March 28, 2024, 11:17:07 AM

Author Topic: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread  (Read 27857 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #30 on: August 08, 2019, 02:28:06 PM »
Get them Gary! I'm not in favor of this Concacaf's current format at all and do agree that every country should be given an equal chance of qualifying at the start. Surely they can come up with a better format, just don't like the idea of 29 countries fighting for a half a spot.

Gary for TTFA PRESIDENT. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #31 on: April 15, 2020, 08:43:06 AM »
Blatter suggests 2022 World Cup could be moved to US, other countries
Kyle Bonn
NBC Sports


Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is serving a six-year ban from football, has stated that the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the United States or other well-developed countries is still a possibility after fresh corruption charges were brought forth by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Last week, Russia and Qatar both released statements denying the charges, but formal proceedings could potentially push through change regarding the upcoming tournament host where years of speculation and conjecture could not.

In an interview with German publication Sport Bild, Blatter inferred that change is still possible and laid out a short list of countries who would be capable of hosting on short notice.  Referencing the joint-bid for the United States to host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico beginning an expanded field, Blatter suggested that could be formally moved forward.

“Germany could do it. But this would mean the World Cup being staged in Europe again after 2018,” Blatter said. “Europe therefore would not be first choice. The United States could do it instead of 2026. They are capable, it’s not rocket science! Japan could also do it. They also bid to host the 2022 World Cup.”

“Fortunately, the 2022 World Cup will only have 32 teams and not 48 as [FIFA president Gianni Infantino] had planned. The organisational effort would not be bigger than 2018.”

There would still be massive logistical roadblocks to this. As Blatter mentioned, the upcoming 2022 tournament is not yet featuring an expanded field, so filling out a scheduled also playing games in Mexico and Canada could be troublesome with fewer games. If only the United States hosted in 2022 and the 2026 bid was reopened, Mexico and Canada could be left out in the cold, which would clearly not go over well.

Qatar’s denial of the latest allegations was forceful, although their defense continues to shift from “we didn’t do anything wrong” to “you can’t prove it.”

“Despite years of false claims, evidence has never been produced to demonstrate that Qatar won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 unethically or by means that contravened FIFA’s strict bidding rules,” said the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in a statement. “The SC maintains that it strictly adhered to all rules and regulations for the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process and any claim to the contrary is baseless and will be fiercely contested.”

Still, the pressure is mounting on Qatar to prove its innocence, and the murmurs continue about whether they will actually prove a viable host.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Online Tallman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 25251
    • View Profile
T&T gets improved 2022 World Cup qualifying chance
« Reply #32 on: May 06, 2020, 09:11:59 PM »
T&T gets improved 2022 World Cup qualifying chance
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)


T&T Soca Warriors are set to be handed a much-improved chance at qualifying for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

This after it was stated that Concacaf’s 2022 World Cup qualifying format to determine which three teams earn direct tickets to Qatar and which one will head to an inter-continental playoff is expected to change due to the impact of the COVID-19.

The expected change in the qualifying process has come out due to the delays caused by the virus which has forced sporting activities worldwide to grind to a halt since mid-March and was stated by Concacaf president, Victor Montagliani while speaking on One Soccer's Inside the Game with Gareth Wheeler on Tuesday night in Toronto, Canada.

Before the coronavirus outbreak the top six Concacaf teams in the FIFA rankings as of June 2020 (Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras,  El Salvador) were expected to enter into the Hexagonal (six-team) final round, featuring a round-robin format with tenth-ranked T&T set to compete with 28 other countries for the lone playoff-spot to compete against the fourth-placed team in the  "Hex".

Among the other teams due to compete for the one spot were seventh-ranked Panama (7th), Canada (8th) and Curacao (9th).

However, FIFA vice-president Montagliani confirmed that the upcoming qualifying for the 2022 World Cup the “Hex” in its current form on the balance of probabilities will change due to delays from COVID-19.

The "Hex" was set to start in early September, with the fourth-place team squaring off with the winner of the 29-team second-tier event in October 2021. The winner of that playoff would then oppose a team from Asia, South America or Oceania in March 2022 for a spot in the World Cup, later that year.

But those plans are complicated by the fact that FIFA cancelled its scheduled international-match windows in March and June, and the September international date might end up being scratched, too, depending on when domestic leagues can restart.

At the moment, it is unclear if Concacaf would have time to hold a full ten-game "Hex" in addition to the subsequent playoffs.

Montagliani said, "We will be reformatting the current one, so we are going to have 35 countries, and until we know from FIFA how many windows we have it's going to be very hard for me to say what it will be like.

"I think one of the things we have to keep in mind is that whatever the format is we have to keep in mind is sporting integrity.

"Yes, we are going to have to use FIFA rankings to start somewhere because that's the reality of our confederation, and in terms of having 35 countries, which is a weird number to start with, means we will have to do some sort of elimination process and then eventually get into some group stage process.

"But I don't' know that yet until we know what the FIFA calendar is going to look like."

Asked if the "Hex" as we know it today or yesterday may not exist in the same way at least for this qualifying phase based upon how everything has played out Montagliani replied, "Yeah, I think on the balance of probabilities in terms of what has happened so far and what likely will continue to happen, the current World Cup qualify format will have to change which means automatically that the "Hex" will have to be changed to some other form.

"It will be bigger, but what that number is I don't know until we have a calendar.

"If we look at the old format, it will not allow us to play all those games in sequence, so going forward with the expected changed format we will have to use the FIFA rankings at some point to put teams somewhere.

"But for me to put teams into the old format of the "Hex" or no "Hex"  using a FIFA ranking when nobody has played football for almost nine months, ten months or whatever it will end up being to me, an integrity issue," said the former Canada football boss who noted that several people asked why the format of going from Nations League to World Cup qualifying could not be used, but he admitted they were not allowed to.

 "The TV rights of the World Cup qualifiers are sold by each country to third parties and the Nations League is owned by Concacaf and that's how we pay for teams expenses during that period as teams don't pay a dime.

