World Cup: Concacaf announces changes to World Cup qualifying format for 2022 cycle

[Tuggy]

Concacaf announces changes to World Cup qualifying format for 2022 cycle

Who the hell came up with this idea...

Any nation not in the top 6 gets majorly screwed in this deal.

Click to read more...

 

[hatterson]

Canada has some work to do to get into the top 6...

 

[Pouchkine]

Only Concacaf can come up with crap like this.

 

[Gecklund]

So basically they make sure US and Mexico always make it.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Wow this sucks

 

[robertmac43]

Really annoying that it takes away from the underdog stories of that could occur with the old format. Still some room for them but not near as much

 

[robertmac43]

Just for people wondering, these are the top-12 CONCACAF teams from FIFAs rankings: Top 6 bolded;
18. Mexico
30. USA
39. Costa Rica
54. Jamaica
61. Honduras
69. El Salvador
75. Panama
78. Canada
79. Curacao
93. Trinidad and Tobago
101. Haiti

 

[hatterson]

Just for people wondering, these are the top-12 CONCACAF teams from FIFAs rankings: Top 6 bolded;
18. Mexico
30. USA
39. Costa Rica
54. Jamaica
61. Honduras
69. El Salvador
75. Panama
78. Canada
79. Curacao
93. Trinidad and Tobago
101. Haiti

Will be interesting to see if Panama, Canada, or Curacao can make a run into the top 6 or if they'll rely on the essentially wildcard spot.

 

[robertmac43]

Will be interesting to see if Panama, Canada, or Curacao can make a run into the top 6 or if they'll rely on the essentially wildcard spot.

Yeah but if they don't make it into the top 6 I would expect them to be one of the favorites to win the new competition. I'm not going to get my hopes or anything considering the events of the Gold Cup, however I expect with some growth years in the key players we should be serious contenders to win the new competition

 

[N o o d l e s]

I go back and forth on this. Nothing would really shock me in regards to the US and qualification for further World Cups, but not qualifying for the Hex would. I think the US and Mexico are shoe-ins to qualify for the Hex regardless each and every year so that part of it isn't a big deal to me.

What sucks is that they're going off of rankings. FIFA rankings aren't always indicative of the quality of the teams so trusting their rankings for any type of qualification seems dumb. Just because teams like El Salvador are ranked above Canada means nothing in terms of quality or skill level. That part seems like it could use some work.

But the people complaining about Mexico and the US getting handed entry into the Hex as if it's not a foregone conclusion anyway seems like they're just looking to complain.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

What a load of bullshit

 

[Pouchkine]

Basically you can qualify for the top 6 by playing a ton of friendlies against weak teams to bring up your fifa ranking... Meanwhile Haïti who made the semis of the Gold Cup winning 4 competitive games including a couple of quality wins are still behind Honduras.

Concacaf...

 

[gnr25]

The new FIFA rankings should come out after the AFCON finishes. Those will take the Gold Cup into account. I expect Honduras and El Salvador to drop a bit.

Canada will have to beat Cuba twice this fall and maybe get a point against the US in the Nations League and win some other friendlies.

 

[Rob]

New format or old format. Canada isn’t making it.

 

[gary69]

So, a country would be better off not making it to hex only to finish there as 5th/6th. Then take their chances against the 4th placed Hex team, surely Canada could make it this way.

 

[Pouchkine]

Surely it's all logical.

 

[robertmac43]

New format or old format. Canada isn’t making it.

And why do you think that?

 

[KevFu]

Concacaf announces changes to World Cup qualifying format for 2022 cycle

Who the hell came up with this idea...

Any nation not in the top 6 gets majorly screwed in this deal.

It's the MIDDLE that gets screwed.

The bottom teams were getting eliminated so far out from the WC, and not playing meaningful games at all. This format increases drastically the number of games teams 16-35 play in World Cup Qualifying.

Teams 7-12 went from "having a chance to advance to the Hex, and sneaking into that 4th place playoff spot, or finishing 3rd and making the World Cup" took a massive hit. That third spot is totally closed to them. Only the playoff is available to them.

 

[KevFu]

Accomplishing the needs of every member is pretty difficult considering how diverse the membership is in terms of quality.

The bottom needs meaningful games to sell tickets and generate revenue.
The middle need access to the top group to play their way into third place
The top needs to not waste all their time blasting the bottom.

There’s no real ideal solution to WCQ that accomplishes all those goals at once. This idea is horrendously flawed because it screws over the middle.


Maybe this would be better: Six groups of six, playing 10 games.

You put teams:
1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12 in Group A
2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 in Group B

And teams 13-35 in Groups C-F
13, 20, 21, 28, 29, 36
14, 19, 22, 27, 30, 35
15, 18, 23, 26, 31, 34
16, 17, 24, 25, 32, 33

A and B winners get WC spots.

A and B second and third places (4), and the top three of groups C-F (12) advance to a 16-team knockout tournament. The champ of that gets third place (WC spot), the runner up goes to the playoff.