Latest Standings for CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Draw

Well first off congrats to Canada for getting a point off Ukraine! That result kept us in the top six, but we are by no means safe with Panama & Jamaica on our heals. Also Dominica needs a mention as they have jumped up into 11th in the table after their strong performances in Gold Cup Qualifying. This should also see Dominica achieve an all time high when the latest FIFA rankings come out in a few days. Without any further delay here are the latest standings:

May 2011 Rank	Country	Points
1	USA	992
2	Mexico	848
3	Honduras	521
4	Costa Rica	470
5	Canada	401
6	Jamaica	398
7	Panama	392
8	Guyana	320
9	El Salvador	273
10	T & T	247
11	Dominica	233
12	Suriname	199
13	Puerto Rico	198
14	Barbados	160
15	Grenada	149
16	Guatemala	142
17	St. Vincent	132
18	St. Kitts	124
19	Haiti	123
20	Antigua	121
21	Bermuda	94
22	Cayman Islands	90
23	Cuba	82
24	Dominican R.	70
25	N. Antilles	57
26	Nicaragua	53
27	Belize	44
28	St. Lucia	31
29	Turks & Caicos	13
30	British VI	12
31	Bahamas	9
32	Aruba	7
33	USVI	3
34	Anguilla	0
34	Montserrat	0

Latest Standings as of 6AM Eastern (8pm Down Under)

May 2011 Rank	Country	Points
1	USA	963
2	Mexico	835
3	Honduras	512
4	Costa Rica	440
5	Canada	401
6	Panama	359
7	Jamaica	344
8	El Salvador	273
9	T & T	254
10	Puerto Rico	198
11	Barbados	160
12	Grenada	149
13	Guatemala	142
14	St. Vincent	132
15	St. Kitts	124
16	Haiti	123
17	Antigua	121
18	Guyana	105
19	Dominica	101
20	Bermuda	94
21	Cayman Islands	90
22	Cuba	82
23	Suriname	67
24	N. Antilles	57
25	Nicaragua	53
26	Belize	44
27	Turks & Caicos	13
27	St. Lucia	13
29	British VI	12
30	Bahamas	9
31	Aruba	7
32	Dominican R.	4
33	USVI	3
34	Anguilla	0
34	Montserrat	0

The Latest on the Road to Brasil 2014

Greetings football fans,

Pompey Canuck here again with an update on the Road to Brasil 2014. After the grand spectacle of the World Cup (which required many late nights & early mornings to follow from Australia), I spent two travelling around the Outback, making it difficult to keep up with the all of the football news...but I have found out some crucial info affecting Canada's journey to Brasil.

First off, after the strong performances of our CONCACAF brethren Mexico & the States at the World Cup in South Africa, CONCACAF has seen our Global co-efficient rise from the minimum .85 to .88! That is great news! It means that Canada will now get more ranking points for beating CONCACAF opponents, which should see all CONCACAF teams move up the overall FIFA rankings. It also means that CONCACAF is the third strongest football federation in the World after Europe and South America (which both have the maximum co-efficient of 1). I should also point out that the strong performance of Ghana boosted the CAF to .86 leaving only Asia & Oceania on the minimum.

Second, I have the current standings for the May 2011 FIFA rankings, which as far as I am aware is still when the draw for World Cup Qualifying is likely to take place. The top six are seeded in the draw and should progress to the final stage. So without further ado here are the standings which include Puerto Rico's win over Anguilla on October 2.

May 2011 Rank	Country	Points
1	USA	963
2	Mexico	835
3	Honduras	499
4	Costa Rica	440
5	Canada	366
6	Panama	346
7	Jamaica	344
8	El Salvador	273
9	T & T	254
10	Grenada	149
11	Guatemala	142
12	Haiti	123
13	Antigua	121
14	Puerto Rico	117
15	Guyana	105
16	Dominica	101
17	Bermuda	94
18	Cuba	82
19	Barbados	72
20	St. Kitts	68
21	Suriname	67
22	St. Vincent	58
23	N. Antilles	57
24	Nicaragua	53
25	Belize	44
26	Cayman Islands	24
27	Turks & Caicos	13
27	St. Lucia	13
29	British VI	12
30	Bahamas	9
31	Aruba	7
32	Dominican R.	4
33	USVI	3
34	Anguilla	0
34	Montserrat	0

There you have it: Canada is sitting in 5th place. However we are by no means comfortably in 5th place - Panama and Jamaica are right on our heels. Now with May 2011 just around the corner, the matches we play count for a lot more towards the standings, so it is not out of the question for Canada to catch Costa Rica or even Honduras. To give you an idea of the amount of movement possible, Dominica picked up two wins over Barbados, grabbing nearly 100 points and moving from 26th to 16th. With that in mind, here are the matches coming up for the top eleven teams in October:

USA - Home to Poland & Colombia
Mexico - Home to Venezuela
Honduras - Away to New Zealand, Home to Guatemala
Costa Rica - Away to Peru, Home to El Salvador
Canada - Away to Ukraine
Panama - Home to El Salvador & Peru
Jamaica - Home to Trinidad & Tobago
El Salvador - Away to Panama & Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago - Away to Jamaica
Grenada - No matches scheduled
Guatemala - Home to Belize, Away to Honduras

If Canada manages a victory over Ukraine it will take our points total to 471. That would put us ahead of Costa Rica if they drop both of their matches and just behind Honduras if they lose theirs. It is going to be a close fight to make the top six no matter what happens. That said, because Canada have been playing matches we are going to be a lot better off than we were four years ago, when we were only the 11th ranked side in the region.

