CONCACAF action kicks off this weekend with a round of play-off games; it’s the first step towards the World Cup 2026 for the smaller nations in North America and the Caribbean.
The three heavyweights of CONCACAF are all guaranteed a place in the finals as hosts. So Canada, Mexico, and the United States can get on with their own, less intense preparation and keep an eye on the teams that are likely to join them.
The remaining 32 nations of CONCACAF are all involved, with the four lowest-ranked taking part in a two-leg play-off this week, with the two winners taking part at the group stage in June.
Play-off hopefuls
The action starts on Friday, when Anguilla hosts Turks and Caicos. The minnows of Anguilla have never qualified for a major tournament, and they lost all their games in 2023. But this is a tiny island.
The British overseas territory, close to the much bigger island of Antigua, has a population of just over 15,000, and they face Turks and Caicos, a territory with three times the population, over 47,000. The Turks are managed by former Luton Town star Ricky Hill, and they won two, drawn one, and lost one game in 2023.
Hill was a much-loved player at Luton, and he earned three England caps in the early 1980s, so he has a fantastic football pedigree and huge experience, which I think will guide his players past Anguilla.
In the other tie, the US Virgin Islands face the British Virgin Islands, and another former English League star is in charge of the Brits. Former Ipswich striker Chris Kiwomya manages the Nature Boys, who won one, drew two, and lost one in 2023.
Kiwomya cut his coaching teeth with Ipswich reserves, and he managed Notts County for one season, eventually landing in the British Virgin Islands in 2021.
And then to June…
Summer brings a festival of football in Europe as Germany hosts Euro 2024, and across the Atlantic there’s plenty of action too. The CONMEBOL qualifiers are already underway, with World Champions Argentina leading the way and Brazil making a slow start. And CONCACAF proper gets started as the remaining nations begin their campaign.
So which teams do we fancy here at SBOTOP, and who are the star players to look out for?
A minimum of three more teams will join the USA, Mexico, and Canada at the finals from the CONCACAF group, and the highest-ranked nation outside the hosts is Costa Rica, in 31st place in the official FIFA Rankings. Los Ticos have a goalkeeping legend in their ranks in the form of co-captain Keylor Navas.
With 112 caps to his name, he has been a mainstay between the sticks and the main reason Costa Rica have steadily climbed the ladder in world football. The Paris Saint-Germain star, currently on loan at Nottingham Forest, made his tournament debut at the 2014 World Cup, and Navas won a Golden Glove nomination as Los Ticos reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their history.
As well as Costa Rica, the World Cup 2026 betting odds point towards Jamaica among the likeliest qualifiers, and they should comfortably navigate a group containing Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Dominica, and the winner of the Virgin Islands tie.
Another player sure to make some World Cup 2026 highlights, not to mention the 2026 World Cup, is Aston Villa wing wizard Leon Bailey. He’s scored eight goals in 16 starts for the high-flying Villains this season, and, now 26 years old, he is moving into the prime of his career after a successful four seasons at Bayer Leverkusen.
A quick and skilled attacker, Bailey is sure to be a standout star at the World Cup (assuming Jamaica qualify) but he is sitting out this week’s Nations League semi-final against USA after he broke a curfew during the last Jamaica camp.
Bailey will be back in June though.
Fulham star Bobby Decordova-Reid is in Heimr Hallgrimsson’s squad to face the USA, and he will hope to add to his six goals from 27 international caps. Now 31, he is a key part of the Cottagers’ Premier League campaign and can operate as a number ten or on the left wing.
The other team I’ll be watching in the CONCACAF qualifiers is Panama, ranked 61st in the world by FIFA and they have a Nations League semi-final this week against Mexico.
Panama go into the game on the back of four consecutive victories, and they have been consistently strong for some time. Los Canaleros qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and, now managed by former Leeds United head coach Thomas Christiansen, they will have high hopes of joining the world’s elite again in two years.
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