2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Fourth Round
The fourth round of CONCACAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification is being played from 13 November 2015 to 6 September 2016.[1][2]
Format
A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 1 to 6 in the CONCACAF entrant list and 6 third round winners) were divided into three groups of four teams each. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format for a total of six matches per team. The top two teams of each group (three group winners and three runners-up) will advance to the fifth round (also called the 'Hexagonal' or 'Hex').[1]
Seeding
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.[1][3][4]
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of August 2014 (shown in parentheses).[5] The six direct qualifiers are seeded into two pots:
- Pot 1 contains the teams ranked 1–3.
- Pot 2 contains the teams ranked 4–6.
Each tie contains a team from Pot 1, a team from Pot 2, and two third round winners which are automatically allocated into each group (series winners 1 and 2 into Group A, series winners 3 and 4 into Group B, series winners 5 and 6 into Group C).[3] As the draw was held before the third round was played, the identities of the third round winners were not known at the time of the draw.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the fifth round.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Third round winners | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| |
Schedule
The schedule for the fourth round is as follows.[1]
| Matchday | Date |
|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 9–17 November 2015 |
| Matchday 2 | |
| Matchday 3 | 21–29 March 2016 |
| Matchday 4 | |
| Matchday 5 | 29 August – 6 September 2016 |
| Matchday 6 |
Groups
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In home-and-away league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[6]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico (A) |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 12 | Advance to fifth round | — | 6 Sep | 2–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Honduras |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | 0–2 | — | 2 Sep | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Canada |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 4 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — | 6 Sep | ||
| 4 | El Salvador |
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 2 | 2 Sep | 2–2 | 0–0 | — |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(A) Advanced to a further round.
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Costa Rica |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 10 | Advance to fifth round | — | 6 Sep | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Panama |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | 1–2 | — | 2 Sep | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Jamaica |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 6 Sep | ||
| 4 | Haiti |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 | 2 Sep | 0–0 | 0–1 | — |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 10 | Advance to fifth round | — | 0–0 | 2 Sep | 6–0 | |
| 2 | United States |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 7 | 6 Sep | — | 4–0 | 6–1 | ||
| 3 | Guatemala |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 6 Sep | ||
| 4 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (E) |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 0 | 2–3 | 2 Sep | 0–4 | — |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated.
| United States |
6–1 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
|---|---|---|
Wood  11'Johnson 29'Altidore 31', 74'Cameron 51'Zardes 58' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
Anderson 5' |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
0–4 | Guatemala |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
Cincotta 23' M. López 32'D. López 48'Tinoco 81' |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
2–3 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| M. Samuel 45' (pen.) S. Samuel 77' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
J. Jones 58' L. Garcia 71', 82' |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
6–0 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
|---|---|---|
| Bateau 36' J. Jones 49'K. Jones 60'Molino 66'Caesar 86', 89' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
| United States |
4–0 | Guatemala |
|---|---|---|
| Dempsey 12' Cameron 35'Zusi 46'Altidore 89' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
Goalscorers
There have been 61 goals scored in 24 matches, for an average of 2.54 goals per match.
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
- Cyle Larin
- Johnny Acosta
- Celso Borges
- Cristian Gamboa
- Marco Ureña
- Johan Venegas
- Nelson Bonilla
- Pablo Punyed
- Stefano Cincotta
- Dennis López
- Minor López
- Carlos Mejía
- Rafael Morales
- Carlos Ruiz
- Gerson Tinoco
- Alberth Elis
- Boniek García
- Anthony Lozano
- Romell Quioto
- Clayton Donaldson
- Je-Vaughn Watson
- Jürgen Damm
- Javier Hernández
- Héctor Herrera
- Hirving Lozano
- Carlos Vela
- Felipe Baloy
- Armando Cooper
- Luis Tejada
- Oalex Anderson
- Myron Samuel
- Shandel Samuel
- Sheldon Bateau
- Khaleem Hyland
- Kevin Molino
- Clint Dempsey
- Fabian Johnson
- Bobby Wood
- Gyasi Zardes
- Graham Zusi
- 1 own goal
- Wes Morgan (playing against Panama)
References
- 1 2 3 4 "CONCACAF to Hold Preliminary FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw in Miami on January 15". CONCACAF. 12 January 2015.
- ↑ "USMNT to start 2018 World Cup qualifying in November of 2015". Sports Illustrated. 12 January 2015.
- 1 2 "Draw Procedures – North, Central American & Caribbean Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com.
- ↑ "Draw shines light on CONCACAF’s WCQ path". CONCACAF. 25 July 2015.
- ↑ "FIFA Men's Ranking – August 2014 (CONCACAF)". FIFA.com. 14 August 2014.
- ↑ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- World Cup Qualifying – Men, CONCACAF.com
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