"We could not use our products for World Cup qualifying calendar, and so that's how we came to that system, and it wasn't based on helping out anybody."

Looking towards the near future, a hopeful Montagliani said that Concacaf was now at the table with FIFA and other confederations to decide on what this new calendar will look like moving forward because they have no idea right now.

Newly appointed T&T coach, former England World Cup defender Terry Fenwick was delighted by the expected change.

He told Guardian Media Sports On Wednesday, "I thought FIFA and Concacaf, by extension, were trying to move us in the wrong direction away from what is positive for the Caribbean nations. So I'm pleased that we have run out of time and things will remain as is at the moment and I am waiting to see what comes in the not too distant future," said the former T&T Pro League-winning coach with San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC."

He said, "I thought the format which was to be implemented alienated a lot of the Caribbean national teams like T&T and I wasn't in favour of that change at all as it was, and I much prefer it as it was before. Despite the imminent change, Fenwick said he still expects it to be a tough road ahead in the qualifiers saying: "We have to recognise that we are up against the might of USA, Mexico and emerging teams like Canada who have had a three-to-four year development programme that's starting to pay off."
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Online Tallman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 25251
    • View Profile
John, Sancho delighted with "Hex" reshuffle
« Reply #33 on: May 08, 2020, 09:55:27 PM »
John, Sancho delighted with "Hex" reshuffle
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)


Former T&T World Cup duo, striker Stern John and defender Brent Sancho, expressed their delight with the news that existing qualifying format with regards to the "Hex" is expected to change for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to the coronavirus pandemic which has greatly affected this year's FIFA international football calendar.

The pair were speaking on Friday at the re-opening of the refurbished St James Police Barracks Training Academy football field which underwent an $800,000 upgrade by Landscaping & Central Contracting Company Limited.  

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the top six Concacaf teams in the FIFA rankings as of June 2020 (Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras,  El Salvador) were expected to enter into the Hexagonal (six-team) final round, featuring a round-robin format from which the top three teams will earn direct tickets to Qatar, while the fourth-place finisher in the "Hex" was set to first contest a playoff with the 29 other Concacaf nations who were to compete for one spot after which that playoff winner was due to compete in an inter-continental playoff against either Asia, South America or Oceania for a World Cup spot.

As it stood, T&T, ranked tenth in Concacaf,  along with 28 other nations who are illegible to compete in Concacaf, were due to battle it out for the right to battle the fourth-place team from the "Hex".

However, on Tuesday, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani speaking on One Soccer’s Inside the Game with Gareth Wheeler in Toronto, Canada, confirmed that the upcoming qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, the “Hex” in its current form on the balance of probabilities will change due to delays from COVID-19.

The “Hex” was set to start in early September, with the fourth-place team squaring off with the winner of the 29-team second-tier event in October 2021. The winner of that playoff would then oppose a team from Asia, South America or Oceania in March 2022 for a spot in the World Cup, later that year.

Montagliani noted that those plans have been complicated by the fact that FIFA cancelled its scheduled international-match windows in March and June, and the September international date might end up being scratched, too, depending on when domestic leagues can restart.

A FIFA vice-president as well, Montagliani said: "We will be reformatting the current one, so we are going to have 35 countries, and until we know from FIFA how many windows we will have it’s going to be very hard for me to say what it will be like.

On the expected reformatting of the qualifiers, John and Sancho who were members of the Leo Beenhakker-coached national team at the 2006 FIFA Germany World Cup, expressed the belief that the new format will work in T&T's favour.

Sancho said, "We definitely have gotten a reprieve because as it stood before we were basically out of the World Cup due to the little chance we had. Now obviously with the COVID-19 and the havoc it has played and will continue to play on the FIFA international window, it certainly gives us a chance back into the main phase.

"But for us, we first have to get our house in order, of course, Yes the news that Concacaf and FIFA have to do a reconfiguring of the draw will give us a better chance at qualification to the World Cup, but it will remain a difficult proposition for us.

"This is because we have seen a lot of improvement from not just the normal powers like the USA, and Mexico, but you can look at teams like Panama, El Salvador, Canada and Honduras have all been showing tremendous strides in international football and pulling off some great results over the last two years or so.

"Then we have the Caribbean Football Union nations like Jamaica, and Haiti who have been doing quite well, so I think that even though the format will change I still think it will be a daunting task for us and we have a lot of work to do. But with that being said we may still have been presented with a greater possibility of qualifying than before.

 John, T&T's all-time leading goalscorer with 70 goals from 115 international matches, to be joint 15th on the FIFA all-time for players with their national teams, was quick to note that it will present the national team with a greater opportunity.

"Now that' the format is expected to change and the schedule will be pushed back it will a great opportunity for us and we will have a better chance to qualify for whatever the final stage or new "Hex" will look like," said John, who was an assistant coach to former national coach and fellow World Cup team member Dennis Lawrence.

"So it's up to us now as I believe most of the countries are experiencing the same setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic, so we will have to come out and hit the ground running when the all-clear is given for the return to international football and work away to getting back into the top segment of Concacaf football where I think we deserve to be."
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Online Tallman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 25251
    • View Profile
Eve, Morris feel T&T could have better chance to reach 2022 World Cup
« Reply #34 on: May 10, 2020, 11:30:11 AM »
Eve, Morris feel T&T could have better chance to reach 2022 World Cup
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


The hope is that the yet-to-be-revealed Concacaf Zone qualifying format for the Qatar 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup will be a more equitable and open one, which gives all 35 participants a chance at qualifying.

Former national footballers Clayton Morris and Angus Eve, both agree that the plan to scrap the current controversial qualifying system for Qatar benefits Caribbean teams. Former Trinidad and Tobago technical director Anton Corneal felt it was quite too early to comment meaningfully, but acknowledged that the originally planned qualifying system “was difficult for Caribbean teams”.

Canadian Victor Montagliani, president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) last week announced a likely change to the controversial qualifying system as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which could result in most of this year’s football being lost.

