There are only six matches left in CONCACAF regional World Cup qualifying and things are looking good for four nations entering the Jan. 27 match slate. The top three teams earn automatic berths to the 2022 World Cup, while fourth-place advances to a play-in match against a team from Oceania.
Undefeated Canada (1st, 16 points) surprisingly leads the qualifying table with a trip on tap to face the last-place team. But road matches in Honduras have been a struggle for the Canadians in the past, and they will travel without superstar Alphonso Davies, who will miss the next three matches with post-COVID myocarditis.
Traditional powers USA and Mexico are right behind Les Rouges in the standings. The Americans (2nd, 15 points) can take advantage of any slip-up by Canada when they host El Salvador in Ohio. Mexico (3rd, 14 points) will have a trickier test on the road at Jamaica, which played El Tri tough in the first meeting on Mexican soil.
Panama (4th, 14 points) will seek to insert itself in one of those top three places. But the Canaleros will be facing a desperate Costa Rica (5th, 9 points) team likely facing its last best chance to make a case for the fourth-place position currently occupied by Panama.
The remaining teams are in precarious position. Jamaica (6th, 7 points) and El Salvador (7th, 6 points) have little margin for error and need to string together wins to keep dreaming. Meanwhile, it's unlikely that Honduras will be able to recover from a paltry three-point haul and it will be playing the role of spoiler from here on out.
The first standings tiebreakers are (1) goal difference, (2) goals scored and (3) most points obtained from matches between teams that are tied. The full list of tiebreakers and results for Matchdays 1-8 follow at the bottom of this post.
Eight nations from the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) are competing for three automatic berths to the 2022 Qatar World Cup in the final "octagonal" qualifying round.
The eight countries are facing off in a round-robin format with each team playing the other seven opponents once at home and once on the road. The 14 total matches for each national team began in September 2021 and will wrap up in March 2022.
The top three finishers will earn automatic berths to Qatar, while the fourth-place team will head to an intercontinental playoff with a final ticket to Qatar on the line. Here are the standings tiebreakers for teams even on points:
Goal difference in all group matches
Most goals scored in all group matches
Most points obtained from group matches between teams concerned
Goal difference from group matches between teams concerned
Most goals scored in group matches between teams concerned
Goals scored away from home (if two teams tied)
Discipline points (based on yellow/red cards)
Drawing of lots by FIFA
The Qatar World Cup will be played from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022.
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