Mexico and the United States are the biggest contenders to win a ticket among the three live shows that will be at stake in the extensive octagonal qualifying round of the CONCACAF at the 2022 World Cup that begins this Thursday and concludes on March 30.
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In addition to the three direct tickets in competition, the selected fourth of the octagonal can aspire to a pass in an intercontinental repechaje.
Originally, this World Cup qualifier would have been played as a hexagonal, system established prior to the France-1998 World Cup, but due to the alteration of dates due to the covid-19 pandemic, CONCACAF adopted a octagonal.
In this way, the decisive stage of the World Cup qualifier will increase from 30 matches to 54 that will be played in 14 days. The first will take place on September 2 with the following pairings: Canada-Honduras, Panama-Costa Rica, Mexico-Jamaica and El Salvador-United States.
Then the triple FIFA Date will be completed with two more days, Sunday 5 and Wednesday 8.
– Canada-Honduras –
The first game of the octagon will be played at BMO Field in Toronto at 6:05 pm, between the national team of Canada, which has not qualified for a World Cup since Mexico-1986, and Honduras. who hopes to return after being absent from Russia-2018.
In the last Gold Cup, Honduras stayed in the quarterfinals while Canada reached the semifinals and made a quality leap in their game under the command of Englishman John Herdman who took over in 2018 .
“Canada is a team with very fast players, with very versatile strategies,” said Fabián Coit, Honduras coach since 2019. “We have to limit the physical and tactical; we must be strong defensively and prevent them from recovering the ball to attack and it would be done by keeping the ball. ”
– Panama-Costa Rica –
At 7:05 pm, the Rommel Fernández Stadium will be the scene of a duel between Central American teams, that of Panama, which will seek to return to the World Cup to improve the role it played in its debut in Russia-2018 , and Costa Rica, which ranks third in a row and sixth in its history.
The Panamanian ‘Red Tide’ is led by Spanish-Danish coach Thomas Christiansen, who recently completed his first year at the helm of the Canalero team, while the ‘Sele’ began a new process in June. of 2021 with the Colombian strategist Luis Fernando Suárez, who has the experience of having classified to two selections in World Cups: Ecuador in Germany-2006 and Honduras in Brazil-2014.
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“On the offensive issue I have no doubt we will be fine, but if we want to be good on the defensive issue, we are also required to be tidy and well placed,” Christiansen said, facing the match against Costa Rica.
– Mexico-Jamaica –
The Mexican and Jamaican teams will face off at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium at 8:00 p.m. This match will be played behind closed doors as a FIFA sanction to the homophobic cries of the Mexican team to rival goalkeepers.
Since serving a FIFA penalty that prevented him from going to Italy-1990, Mexico has attended all the World Cups in the United States-1994 and now under the command of technical director Gerardo Martino will seek compensation after losing the finals of the League of Nations and the Gold Cup.
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Jamaica, led by Theodore Whitmore, has only attended the 1998 World Cup in France and the road to Qatar-2022 will begin with numerous and sensitive absences due to the Premier League’s restriction on transferring players as a precautionary measure to covid contagions. 19.
– El Salvador-United States –
The first day of the octagonal will be completed at the Cuscatlán Stadium in San Salvador at 8:05 pm with the meeting between El Salvador, which has not qualified since Spain-1982, and the United States, which absent in Russia-2018 after 07:00 consecutive World Cup appearances.
The American team, led by Gregg Berhalter, will present itself as a team to win after winning the League of Nations and Gold Cup titles. The Salvadoran representative will try to reaffirm the good game he showed last July when he reached the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup.
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“Important steps were taken in the Gold Cup, but we did not do such great things, the goal of this octagonal is to leave a good image, and the best way to start is playing well,” said Hugo Pérez, coach of El Salvador.
FIRST DAY OF ELIMINATION
-Canada against Honduras (18:05)
-Panama against Costa Rica (19:05)
-Mexico against Jamaica (20:00)
-El Salvador vs USA (8:05 PM)
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* TVC, TUDN and TV Azteca broadcast in Honduras *