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The Soca Warriors kick off the final round of their Russia 2018 World Cup at home to Costa Rica on 11 November 2016 before they travel to Honduras for their second qualifier, four days later.
The marathon campaign ends, eight games later, on 10 October 2017 when the Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team hosts the United States, who topped the CONCACAF hex in the last three successive qualifying tournaments.
Mexico and Panama complete the six team group, which is comprised of three Central American nations, two from North America and the boys in red, white and black strip, who are the last Caribbean outfit standing.
Looking on is Andre Boucaud.
(Courtesy CONCACAF)
So what the Warriors need to get to Russia?
Based on averages since CONCACAF was awarded an extra half spot in 2012, 21 points should be enough to top the hex while 16 points ought to secure third place. And Trinidad and Tobago are likely to need at least 14 points to clinch a two-legged play off against the fifth placed Asian team.
Incidentally, if the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was halted today, CONCACAF’s fourth place team would face either Japan or the Republic of Korea. No slouches there.
So can we manage 16 points? Or at least 14?
Look through the schedule yourself and see where you think coach Stephen Hart’s men can pick up the results they need to get to Russia:
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Concacaf Hex Schedule [Home teams written first]
(11 November 2016)
United States vs Mexico;
Honduras vs Panama;
Trinidad and Tobago vs Costa Rica
(15 November 2016)
Costa Rica vs United States;
Panama vs Mexico;
Honduras vs Trinidad and Tobago;
(Copyright Jewel Samad/AFP 2015)
(24 March 2017)
United States vs Honduras;
Trinidad and Tobago vs Panama;
Mexico vs Costa Rica;
(28 March 2017)
Panama vs United States;
Honduras vs Costa Rica;
Trinidad and Tobago vs Mexico;
(Courtesy MexSport/CONCACAF)
(7 June 2017)
United States vs Trinidad and Tobago;
Costa Rica vs Panama;
Mexico vs Honduras;
(11/12 June 2017)
Mexico vs United States;
Panama vs Honduras;
Costa Rica vs Trinidad and Tobago;
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
(1 September 2017)
United States vs Costa Rica;
Mexico vs Panama;
Trinidad and Tobago vs Honduras;
(5 September 2017)
Honduras vs United States;
Panama vs Trinidad and Tobago;
Costa Rica vs Mexico;
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
(6 October 2017)
United States vs Panama;
Costa Rica vs Honduras;
Mexico vs Trinidad and Tobago;
(10 October 2017)
Trinidad and Tobago vs United States;
Panama vs Costa Rica;
Honduras vs Mexico.
(Copyright AFP 2014/Rich Schultz)
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
I was surprised by what coach Hart had to say about the team’s performance following the game against the US. To me that was one of our better performances in a while. We had a lot of possession in the first half (more than the US), were wining their passes. Despite the goals, I still thought we were looking good. The difference is, we didn’t score. What was a factor though, was that when ever the #10 had the ball and was running at our defenders, they were not challenging him. They were running backwards and most, if not all of the goals, he had a part to play in them. We cannot afford to do that next time around. I hate to see defenders back-peddling.
Nope
I think they can pull it off. The Captain needs to step his game up though.
WERE ARE THEY GETTING THESES PTS FROM..NOT WIT SAME COACH..
We can get 16 points… in our first 5 games I think we will be on 11 points
This team has always been and continue to be a work in progress. They’ve grown leaps and bounds since Hart took over in 2013. What he’s managed to do is worthy of praise. The team is by no means perfect. We have issues that show up in various positions. We lack concentration, fitness and even discipline at times. But we’ll get it right. These guys are committed to the task and have been bussin dey ass for the Red, White and Black. I see no shit snakes, I see no lazy or lackadasical players. I only see warriors. We have to be realistic to where we’ve reached in our development compared to the U.S, Mexico and C. Rica. We are not in the same class as yet. Yes, occasionally we punch above our weight and give these sides a run for there money. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As I said, #workinprogress…. This team has what it takes and now is not the time to belittle, berate and demolish. Criticism is fine, but be constructive, be patriotic and most of all keep the faith. …
I want to come down to Trinidad to inhale some of this optimism. It’s a cloudy day in London and the Russians on TV look so distant.
Hahaha
The right-side of our backline has to improve 100%. The midfield is okay and the Centre Forwards are gun shy. We have good individual players but we need to gel and player with passion and arrogance.
Knowing how things work out, Trinidad will finish 4th and enter a play-off against a under-achieving Japan lol early prediction
I don’t fancy Japan. But then Bahrain already eliminated. ??
Lool Bahrain heard you guys were still in it and had flashbacks before dropping out
I have wins at home vs Panama, Honduras. Draw vs USA and Mexico. Loss to Costa Rica. That is 8 pts. Away i can see us possibly pulling off close wins over Panama and Honduras again. Draw with Mexico and losses to USA and Costa Rica. 7 pts…15 in total. Hopefully that is enough.
We know how this current team matches up with all our ‘Hex’ opponents except Costa Rica. I know I’m in the minority, but I dont put much stock into the last game against the US, the game against the US in the stadium is closer to our abilities.
Costa Rica has always given us major problems in the past. It’s hard to speculate about what we can do against them because I don’t think this Hart team has faced them, but I think we must get something, at least a point, in the 1st game against them to have a shot at 16 points because I don’t see us taking anything when we play in Costa Rica. 14 points is more realistic…Bahrain vs TnT part 2? 🙂
I have wins against Honduras, USA, Mexico and Panama (At home). I think we can gain 4 points from potential draws.