I am going to put out the next update at the start of November. Look for a lot of movement from some of the smaller nations as the qualifiers for the 2011 Gold Cup get underway.

Group H Preview

Finally we get to Group H, home of the European Champions and World Cup favourites Spain, along with Chile, Switzerland, and Montreal's favourite team, Honduras. Each team in the group has had injuries: Chile and Honduras have lost star players in Humberto Suazo & Wilson Palacios. Switzerland have had unlucky striker Frei injured again; Frei also missed Euro 2008 through injury. Spain have a number of slightly injured players: Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, and Torres.

Here is how the teams' travel, elevation and preparations look:

Spain get going in Durban at sea level, next they travel 569km north to Jo'burg and gain 1753m, and lastly they have the short 62km trip to Pretoria and drop 539m. By way of preparation, Spain played Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Poland. They played Saudi Arabia and South Korea in Austria, winning 3-2 & 1-0 respectively. They wrapped up their preparations with an easy 6-0 win over Poland in Spain.

Chile start in Nelspruit at 660m, followed by a 1410km move to Port Elizabeth and drop to sea level, and finally they head north to Pretoria and gain 1214m along the 1123km journey. Chile had five warm up matches, beating Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, Northern Ireland, and Israel all in Chile. They also travelled up to Mexico and suffered a 1-0 loss.

Switzerland kick off at sea level in Durban, stay at sea level as they move to Port Elizabeth 950km away, and then they go 664km north to Bloemfontein and gain 1400m. The Swiss played two matches both at home, losing to Costa Rica 1-0 and drawing with Italy 1-1.

Honduras start at 660m in Nelspruit, travel to Jo'burg 345km away and 1093m higher, and wrap up in Bloemfontein 353m lower and 397km east. Honduras have had a disastrous build up, drawing Belarus and Azerbaijan, plus losing to Romania 3-0.

Here is how I think the matches will go:

Honduras - Chile
Chile are too strong for Honduras and get off to a good start with all 3 points.

Spain - Switzerland
Spain don't have many problems breaking down the Swiss and win comfortably.

Chile - Switzerland
Draw. Both teams are going to fight hard but they will split the spoils in this one.

Spain - Honduras
Spain enjoy another easy win and eliminate the Hondurans.

Chile - Spain
Chile reap the rewards of Spain giving their A team a rest and manage a draw against the European Champions.

Switzerland - Honduras
The Swiss complete the sweep of the Hondurans with a 1-0 victory.

Here is how the table will look:

Spain 7 points
Chile 5 points
Switzerland 4 points
Honduras 0 points

Group G Preview

In Group G we find the Confederations Cup winners and perennial favourites Brasil, along with Portugal, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). There have been some big injuries in this group, with Portugal's Nani & Ivory Coast's Drogba both getting hurt before the tournament starts.

Here is how the teams' travel, elevation and preparations look:

Brasil start in Jo'burg at 1753m, then just like Argentina they stay there for their second match, before moving down to Durban 569km away at sea level. Brasil opted to make some money and played Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Neither of these sides made it to the African Cup of Nations, but I think that Brasilian Football did make $5M from the encounters...both of which Brasil won comfortably.

Portugal are the only team in the tournament to play all of their matches at sea level. They start off in Port Elizabeth, then travel 748km to Cape Town, finishing off 1638km away in Durban. At home, Portugal were held 0-0 by Cape Verde, then beat Cameroon 3-1 before heading to South Africa where they beat Mozambique 3-0 at 1753m in Jo'burg.

Ivory Coast start at sea level in Port Elizabeth, then go 1062km to Jo'burg and gain 1753m, and finally head 345km to Nelspruit and drop 1093m. Ivory Coast drew 2-2 with Paraguay in France, and beat Japan 2-0 in Switzerland.

North Korea kick off in Jo'burg at 1753m, next they travel to Cape Town 1398km away at sea level, and then have the longest journey in the tournament: 1747km to Nelspruit and up 660m. DPRK lost 1-0 to Paraguay in Switzerland, drew 2-2 with Greece in Austria, and lost 3-1 to Nigeria in Jo'burg.

Here is how I think the matches will go:

Ivory Coast - Portugal
Without Drogba, the Ivory Coast are missing their main weapon, but they are still a very strong team and should get the win here.

Brasil - North Korea
It is Brasil - North Korea...really only one winner possible here. That said, if Brasil get overconfident they could be in for a shock. Still, 3 points to the Brasilians.

Brasil - Ivory Coast
Brasil don't have to travel at all and the Ivorians gain 1753m in altitude; this equals a comfortable win for the Brasilians.

Portugal - North Korea
North Korea may have a shot at a point here, but I think the Portugese are too strong and take all three, eliminating "Our Dear Team".

Portugal - Brasil
Portugal need a win here to have a chance to advance; unfortunately for them Brasil is a rival and would love to get a win over the Portugese and eliminate them, which is exactly what the Brasilians will do.

North Korea - Ivory Coast
Unfortunately for "Our Dear Team", the Ivorians also need a win to ensure they advance and they will get it.

Here is how the table will look:

Brasil 9 points
Ivory Coast 6 points
Portugal 3 points
North Korea 0 points