Montagliani anticipated that in its current format, there will not be sufficient time to run World Cup qualifying, which is due to begin in September.

The controversial system will see fourth-ranked Jamaica as the only Caribbean team eligible for the “Hex”, from which the six highest-ranked Concacaf teams are seeded and will battle for three automatic World Cup qualifying spots.

Twenty-five other Caribbean teams - including T&T and Haiti - will play a back-door 29-team competition along with Canada, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala, after which the winners will meet the fourth-place Hex finishers for a spot into an inter-continental World Cup qualifier.

“I thought the initial qualifying system was unfair in the sense of equality for all,” said Eve.

Eve made reference to small European countries like Malta, the Faroe Islands and Azerbaijan - the latter beaten twice by T&T in international friendly matches.

“You look at Azerbaijan and all these other countries all over the world who have never qualified for any major tournament, but the fair opportunity for them to play has never been taken away from them,” stated the T&T national boys Under-17 coach.

“I think that was not in our favour,” former national futsal coach Morris added. “I think we were at a disadvantage.”

With Concacaf Nations Cup and Gold Cup qualifying matches already postponed, Montagliani anticipated having to reformat the World Cup qualifying process.

“The current World Cup format will have to be changed,” he said. ‘Ultimately the ‘Hex’ would have to be changed into some other form. Obviously it would be bigger. ‘What the number is, obviously I don’t know until FIFA tells us how many days the calendar is.”

While not yet knowing what the new qualifying format will be, both Eve and Morris hoped the new plan, when unveiled, would give all Concacaf teams a fair opportunity at qualifying for the World Cup.

“It gives us a chance to be in the next World Cup,” stated former T&T captain Morris, “It still will not be easy, but it was impossible to make the Hex under the system they had.” Eve added:“I hope good sense prevails. We (should) have a qualifying round from the Caribbean. We then go onto a second stage and then the next. With the limited amount of windows, I think that will be fair for everybody.”

In his statements last week, Montagliani also stressed that there had been agreement on the current Hex format.

“Everybody confirmed. This was not done in my office with my general secretary,” Montagliani said. “It was done with a series of meetings with the 41 member nations over three years. Everybody was at the table, including Canada.

“It wasn’t made based on helping out anybody and besides the decision was made two-and-a-half years before,’ the Concacaf president added.

However, Eve had a different take on the Hex decision. “I think a certain team did not like how Trinidad knocked them out of the World Cup (2017 World Cup qualifying) and I think that was done because of that,” he declared. He felt conditions were put in place for teams like the USA not to face the difficult conditions presented in places like the Caribbean.

“In my opinion, the process of qualifying is for teams to go into places which are undesirable or to go to difficult places where they don’t like to go, and battle to come out with a result.”
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline ABTrini

  • Sr. Warrior
  • ****
  • Posts: 422
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #35 on: May 12, 2020, 08:06:22 AM »
At this current time, they could change all the playoff format. We just don't have the calibre of players to get to that WC level. The former coach DL, had set a goal of TnT regaining its position as Caribbean champions and dominating in the region- we struggled against Guyana, Grenada - could not match Haiti  - At this time St Kitts may even  prove to be a challenge.

 No players in the English top league - we relying on ZuSFL players and those in the Indian league - forget about the shambles of the local pro league.

To qualify, Fenwick go have to come out of retirement and anchor the defence and that looks like a better option than what we have - so to qualify we will need a real turn around in terms of players

Offline maxg

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 6467
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #36 on: May 12, 2020, 09:29:19 AM »
 ??? ???

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #37 on: May 12, 2020, 10:06:05 AM »
My 2 cents here. I think that the TTFA under DJW should have entered the U-23 in the Olympic qualifiers whether we qualified or not. At least they would have had a head start in figure out some of the youths who could have formed the nucleus of the the WC squad.

Online Tallman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 25251
    • View Profile
Altered format: Pandemic forces changes in route to Qatar 2022
« Reply #38 on: June 27, 2020, 07:43:31 AM »
Altered format: Pandemic forces changes in route to Qatar 2022
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


CONCACAF confirmed Thursday that World Cup qualifying for the region will definitely change due to the calendar disruption of the Covid-19 global pandemic. However, the confederation that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean did not put forward a revamped format.

At a FIFA Council meeting on Wednesday, football’s governing body announced the cancellation of the September international match window for AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania) and Concacaf regions while expanding the June 2021 international window to four match dates.

The announcement had an immediate effect on the Caribbean, North and Central American region (Concacaf). In a press release. Concacaf confirmed earlier speculation from its president Victor Montagliani that time lost as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic will likely see drastic readjustments to the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying process.

“This means our qualifying process for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will not begin in September, as previously scheduled,” was Concacaf’s reaction to decisions taken at Wednesday’s FIFA Council meeting.

Concacaf provided no details of the coming changes. However, there has been speculation that the 12 top Concacaf teams, divided into three groups of four, will play for three automatic World Cup spots. Teams ranked 13-35 in Concacaf will play in a supplemental competition with the winner vying for an inter-continental playoff spot, against the team finishing fourth among the top 12.

Incomplete FIFA rankings

“The challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, mean our current World Cup Qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed. We will now work with the new framework provided and liaise with FIFA to finalise a new World Cup Qualification format for the Concacaf region,” Concacaf said.

“We will also work with our stakeholders to reorganise the Concacaf Road to Gold Cup Qualifiers (originally scheduled for March and June 2020), the Concacaf Nations League Finals (originally scheduled for June 2020) and a range of other suspended competitions. A further update on World Cup Qualifying and other Concacaf men’s international competitions will be provided in the coming weeks.”

Trinidad and Tobago head coach Terry Fenwick was not yet aware of FIFA’s recent action and is unable to yet make an assessment of how the national team is affected. Appointed in January by the TTFA administration headed by William Wallace, Fenwick has not yet been in charge for a single match due to a combination of the Covid-19 outbreak and also FIFA’s intervention in local football which has seen a normalisation committee replacing Wallace’s executive.

