In what was the most shocking result in the 2022 World Cup qualifying cycle to date the Bahamas held Trinidad and Tobago to a 0-0 tie on Saturday which eliminated the Soca Warriors from 2022 World Cup Qualifying in the first round. The other 5 first round groups are still up for grabs and will be decided on Tuesday with Caribbean Nations going head-to-head against Central America and North American countries to determine who will be moving on to the second round of CONCACAF 2022 World Cup qualifying.
Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat ,Suriname, Haiti, Curacao and the Dominican Republic all have a chance of advancing on the final day from the Caribbean Region if results go their way.
Trinidad and Tobago’s 0-0 draw against the Bahamas means that St. Kitts and Nevis will win Group F. Trinidad and Tobagao and St. Kitts and Nevis meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in what was expected to be a game that would decide the group’s winner.
St. Kitts and Nevis defeated Puerto Rico 1-0, the Bahamas 4-0, and Guyana 3-0 to win the group in three games. Trinidad and Tobago defeated Guyana 3-0 but back-to-back ties with Puerto Rico and the Bahamas leaves them an insurmountable 4 points behind St. Kitts and Nevis with just one game left to play.
St. Kitts and Nevis will play the winner of Group A in the second round of qualifying which will be decided when Antigua and Barbuda play El Salvador on Tuesday night at 9:05 p.m.. Both teams are tied with 7 points in the standings but El Salvador has the edge in goal difference.
Antigua and Barbuda tied Montserrat 2-2 but beat the U.S. Virgin Islands 3-0, and Grenada 1-0. El Salvador beat Grenada 2-0 and the U.S. Virgin Islands 7-0 but tied Montserrat 1-1. El Salvador’s goal difference stands at +9 while Antigua and Barbuda's is +4 heading into the final game.
Montserrat still has a slim shot at winning the group but would need to beat Grenada by six goals and have the Antigua and Barbuda-El Salvador match end in a tie. If Antigua and Barbuda and El Salvador tie and Montserrat wins by less than six, draws or loses El Salvador will be the representative from Group A in the second round. The Montserrat-Grenada game will be played at 7 p.m.
Montserrat has five points after the two draws against El Salvador and Antigua and Barbuda and a 4-0 victory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In Group B, Suriname will need to beat Canada to qualify for the next round with the teams deadlocked with nine points. Canada needs just a tie to advance and that match will take place at 9:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
While both teams have dominated their other group opponents, Canada has been more dominant. They beat Bermuda 5-1, the Cayman Islands 11-0 and Aruba 7-0 to give them a + 22 goal difference after three matches. Suriname beat the Cayman Islands 3-0, Aruba 6-0, and Bermuda 6-0 which gives them a +15 goal difference.
The team that ends the standings on top will play the winner of Group E in the second round which will be either Haiti or Nicaragua, who will play each other at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
In this game, it’s Haiti that needs just a tie and Nicaragua having to win to advance.
In the earlier group matches, Haiti beat Belize 2-0 and Turks and Caicos 10-0 to give them a +12 goal differential while Nicaragua beat Turks and Caicos 7-0 and Belize 3-0 which gives them a +10 goal differential.
These teams have only played two games because St. Lucia withdrew from the qualifying rounds and were in this group.
The final second round match-up will be played between the winners of Group C and Group D.
In Group C, Curacao will need just a draw against Guatemala with the teams also tied with 9 points and they will play each other at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
Curacao beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines 5-0, Cuba 2-1 and the British Virgin Islands 8-0 and Guatemala won their matches 1-0 against Cuba, 3-0 against the British Virgin Islands and 10-0 against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
This group advancement scenario is more complicated as both teams have a goal difference of +14. The next tie breaker is goals scored which Curacao have a slight 15-14 edge over Guatemala.
In Group D, the Dominican Republic will need to beat Panama to advance with the match set to kick off at 9 p.m.
Panama beat Barbados 1-0, Dominica 2-1 and Anguilla 13-0 to give them 9 points heading into the final matchday. The Dominican Republic has 7 points and had beat Dominica 1-0 and Anguilla 6-0 but drew 1-1 against Barbados
The second round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying will begin on Saturday June 12 with the second game of the two-legged match-ups set for Tuesday June 15.
The winners of these two legged series will be decided by an aggregate score of the two games and will join the United States, Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras, and Costa Rica in the third Round of qualifying which is set to begin in September. These teams did not have to play in the first round of qualifying because they are the top 5 team in the region.
After a round robin that will see all teams in the third round play each both home and away the top 3 teams will qualify for the World Cup with the fourth place team playing in an intercontinental playoff for an additional spot in the tournament.
In the group stages 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a tie and the first tiebreaker if two teams are level on points is the team’s goal difference in their matches.
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