CONCACAF postpones World Cup qualifiers until next year
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, CONCACAF has rescheduled all of this year's 2022 World Cup qualifiers, with games to be played in March 2021.
The teams that form part of CONCACAF region were due to play their first round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers in October and November. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the member nations have agreed to reschedule all of this year's matches until March 2021.
The coronavirus crisis has caused travel bans as well as other restrictions for public safety. On considering the situation, it was an easy decision to set back CONCACAF's Qatar 2022 qualifiers to a later date.
US reaction to the decision
The United States Men’s National Team Gregg Berhalter agreed on the decision taken by CONCACAF, and said. “These are extraordinary times and we all need to continue to adjust. We have established a strong foundation in our group and we will deal with whatever comes our way. We look forward to receiving the updated schedule so we can start planning accordingly.”
Under the new format, CONCACAF qualifying involves a total of 35 countries over three rounds with three nations directly qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. Last month it was announced that the first group stage would start with four rounds of fixtures to be played in October and November.
After those rounds, only six nations would make it to the second round to be matched against top-seeded CONCACAF countries, including: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica to determine who qualifies for the World Cup.