Fenwick’s team was expected to see action in March. However, due to Covid 19, Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers were postponed. But since the easing of quarantine restrictions this month, Fenwick has begun the process of preparing the team with a contingent made up mainly of young prospects.

“I’m trying to bring the local kids together. We have been training three days a week,” he said, “We stopped because of the Sahara dust.”

The 60-year-old former England defender also announced that he can at the moment make no concrete plans until his status is finalised.

“I am still waiting for official feedback,” he told the Express. “I am waiting on direction.”
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #39 on: June 28, 2020, 01:40:32 PM »
CONCACAF to workout WC qualifying format.
T&T Guardian Reports.


ZURICH, Switzerland – Football’s world governing body FIFA has confirmed that CONCACAF’s planned qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup have been postponed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCACAF’s Hexagonal was set to kick off during the September international window, but a statement issued after a FIFA Council meeting on Thursday said that window would be closed for federations outside Europe and South America. CONCACAF will therefore be forced to alter plans in the run up to the World Cup, including changing the format of the qualification competition.

However, the decision to alter the match calendars was welcomed by the regional football governing body, which said many of its member associations and their communities continued to face significant challenges due to the spread of the highly contagious virus.

“The rescheduling of competitions, and agreements on new international match dates, provide some encouragement across the football world and enable CONCACAF to progress our planning to resume men’s and women’s international football when it is safe to do so,” CONCACAF said.

It added that it would work with its stakeholders to reorganize the CONCACAF Road to Gold Cup Qualifiers (originally scheduled for March and June 2020), its inaugural Nations League Finals, originally scheduled to be held in Houston and Dallas this month, and a range of other suspended competitions.

Given the elimination of the September window, the football body will be revamping the World Cup qualifying competition, nixing the Hexagonal which would have had to be followed by playoffs in two international windows.

In the Hex, the top six ranked CONCACAF teams based on the FIFA rankings play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top three teams would qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth-placed team would advance to the CONCACAF play-off round.

“The challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, means our current World Cup Qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed. We will now work with the new framework provided and liaise with FIFA to finalize a new World Cup Qualification format for the CONCACAF region,” the continental body said said.

FIFA had also announced that the June 2021 window would be extended by seven days for CONCACAF and other federations outside Europe and South America, so they can play four games instead of two.

Meantime, in its statement, FIFA announced that its Council on Thursday approved stage three of its US $1.5 billion COVID‑19 Relief Plan which was created to assist the football community amid the pandemic.

In that stage, FIFA will provide national federations with grants and interest-free loans to cope with budget hits.

A universal solidarity grant of US$ 1 million will be made available to all member associations, with an additional grant of US $500,000 allocated specifically to women’s football.

In addition, each confederation will receive a grant of US$ 2 million.

Member associations will also be able to apply for interest-free loans.

Both grants and loans can be directed by member associations to the wider football community in their respective territories, including clubs, players, leagues, or others that have been affected by COVID-19. - CMC

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #40 on: July 15, 2020, 10:39:27 AM »
World Cup 2022 dates and times revealed as FIFA announce four games a day in Qatar.
ESPN.


World Cup fans will be able to watch an unprecedented four games a day on television, spread out over 11 hours, during the group stage of the Qatar 2022 tournament after the schedule was confirmed on Wednesday.

With the relatively short travel distances for the venues in and around Doha, it could be possible for fans who travel to the 32-team tournament to attend multiple games each day.

The early games will kickoff at 13.00 local time with the fourth match starting at 22.00 local time and finishing just before midnight.

The tournament's opening game on Nov. 21, will be at the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium, with its distinctive "tent" style covering.

The final on Dec. 18 will be held at the 80,000 Lusail Stadium, which, like Al Bayt, will also host a semifinal.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the Qatar World Cup organising company, said plans for the tournament were well on schedule with 90% of the work finished on roads and infrastructure.

"When we talk about the stadiums, more than 85% of the work has been completed and really now, the last two years, we're focusing on our operation readiness and making sure we get the fan experience plans in place," he said.

"The World Cup is always a festival of football, a real celebration for the fans who come on-site and watch," FIFA chief tournaments and events officer Colin Smith said. "In Qatar, with the compact nature, this is going to be amplified even more with 32 teams and 32 sets of supporters all in and around Doha.

"FIFA will wait until the draw for the tournament is held in March or April of 2022 before assigning specific games to venues and time-slots. That will enable them to better align games with time zones for domestic television partners of the competing teams. The tournament was switched from it's usual June-July slot due to the heat in the Gulf state and is the first that will be held in the middle of the European season."

The tournament draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to be pushed back by two months after FIFA rescheduled qualifying playoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA said in June its council agreed to delay an intercontinental four-team playoff -- from March 2022 to June that year -- due to fixture congestion.

The 32-team tournament draw was planned for April 2022, likely in Doha. The earliest option is now to hold it in June ahead of the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 tournament.

FIFA has agreed to a $1.5 billion relief plan to help with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global game.

FIFA's plan means it will dip into its reserves to provide national federations with a number of grants and interest-free loans to cope with budget hits.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #41 on: July 15, 2020, 03:53:27 PM »
We bringing the cup to POS. What a lovely Christmas present that will be.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #42 on: July 28, 2020, 03:28:50 AM »
Soca Warriors seeded for World Cup Play-offs
T&T Guardian Reports.


NEW YORK — CONCACAF is changing its World Cup qualifying hexagonal to an octagonal in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and delaying the start until next June.

The United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Honduras receive byes directly to the octagonal, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football announced yesterday.

CONCACAF's other 30 nations will compete for three additional spots in the final round. The octagonal will take place with four games per team in next June's double FIFA international match window followed by two apiece in September, October and November 2021, and two each in January and March 2022.

By staying with a large total of teams in the final round, CONCACAF ensured two high-profile, lucrative qualifiers between the US and Mexico. The format also provides margin for slip ups, though there were not enough to prevent the US from missing the 2018 World Cup in Russia when it lost to Mexico and Costa Rica at home and at T&T on the final night.

