were able to hold on for the victory. Anguilla also faced 10 men, this time from Bonaire, and their second half goal was enough for a second 1-0 win. In the battle of the newbies, US Virgin Islands blew St Martin away with some highly effective set pieces, running away 4-0 winners to overturn the first leg result.
Finally came Dominican Republic's attempt to overcome Aruba's lead. They managed it with a 7th-minute goal from Ezequiel Pérez, but Aruba regained the lead when Emile Linkers raced clear to score. Aruba faced 21 shots in the game, but held out for a fantastic victory.
Barbados, Curacao, Antigua & Barbuda, St Lucia, Martinique and Grenada all added their second victory of the round to progress with ease. It was less easy for Guyana, as St Kitts & Nevis halved their deficit, but they couldn't get level and the tie finished 2-1 on aggregate.
Suriname reached double figures for the tie, as they inflicted another heavy defeat on Dominica, 4-0 this time. St Barthélemy couldn't quite get to double figures, as a 3-2 win over Turks & Caicos Islands saw them triumph 8-2 on aggregate. Similarly, Haiti only reached 9 goals on aggregate following a 2-0 win over a much-improved British Virgin Islands.
In the actually-close games, St Vincent got the opening goal against Puerto Rico to go ahead on away goals. However, Nick Cardenas' deflected volley restored Puerto Rico's lead, and as their opponents went down to 10 men with a red, Puerto Rico were able to hold on for the victory. Anguilla also faced 10 men, this time from Bonaire, and their second half goal was enough for a second 1-0 win. In the battle of the newbies, US Virgin Islands blew St Martin away with some highly effective set pieces, running away 4-0 winners to overturn the first leg result.
Finally came Dominican Republic's attempt to overcome Aruba's lead. They managed it with a 7th-minute goal from Ezequiel Pérez, but Aruba regained the lead when Emile Linkers raced clear to score. Aruba faced 21 shots in the game, but held out for a fantastic victory.
The full first round scores:
Round 2 - First leg
Joining the fray now are the next 6-ranked teams. This is how the draw panned out:
Joining the fray now are the next 6-ranked teams. This is how the draw panned out:
The unlucky teams in the draw were Belize and Cuba, the two seeded sides drawing each other. Cuba gifted Belize an early lead as a bad backpass left Jerry Palacios in, but they recovered emphatically to win 3-1.
The other seeds generally did well. A Guadeloupe side containing Jonathan Biabiany and Yoan Gouffran put Barbados away 3-0, whilst Trinidad & Tobago went one better against Grenada. Nicaragua claimed a narrow win over Anguilla, however Panama could only draw with Haiti.
Finally, there was a bizarre ending to the match between St Lucia and Guyana as the latter's goalkeeper Ronson Williams carried a cross over his own goalline in the final minute of added time to gift St Lucia a 1-1 draw. Will that goal turn out to be crucial?
The other seeds generally did well. A Guadeloupe side containing Jonathan Biabiany and Yoan Gouffran put Barbados away 3-0, whilst Trinidad & Tobago went one better against Grenada. Nicaragua claimed a narrow win over Anguilla, however Panama could only draw with Haiti.
Finally, there was a bizarre ending to the match between St Lucia and Guyana as the latter's goalkeeper Ronson Williams carried a cross over his own goalline in the final minute of added time to gift St Lucia a 1-1 draw. Will that goal turn out to be crucial?
The standings halfway into both this round and this episode:
Round 2 - Second leg
Belize's hopes of a comeback were dampened early on, as they conceded a soft goal to Cuba. They got level in the leg, but a 1-1 draw wasn't enough to stop their elimination. Anguilla got an early penalty to scare Nicaragua, but the favourites came back to win the leg 3-1 and the tie 4-1.
Antigua & Barbuda completed their progression with a second of the round, as did Guadeloupe. Suriname did the same, as repeating their first leg win over US Virgin Islands meant they totalled an impressive 8-0 aggregate win. Meanwhile, Grenada restored some pride by drawing 1-1 with Trinidad & Tobago.
Both Panama and Puerto Rico found a winning goal from the spot in their fixtures. Martinique and Curacao were also level after their entertaining first leg, but Martinique ran away to win in style, 3-0 the second leg score.
Anton Ferdinand looked to have scored the winner for St Lucia following a free kick, but Julian Wade's late goal for Guyana meant we went to extra time and eventually penalties. It went perfectly for St Lucia who scored all their's as Guyana missed all their's.
