CONCACAF nations are gearing up for the World Cup in Qatar later this year hoping to make a mark on the iconic tournament.
The USA have produced a number of starlets currently playing in Europe, while Canada provided one of the feel-good stories in qualifying as they reached the World Cup for just the second time in their history.
Here’s the skinny on the amount of CONCACAF teams heading to Qatar.
There will be four representatives from CONCACAF at the 2022 World Cup. Canada were the standout performers in qualifying, coming through three rounds to end the round in first with 28 points.
That points tally was matched by Mexico, though the Canadians recorded a better goal difference, while the United States edged out Costa Rica to the third automatic qualification place.
That meant the Costa Ricans had to come through an inter-confederation play-off against OFC outfit New Zealand. They were triumphant 1-0 in June, thanks to Joel Campbell’s strike.
No CONCACAF side has ever won the World Cup. The only team one of their sides have reached the final four was in 1930, when the United States finished third.
Mexico often make it out of the group stage but come undone in the second round, though they have reached two quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986.
Costa Rica shocked everyone by topping a ‘Group of Death’ in 2014, seeing off making light work of Uruguay, Italy and England to reach the quarter-finals where they were eventually dumped out by the Netherlands on penalties.
Cuba reached the quarter-finals in their sole World Cup appearance in 1938, while Canada are making only their second appearance in FIFA’s flagship event, the previous coming in 1986.
Mexico have won the most games of any CONCACAF team at World Cup finals with 16, while El Salvador have a 100% loss rate from their six matches, scoring once and conceding 22.
Credit: 90min.com