"It's good that we have clarity regarding the format and scheduling, which allows us to chart the course ahead," US coach Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. "We are looking forward to the challenge that this new World Cup qualifying format will present."

The hexagonal was to have started this September and be based on the June FIFA rankings, in which El Salvador was just ahead of Canada as the region's sixth team. Teams not in the hexagonal would have competed for the right to represent CONCACAF in an intercontinental playoff.

FIFA removed the September window for international matches because of the pandemic.

Under the new format, nations currently ranked 6-35 will be drawn into six groups of five in a seeded draw next month, with El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, and T&T seeded. Each group will compete in a single round robin of four matches per nation this October and November.

Group winners will advance to a home-and-home, total-goals second round next March, and the second-round winners will advance to the octagonal.

The top three teams in the octagonal qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the fourth-place nation advances to an intercontinental playoff in June 2022.

The first CONCACAF Nations League semifinals and final will be rescheduled for a US site next March. The US plays Honduras, and Mexico meets Costa Rica in the semis, which originally were to have been played on June 4 in Houston. The final was to have been June 7 in Arlington, Texas.

The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup will take place from July 10 to August 1 next year. The Gold Cup likely will be missing many top players, who will be taking time off and then reporting to clubs ahead of the 2021-22 European club seasons. The tournament originally was scheduled for next July 2-25.

CONCACAF will work to create a Gold Cup preliminary round in the US ahead of the tournament involving Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Montserrat, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and T&T.

National coach Terry Fenwick told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that the fixtures are a breath of fresh air, it is something that we can look forward to, something that we can plan ahead and move things and we can get the multiple players that we have seen playing somewhere else in the world with T&T parentage. We need to fast track their passport details.

"This journey will be difficult, we need the public support. We need the public to come out and get behind the national team. It has been a terrible few years we had under the last administration, the results have been shocking. The only chance we have is careful planning together and hardwork and we need to pull together," he explained.

Concacaf Nations League:

The Concacaf Nations League is a key part of the Confederation’s strategy to provide more competitive football opportunities for national teams across the region.

The inaugural group stage included all 41 Concacaf men’s national teams in the FIFA match windows of September, October and November 2019 with great competition across the region.

The League A group winners: Mexico, USA, Honduras and Costa Rica qualified for the first Concacaf Nations League Finals, originally scheduled for June 2020 but suspended due to the public health situation.

The 2019/20 Concacaf Nations League Finals will now take place in the FIFA match window of March 2021, at a venue in the USA to be determined.

As previously announced, the semifinal matchups are Costa Rica vs Mexico and USA vs Honduras as determined by their performances on the field during the group stage.

A Concacaf Nations League Final match will follow the semifinals to crown a first Concacaf Nations League champion. There will also be a third-placed match with all games played across one FIFA match window.

Additionally, Concacaf can now confirm that the second edition of this exciting competition, the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League, will begin in June 2022 and conclude with the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League Finals in March 2023.

2021 Concacaf Gold Cup:

The Concacaf Gold Cup is the Confederation’s flagship men’s international football competition.

This event is eagerly anticipated by fans across the region and Concacaf can now confirm the start date for the 2021 Gold Cup will be July 10, 2021, and the Final will take place on August 1, 2021.

The Concacaf Road to Gold Cup Qualifiers were due to be played in the March 2020 and June 2020 FIFA match windows which were suspended.

Concacaf will now work towards creating a centralized Gold Cup preliminary round for those teams which had been due to play the Road to Gold Cup Qualifiers.

This will take place in the United States in the week before the commencement of the Gold Cup group stages. Further details on the format and schedule of this preliminary round will be provided in the coming weeks.

The 12 participating teams in the preliminary round are Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and T&T.

The draw for all rounds of the Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will take place in mid-August 2020 with full details to follow in the coming days. - (AP)

« Last Edit: July 28, 2020, 04:11:25 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Trini

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 1631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #43 on: August 01, 2020, 09:26:47 AM »
The road to the hex/Octagon goes through El Salvador..

In many ways, this extra round of games is good for us, gives Coach and team time together.

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #44 on: August 01, 2020, 01:05:07 PM »
The road to the hex/Octagon goes through El Salvador..

In many ways, this extra round of games is good for us, gives Coach and team time together.


There is some truth in that. let's see the squad that they will pick.

Online gawd on pitch

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2963
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #45 on: August 01, 2020, 07:47:05 PM »
My analysis: 
 
- We dont want to play Canada. Their team is good. A lot of young guys playing great ball in top flights in Europe. 

- Just put it this way, Curacao keeps finding more Dutch born players. . When Kluivert took over, his goal was for Curacao to make 2022.

- Haiti is always Haiti. They have numbers too. When it really counts, they always give us trouble.

- Panama. Just like Haiti. They always give us trouble. We lucky we aint going down the same road with them.

- El Salvador.. We at least have a chance. It wouldnt be a shocker if they beat us, or if we beat them.

El Salvador gives us the best chance. And the Salvadorans feel that we give them the best chance. This all depends on who gets grouped with who.

These teams will also affect the outcome of the groups.
- Guyana
- Cuba
- Guatemala

I have a funny feeling, we getting one of these teams in our group. And if we do, we will have our work cut out for us.

Offline ABTrini

  • Sr. Warrior
  • ****
  • Posts: 422
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #46 on: August 01, 2020, 09:48:14 PM »

These teams will also affect the outcome of the groups.
- Guyana
- Cuba
- Guatemala

I have a funny feeling, we getting one of these teams in our group. And if we do, we will have our work cut out for us.
[/quote]

I have a funny feeling anyone of these teams could cut we arse- At this time we are most vulnerable, mentally we are sitting with so much uncertaintity- regarding FIFa' impending  decisions
Physically- we have not seen any physicality from our team to  put fear in any regional team much less for the big guns - not taking anything from the previous coach but we did have a good run against Wales
Emotionally - we are too susceptible to being ' woe' is me attitude
Discipline- ent seeing anyone  player to stabilize or to  command a leadership role

So unless TF could instill some  or all of the above elements we going down to  any team wearing an opposing uniform - right now ah think India  or even Nepal could put ah licking on we
We need to establish a commanding assertive presence and approach to the game .
95 % is getting into the heads of these players and instilling some confidence pride in the national colours and an unceasing desire and will to domnate against all comers
Man have to be relentless in their professional approach to playing this game. Char play de game as of it is ah " fete match"
« Last Edit: August 01, 2020, 10:35:29 PM by ABTrini »

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #47 on: August 10, 2020, 12:29:32 PM »
Haiti is a massive threat if we get into the next round - they keep finding quality youngsters and always have the chance to get players from France - one of their youngsters recently got a place in Spain too.