Belize's hopes of a comeback were dampened early on, as they conceded a soft goal to Cuba. They got level in the leg, but a 1-1 draw wasn't enough to stop their elimination. Anguilla got an early penalty to scare Nicaragua, but the favourites came back to win the leg 3-1 and the tie 4-1.
Antigua & Barbuda completed their progression with a second of the round, as did Guadeloupe. Suriname did the same, as repeating their first leg win over US Virgin Islands meant they totalled an impressive 8-0 aggregate win. Meanwhile, Grenada restored some pride by drawing 1-1 with Trinidad & Tobago.
Both Panama and Puerto Rico found a winning goal from the spot in their fixtures. Martinique and Curacao were also level after their entertaining first leg, but Martinique ran away to win in style, 3-0 the second leg score.
Anton Ferdinand looked to have scored the winner for St Lucia following a free kick, but Julian Wade's late goal for Guyana meant we went to extra time and eventually penalties. It went perfectly for St Lucia who scored all their's as Guyana missed all their's.
Second round results:
Round 3 - First leg
The next two seeds, El Salvador and Honduras, join the fray for the final round of knockout fixtures. This is the resulting draw:
The next two seeds, El Salvador and Honduras, join the fray for the final round of knockout fixtures. This is the resulting draw:
The seeds El Salvador and Honduras were drawn against Nicaragua and Cuba respectively. Honduras' fine crossing from their wing backs lead them to a good 2-0 victory, but El Salvador laboured to a 1-0 defeat.
Martinique looked good to successfully navigate all three knockout rounds with a 2-0 win over Antigua & Barbuda, whilst a late goal from former Celtic man Evander Sno gave Suriname hope as they lost 2-1 to Guadeloupe. There was further late action as both St Lucia and Puerto Rico snatched injury time goals to get 1-1 draws with Trinidad & Tobago and Panama respectively.
Martinique looked good to successfully navigate all three knockout rounds with a 2-0 win over Antigua & Barbuda, whilst a late goal from former Celtic man Evander Sno gave Suriname hope as they lost 2-1 to Guadeloupe. There was further late action as both St Lucia and Puerto Rico snatched injury time goals to get 1-1 draws with Trinidad & Tobago and Panama respectively.
First leg scores:
Round 3 - Second leg
Honduras and Martinique converted their 2-0 first leg victories into comfortable aggregate victories, winning 3-1 and 3-0 respectively. El Salvador got level with Nicaragua early on, and went on to sail through with a 3-0 second leg win.
Puerto Rico looked on course for a shock win as Carlos Gutiérrez lashed in a fearsome long shot to put his side ahead, but Panama fought back and won the second leg 3-1, 4-2 on aggregate. Meanwhile, St Lucia fought back to 1-1 against Trinidad & Tobago for a second time, but Jamille Boatswain's penalty saw the favourites scrape through.
Sersinho Eduards got the opening goal in the second leg for Suriname, pulling them back level but behind on away goals. It remained a nervy match until the final minute of added time, when Jerold Promes put away a free kick cross to fire Suriname through!
Honduras and Martinique converted their 2-0 first leg victories into comfortable aggregate victories, winning 3-1 and 3-0 respectively. El Salvador got level with Nicaragua early on, and went on to sail through with a 3-0 second leg win.
Puerto Rico looked on course for a shock win as Carlos Gutiérrez lashed in a fearsome long shot to put his side ahead, but Panama fought back and won the second leg 3-1, 4-2 on aggregate. Meanwhile, St Lucia fought back to 1-1 against Trinidad & Tobago for a second time, but Jamille Boatswain's penalty saw the favourites scrape through.
Sersinho Eduards got the opening goal in the second leg for Suriname, pulling them back level but behind on away goals. It remained a nervy match until the final minute of added time, when Jerold Promes put away a free kick cross to fire Suriname through!
So these are the six teams that have battled through today's marathon to make the fourth round of qualifying:
Special credit to Suriname and Martinique for winning all three rounds today. We'll have to wait a while to see how they cope with the big seeds in this continent.
That's the end of the two-legged knockout matches for now, as the league stages start. And it'll start in style, as next time we see how the opening group in Europe goes, which means we'll get our first team qualified for the DWC finals!
That's the end of the two-legged knockout matches for now, as the league stages start. And it'll start in style, as next time we see how the opening group in Europe goes, which means we'll get our first team qualified for the DWC finals!