2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF first round

The first round of qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the CONCACAF section featured the 22 teams ranked 14 to 35 on the FIFA ranking for CONCACAF as of May 2007. The teams ranked 14th to 24th were randomly drawn against the teams ranked 25th to 35th. The draw took place on 25 November 2007 in Durban, South Africa. The top 13 CONCACAF teams received a bye and advanced directly to the second round.

Format

In this round, there were 11 matches and the winners advanced to the second round. All games were played in home and away format, except three ties: Puerto Rico–Dominican Republic, Grenada–U.S. Virgin Islands and Montserrat–Suriname, which were played over one leg in late March due to several Member Associations failing to meet the new FIFA Stadium standards and being unable to secure a home venue.[1]

Teams

Group A Group B Group C
 Dominica

 Barbados
 Turks and Caicos Islands
 Saint Lucia
 Bermuda
 Cayman Islands
 Aruba
 Antigua and Barbuda

 Belize

 Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Bahamas
 British Virgin Islands
 Puerto Rico
 Dominican Republic
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

 Grenada

 U.S. Virgin Islands
 Montserrat
 Suriname
 El Salvador
 Anguilla
 Nicaragua
 Netherlands Antilles

Group 1

Group 1A

Dominica 1–1 Barbados
Pacquette 21' Report Williams 43'
Windsor Park, Roseau
Attendance: 4,200
Barbados 1–0 Dominica
Stanford 80' Report

Barbados won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to play United States in the second round.

Group 1B

Turks and Caicos Islands 2–1 Saint Lucia
Lowery 31'
G. Glinton 74'		 Report Nyhime 90+2'
Attendance: 2,200
Referee: Alfredo Whittaker (Cayman Islands)
Saint Lucia 2–0 Turks and Caicos Islands
McPhee 28'
Elva 85'		 Report
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Mark Forde (Barbados)

Saint Lucia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to play Guatemala in the second round.

Group 1C

Bermuda 1–1 Cayman Islands
Burgess 18' Report Grant 87'
Cayman Islands 1–3 Bermuda
M. Forbes 63' (pen.) Report DeGraff 18', 25'
Steede 52'

Bermuda won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to play Trinidad and Tobago in the second round.

Group 1D

Aruba 0–3 Antigua and Barbuda
Report Dublin 23'
Gregory 27'
Sierra 40' (o.g.)
Attendance: 250
Referee: Roberto Delgado (Cuba)
Antigua and Barbuda 1–0 Aruba
Challenger 86' Report
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Courtney Campbell (Jamaica)

Antigua and Barbuda won 4–0 on aggregate and advanced to play Cuba in the second round.

Group 2

Group 2A

Belize 3–1 Saint Kitts and Nevis
McCauley 7', 41'
Roches 23'		 Report Williams 13'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Howard Stennett (Jamaica)
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1–1 Belize
Mitchum 84' Report Smith 39'
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Neal Brizan (Trinidad and Tobago)

Belize won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to play Mexico in the second round.

Group 2B

Bahamas 1–1 British Virgin Islands
St. Fleur 47' Report Lennon 68'
Attendance: 450
Referee: Roberto Moreno (Panama)
British Virgin Islands 2–2 Bahamas
Williams 78', 90' (pen.) Report Bethel 40'
Mitchell 52'
Attendance: 940
Referee: Felix Mercedes Suazo (Dominican Republic)

3–3 on aggregate. Bahamas advanced on the away goals rule to play Jamaica in the second round.

Group 2C

Puerto Rico 1–0 (a.e.t.) Dominican Republic
Villegas 96' (pen.) Report

Puerto Rico advanced to play Honduras in the second round. This tie was played as a one leg tie in Puerto Rico, as the Dominican Republic failed to meet FIFA's new stadium standards and was unable to secure a home venue.[1]

Group 2D

No matches in this round. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were drawn to play Canada in the second round.

Group 3

Group 3A

Grenada 10–0 U.S. Virgin Islands
Roberts 3', 8'
R. Charles 9', 43', 65', 87'
Rennie 22'
Langiagne 56'
Bubb 82'
Ferguson 89' (o.g.)		 Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Otis James (Guyana)

Grenada advanced to play Costa Rica in the second round. This tie was played as a one leg tie in Grenada, as the U.S. Virgin Islands failed to meet FIFA's new stadium standards and was unable to secure a home venue.[1]

Group 3B

Montserrat 1–7 Suriname
Farrell 48' Report Christoph 36', 56'
Wondel 44'
Valies 65'
Huur 82', 85'
Schuurman 88'

Suriname advanced to play Guyana in the second round. This tie was played as a one leg tie in Trinidad and Tobago, because neither side were able to provide a suitable venue according to FIFA's guidelines.[1]

Group 3C

El Salvador 12–0 Anguilla
Martin 5', 18'
Corrales 31', 33', 54', 65', 68'
Cerritos 47', 77', 84'
Quintanilla 70'
Umaña 80'		 Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Javier Jauregui (Netherlands Antilles)
Anguilla 0–4 El Salvador
Report Cerritos 7'
Corrales 15'
Monteagudo 22'
Torres 36'
Attendance: 22,670
Referee: Valman Bedeau (Grenada)

El Salvador won 16–0 on aggregate and advanced to play Panama in the second round.

Group 3D

Nicaragua 0–1 Netherlands Antilles
Report Jongsma 15'
Netherlands Antilles 2–0 Nicaragua
Loran 42'
Zimmerman 81'		 Report

Netherlands Antilles won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to play Haiti in the second round.

Goalscorers

A total of 68 goals were scored over 19 games, for an average of 3.58 goals per game.

6 goals
4 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
  • Aruba Dario Sierra (against Antigua and Barbuda)
  • United States Virgin Islands Dwight Ferguson (against Grenada)

Notes

  1. ^ Belize moved their home leg to Guatemala.[1]
  2. ^ The British Virgin Islands elected to play their home leg in the Bahamas. The order of the legs (that is, which team was regarded as the "home team" in each match) was determined from the original draw. In the final event, this became crucial in determining the winner of the tie due to the application of the away goals rule.[1]
  3. ^ Played in the United States, because Anguilla's stadium is not a suitable venue.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f New World fixtures firmed, FIFA; 11 January 2008.
  2. ^ Anguilla-El Salvador World Cup qualifier moved to Washington, USA Today; 22 January 2008.

External links

  • FIFA.com (archived 29 November 2007)