In terms of who we should fear from the seedings? The sad truth is a lot right now. I know Fenwick can do well, but the situation isn't great and I really fear coming up against Guatemala, Suriname, and Guyana. The Dominican Republic has really improved in the last two years domestically, so it would be good to avoid them, and Cuba are always "roll a dice, see if they turn good or shite". Grenada and Bermuda are probably also underrated right now, and there's a reason Antigua is ranked close to us.

Assuming a "seeded" draw means the places in each group will be drawn by ranking;

1st team threat;
 Antigua and Barbuda (126)
Guatemala (130)
 Saint Kitts and Nevis (139)
 Suriname (141)
 Nicaragua (151)
 Dominican Republic (158)

2nd team;
 Grenada (159)
 Barbados (162)
Guyana (166)
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (167)
 Bermuda (168)
 Belize (170)

3rd team
 Saint Lucia (176)
 Puerto Rico (178)
Cuba (179)
 Montserrat (183)
 Dominica (184)
 Cayman Islands (193)

4th team
 Bahamas (195)
Aruba (200)
 Turks and Caicos Islands (203)
 U.S. Virgin Islands (207)
 British Virgin Islands (208)
 Anguilla (210)

So my literal worst case scenario would be a group with;

T&T
Guatemala
Guyana
Cuba
Aruba

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #48 on: August 13, 2020, 02:09:56 AM »
T&T set for CONCACAF draw Wednesday.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


The qualification pathway for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in North, Central America and the Caribbean will take shape later this month following FIFA's confirmation this week that the Concacaf preliminary draw will be held on Wednesday 19 at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland.

With 35 member associations from across North, Central America and the Caribbean set to be involved, the preliminary draw is a significant moment that will determine the tournament pathway for the first and final rounds under the new qualification format.

Based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as of 16 July 2020, the draw for the first round will allocate the 30 lowest-ranked Concacaf teams to six groups.

This will be followed by the draw for the final round, which will indicate the position of each team within the final qualification stage, which will also be contested in a group format.

The six highest-ranked teams in the first round - El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, and T&T - will be pre-seeded into groups A to F respectively.

The first round will be played in a single round-robin format, meaning each team will play four matches: two home and two away.

During the second round, the six group winners will face off in a home-and-away elimination format in three predetermined pairings. The winners of each tie will proceed to the final round.

The final round will see the three winners from the second round join the five highest-ranked Concacaf teams according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking as of 16 July 2020, which will play each other in a home-and-away round-robin format.

Fans around the world will be able to follow the draw live on FIFA.com, with the exception of the territories where the draw will be broadcast live on TV.

Meanwhile, High Court Judge Carol Gobin will decide on Thursday whether the T&T Football Association's decision to challenge FIFA's appointment of a Normalisation Committee to govern the affairs of local football will be done here in the T&T courts, or if it will revert to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In the initial hearing on July 29 at the High Court at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, the court heard submissions from both sides, before adjourning to today. TTFA president William Wallace said after the hearing that his team was still open to negotiation.

On July 15, FIFA lawyers told the T&T courts that: “The removal of the Normalization Committee before appropriate controls, policies, and procedures are in place at the TTFA will not only jeopardise the achievements to date and reintroduce the threats to the solvency of the TTFA, but it will be a disincentive to FIFA to provide any further funding to the TTFA given the absence of appropriate controls.”

In March the FIFA, the sport's supreme body, took the decision to appoint the committee only three months after the Wallace-led team assumed office, citing management flaws which placed the association on the brink of insolvency, coupled with crippling debt that the association had to way of clearing.

The TTFA followed procedure by taking their matter to the CAS before making a round about turn, citing institutional bias

The pots for the first-round draw are as follows:

Pot 1: El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, T&T.

Pot 2: Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic

Pot 3: Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda, Belize

Pot 4: St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Montserrat, Dominica, Cayman Islands

Pot 5: Bahamas, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla

The pots for the final-round draw are as follows:

Pot A: Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, winner of A vs F, winner of B vs E, winner of C vs D

Pot B: teams 1-8.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Online gawd on pitch

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2963
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #49 on: August 19, 2020, 11:15:09 AM »
Live link for the draw:

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/coming-soon-live-stream-for-the-preliminary-draw-for-concacaf-qatar-2022-qualifi

So far we avoid Guatemala. But we got Guyana.

Groups


Group A

El Salvador
Antigua
Grenada
Montserrat
US Virgin Islands

Group B

Canada
Suriname
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Aruba

Group C

Curacao
Guatemala
SVG
Cuba
BVI

Group D

Panama
DR
Barbados
Dominica
Anguilla

Group E

Haiti
Nicaragua
Belize
St Lucia
Turks and Caicos

Group F

Trinidad and Tobago
St Kitts and Nevis
Guyana
Puerto Rico
Bahamas

Not a bad draw. For us. I hope we get this sh1t sorted out with FIFA/NC and TTFA.

Group of death? Group C

Curacao
Guatemala
SVG
Cuba
BVI

« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 11:28:21 AM by gawd on pitch »

Offline Trini _2026

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 13557
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #50 on: August 19, 2020, 01:01:58 PM »
guyana is the team to beat
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4</a>

Offline Controversial

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 6872
    • View Profile
    • Gino McKoy
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #51 on: August 19, 2020, 01:10:58 PM »
guyana is the team to beat

 :rotfl:

Since when?

The dictator was in charge at that time... if we select our best 11 we have nothing to worry about

Offline Trini _2026

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 13557
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #52 on: August 19, 2020, 01:15:03 PM »
lol we start of against guyana ....... oct 8 .. they have to give exemption for the football tem to train ...
« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 01:17:53 PM by Trini _2022 »
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/sh8SeGmzai4</a>

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #53 on: August 19, 2020, 01:57:24 PM »
Soca Warriors, Guyana clash in WC opener.
By Gyasi Merrique (Guardian).


Trinidad and Tobago senior men's footballers will open their quest to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup by hosting Guyana on Thursday, October 8, 2020.

This was determined at the draw for the CONCACAF qualification competition, which was conducted at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday, to reveal the line up of teams ranked 6th to 35th in the confederation, in groups A to F of the preliminary round.

T&T and Guyana will be joined by national teams from St Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas in Group F.

Following their opening assignment against Guyana, the Soca Warriors will travel to face Puerto Rico three days later on October 11th.

In the group phase, which takes place during the FIFA international match days in October and November 2020, teams will play four matches in total. Two of those matches will be played at home and two away.

Therefore, the Soca Warriors will then play away to the Bahamas on November 14 and end the group phase by entertaining St Kitts and Nevis on November 17.

History shows that T&T should have few problems in navigating the preliminary round, with the Warriors boasting winning records against each of the teams in its group, with the exception of the Bahamas who the Warriors have never met at the senior level.

T&T's toughest challenge could come from Guyana who the warriors drew against at the Gold Cup in 2019 but whom they have only lost to once in four world cup qualifying encounters and just twice in 22 meetings overall.

At the end of the four group stage matches, each of the six group winners advances to the second stage of the competition.

It means that if Trinidad and Tobago is successful in winning its group, the Soca Warriors will travel to play the winner of Group A in the next phase of qualifying in 2020 is March 22-30. That tie takes the form of home and away from direct elimination for progression into the third and final round to join CONCACAF's first to fifth-ranked teams Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Honduras.

The third stage, also called the 'Octagonal' will also take a home and away format and will be played during the FIFA match dates in June, September, October and November of 2021 and January and March of 2022.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUPS

GROUP A

El Salvador
Antigua and Barbuda
Grenada
Montserrat
U.S. Virgin Islands

GROUP B

Canada
Suriname
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Aruba

GROUP C

Curacao
Guatemala
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Cuba
British Virgin Islands

GROUP D

Panama
Dominican Republic
Barbados
Dominica
Anguilla

GROUP E

Haiti
Nicaragua
Belize
St Lucia
Turks and Caicos

GROUP F

Trinidad & Tobago
St Kitts and Nevis
Guyana
Puerto Rico
Bahamas

CONCACAF SECOND ROUND

Winner Group A v Winner Group F

Winner Group B v Winner Group E

Winner Group C v Winner Group D

CONCACAF FINAL ROUND - Match Day 1

Winner BvE vs Honduras

Winner AvF vs USA

Winner CvD vs Costa Rica

Mexico vs Jamaica

RELATED NEWS

T&T pull Guyana, St Kitts and P/Rico in W/Cup draw, but Fifa will rule on possible ban first.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


The Soca Warriors must top Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and Bahamas to advance past the preliminary stage of Concacaf’s Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying series. But before a ball is kicked, the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team first has to contend with a Fifa Congress on Friday 18 September, which could make today’s draw irrelevant for local football fans.

Fifa’s 70th Congress, which will be held online, lists its fourth agenda item as: ‘suspension or expulsion of a member’. The member association is not named but the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has been in the crosshairs of the world governing body since March.

Last week, Madame Justice Carol Gobin dismissed an application by Fifa which sought to compel TTFA president William Wallace to move his grievance, over the implementation of a normalisation committee in the twin island republic, from the local High Court to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or dismiss it outright.

Wallace and TTFA vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip responded to the ruling on Monday by again inviting Fifa to mediate the disagreement.

Thus far, Fifa has not responded and sources indicate that the governing body has no intention of backing down—despite Justice Gobin’s judgment, which denounced the Zurich-based body’s perceived bullying behaviour.

Fifa’s position so far has been that it is willing to make an advancement payment to CAS and do whatever else is necessary to move its legal tussle with TTFA back to the sport arbitration body in Lausanne, Switzerland. But it is not expected to make any other concession to Wallace and the United TTFA.

Fifa, according to a football insider, believes it can nullify any potential negative international press over its struggle with the local body by pointing to past links between TTFA third vice-president, Phillip, and United TTFA member Keith Look Loy and disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner.

Wallace denied any involvement from Warner with his slate and there has been no proof to suggest otherwise—other than a claim by the latter figure himself.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino still has until tomorrow to decide if the organisation will appeal Justice Gobin’s ruling.

In the midst of the uncertainty, Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick must prepare for World Cup qualifying battle.

The Warriors have not trained since July while Fenwick and his coaching staff have never been paid. Thus far, TTFA technical director Dion La Foucade and director of football Richard Piper are believed to be the only members of the technical department to receive remuneration.

Normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad has not spoken to his national coaches since 29 April, much less arranged payments on their behalf.

The Warriors are also owed money dating back to the tenure of previous coach Dennis Lawrence; and, with sport cancelled since March due to Covid-19, most of the local players have not collected a cheque since February.

Fenwick too has been a target of disdain within local football circles, since details broke on his contract—which has vastly improved terms to what was agreed by the TTFA board and, according to Wallace, was signed off by the football president with lax scrutiny and no independent legal oversight.

Current Covid-19 regulations mean Trinidad and Tobago may have to play all their fixtures away from home, with local-based coaches and players forced to subject themselves to a 14 day quarantine period on their return.

The last time that Trinidad and Tobago started a campaign in disarray was in 2011, just months after Warner and then TTFF president Oliver Camps quit the game while under Fifa probes.

It was not nearly as chaotic as the current situation, yet the Warriors were eliminated in the preliminary stage of that series—by Guyana.

The ‘Golden Jaguars’ might be smelling an upset again. The two Caricom neighbours drew their last two meetings under Lawrence and, although Guyana have lost inspirational English coach Michael Johnson, they have reason for optimism by the current state of T&T’s football.

Trinidad and Tobago have never lost to Puerto Rico while their last defeat to St Kitts and Nevis was 18 years ago, when interim head coach Clayton Morris used an experimental team comprising mostly youth players. Bahamas are ranked 195th in the world and not expected to pose a threat.

On paper, the draw is about as good as Fenwick could have hoped.

Should the Warriors advance past the preliminary stage, which begins in early October, they would face the winner of Group A with El Salvador being the most likely opponents.

But Trinidad and Tobago have an encouraging record against that Central American nation too, with six unbeaten games against them since their last defeat in the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup. The Warriors travelled to that Gold Cup with a ‘B’ team after the 2006 World Cup bonus dispute led to a ban on 13 first team players, with the others—Densill Theobald apart—withdrawing their services in protest.

If the Warriors top Group F and then see off El Salvador, they will advance to the Concacaf Hex to push for a Qatar berth on equal footing with the likes of Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and the United States.

But, first, they must survive Infantino’s wrath at the Fifa Congress on 18 September.

A Fifa ban would mean curtains for the Men’s National Senior Team and probably a similar fate for any national outfits due to compete over the next 12 months at least.

Last week, Wallace explained that the United TTFA did everything it could to shield the local football body from the repercussions of its court case.

“We have always said from the outset that, if this resulted in a personal ban from Fifa, we are prepared to accept that,” said Wallace. “We also calculated that the risk of the country getting banned was pretty low. What we did is we took up this matter as elected individuals rather than as the TTFA—so we did not draw the TTFA into the case in essence but acted as elected members who were unfairly removed from office.

“That is why all the funding used in the case was from personal funds and not from the TTFA’s coffers. So if there is to be a ban, it would be on us as individuals.”

Justice Gobin also suggested that Fifa might be violating its own statutes if it bans the TTFA and the blame for such action rests with Infantino and his gang rather than Wallace.

“As for the concerns about irreparable fallout or adverse consequences to TTFA and Trinidad and Tobago, I am encouraged by the lofty objectives identified in Fifa statutes,” stated Justice Gobin, “and particularly articles (3) and (4) of Fifa’s commitment to respecting internationally recognised human rights, non-discrimination of any kind against a country for any reason and its commitment to promoting friendly relations in society for humanitarian objectives all of which are underpinned by an appreciation for the rule of law.

“I do not expect Fifa to walk off the field or to take its ball and go home if after full ventilation of the issues, this court were to confirm the primacy of an Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago over the Fifa Statutes.”

Infantino and the Fifa Council will have the last word on that, though.

Concacaf 2020 Qatar World Cup qualifying preliminary stage

Group A: El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat, US Virgin Islands.

Group B: Canada, Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Aruba.

Group C: Curaçao, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, British Virgin Islands.

Group D: Panama, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Dominica, Anguilla.

Group E: Haiti, Nicaragua, Belize, St Lucia, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Group F: Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Bahamas.

« Last Edit: August 23, 2020, 12:37:59 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #54 on: August 19, 2020, 02:12:56 PM »
From FIFA.COM.

The agenda for the 70th FIFA Congress, which will take place as an online event from Zurich, Switzerland, on Friday, 18 September 2020 at 15:00 (CET), has been confirmed and is now available on FIFA.com.

In addition, the agenda includes the proposed amendments to the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes and to the FIFA Statutes and Standing Orders of the Congress.

We could get banned before we first game.  :devil:

« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 02:21:25 PM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #55 on: August 19, 2020, 02:18:14 PM »
FYI

The T&T players are still owed money dating back to the tenure of previous coach Dennis Lawrence, while most of the local players have not collected a cheque since February. In-addition, coach Terry Fenwick and his coaching staff has not been paid to date.

With the Covid-19 regulations in T&T, and fixtures away from home, T&T will have to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon their return from any games, so hopefully, the fixtures are spread out?

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Tiresais

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2817
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #56 on: August 19, 2020, 02:52:52 PM »
That is as easy a group as we could hope. Guyana and SKN aren't pushovers but if we play well we should have enough to see them off. The problem is whether we turn up - they can both beat us on their day

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #57 on: August 19, 2020, 03:37:45 PM »
Nah boy, this is the group of death.

Group B

Canada
Suriname
Bermuda

Cayman Islands
Aruba

Online gawd on pitch

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 2963
    • View Profile
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #58 on: August 19, 2020, 04:33:43 PM »
Nah boy, this is the group of death.

Group B

Canada
Suriname
Bermuda

Cayman Islands
Aruba

Nah Deeks. Canada has improved tremendously. They are well ahead of the next best team in that group (Suriname). Bermuda has improved too. But none of them catching Canada off guard. Canada is now reaping the benefits of having 3 teams in the MLS.

There is not much distance between the teams in group C. Curacao, Guatemala and Cuba can easily upset one another. . Then you got SVG that can throw a wrench into any of them teams plans. But in the end, Curacao should come out of that group.

One thing to note (which might be good for us) El Salvador has an easier group than us. So that might work in our favor when we play them.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2020, 04:35:25 PM by gawd on pitch »

Offline Flex

  • Administrator
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18062
  • A Trini 4 Real.
    • View Profile
    • Soca Warriors Online
Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #59 on: August 21, 2020, 09:35:19 AM »
Quote
The U.S. could potentially play Trinidad and Tobago away in their opening match of the Final Round of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, depending on the results in the earlier rounds. Trinidad and Tobago defeated the USMNT in their final match of qualifying in October of 2017 to keep the U.S. from missing the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago, the top seed in Group F, would need to win their group and then win the playoff against the winner of Group A.

USSOCCER.COM

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

 

1]; } ?>