If we do that we will finish second. Maybe even first. Hope to see that in my lifetime! ??
Lol… What are your predictions Lasana?
I imagine home wins over Honduras, Mexico and Panama. Plus two home draws and draws away to Honduras and Panama.
But I do hope we can win home and away against Honduras and Panama.
not a point…lazy, listless, slow laid back lackadaisical team…not working hard to earn nor keep their place on a team…the US had a 17yr old who ran rings on T&T…this is as far to Russia as we go….then talk about lack of Intl friendies…no games so how can the team develop…TT football no going anywhere…no development plans in place…sme ole sme ole nonsense…cant even organise a match in T&T…look at what happened at d stadium for the last match…TTFA was responsible…and since then, any word from them…is dis d first match TTFA has ever organised…have we ever attended or seen football matches abroad…one entrance….in TT welike to herd people like animals…look at City Gate…same thing everyday for yrs and the people have accepted it….so….TTFA…keep on man…doing well…..
Hahaha… Alyuh jokey yes! Smdh
that 17 year old u referring too shall run rings around most conacaf defenses..he is a great prodigy and starts for theUS …also plays for dortmund
Shit snakes all around, not so, Chica Emery? On the field and off it!
Being totally blatant …IF by some great miracle we qualify for Russia , we not making it past the first round. Kenwayne Jones is our most experienced player and he looked liked a COMPLETE SHIT SNAKE on Tuesday. He , as far as i’m concerned is just another Stern John. Put the ball on his foot RIGHT INFRONT OF THE GOAL……no effort nothing…
That 17 year old can possibly even run rings around a side like England as well.
yes we can do it
impossibe is nothing
Richard Valentine “shit snakes” boi ppl does get me mad.
wheeeeeeey nah boi Tyron Flores is ppl like dem who don’t know nothing about football, dey just see we lose one game and thas it for them, they don’t know the journey and how far the team came!!
prob can’t even name d starting 11. but will be the first set of ppl to jump up if we make it..
hahahaha boi
Chica Emery like you could do better awat. . STEUEPS pack a shit some of alya does talk
the usual bandwagonist behaviour. yuh go see him when we start back to win games, “daz my team” “iza socawarrior” “Joevin i am yuh #1fan” lmfao
These kina things does drive me mad. calling a team shit snakes n prob the best batch of players n best football we playin since Leo BH days.. but say what
we could win in usa or mexico!. hardest sides will be panama and costa rica away
We could win in USA and Mexico? Your confidence knows no bounds! ?
USA and mexico are weak sides!. kenywne needs a severance package. A good bid farewell. The other jones needs to remain on the left side and not in the middle!.
Mexico are the defending Concacaf Gold Cup champs and were the first team to qualify for the hex.
USA qualified first in the last three World Cup qualifying tournaments and were semi finalists in the Copa America Centenario this year.
relatively weak teams in comparison to prior years!.
Yeah. I hope we can win in Honduras.
would be nice to say all 5 home games but it will leave it till the end. we have to win one on the road
A Costa Rican journalist asked me to pick the order I think the teams will finish in the hex. He probably rolled his eyes at my selection. But even being biased, I still got us in the Play Off spot:
Costa Rica (21), Mexico (19), United States (15), Trinidad and Tobago (13), Panama (10), Honduras (3)
Hopefully the Warriors will be performing even better than they did in the semifinal round and the last two Gold Cups. They would have to.
I rolled my eyes too…
Lol. For a different reason though right?
Honduras is getting three draws or one win?
Three draws. Stretching it a bit? Lol. I see them as being the whipping boys rather than us.
Remember he will quote you when its all done eh ?
I know! Lol
Honduras with three points? Damn!
Better them than us Roneil. Lol
Honduras as the “whipping” boys of the group? A team with with WC qualifying experience, Copa America experience & Olympics experience? Whipping boys? U’ll could dream eh……smh, lol
Isn’t the point of this piece shifting the focus to the dream so we don’t have to contemplate the nightmare in our waking hours?
I was so sure…
Yep Ainsley. I’m sticking to that dream for now. The alternative is rough.
No way USA 15. USA topping the group
There is one thing I want to throw in when you reach this far. It is not just a team that qualifies for a World Cup it is a country. One spoke of resources in this regard the Governor ( liking Kelvin choice of words) must clearly spell out what he needs. The TTFA must go all out to get it. The sponsors must come now not two games away from the promised land. Government in other words every stakeholder must do their part. The critiquing now in itself throws up valuable food for thought and in a way gives bloggers their opportunity to participate. The mood of the people in how we approach this and the never say die attitude. To feel the joy when we win and the pain when we lose and wake up with more hope till the die is cast. It’s a journey our people must make as a country and in so doing there will be up and down but not just TT now we represent the Caribbean.
Well said! If Iceland is any example, we can certainly appreciate when a team is well supported by fans. We have plenty half-way, half-heart supporters. People who will only jump on 2 games from the end like you said. We need an entire nation rallying. That 12th man in every home game must be the voice behind the team.
Yeah. Idk about the points but we’re finishing third in the hex.
Lol. That’s confidence.
Yuh betting on that Chabeth ? I could do with another drink eh 🙂
We are. I eh know why Lasana laughing.
Kirwin… Bet you a bottle!
What type of bottle ? Specify na. Next thing you coming peoud with a chubby bottle when yuh lose :p
???????
Nah, like a bottle of alcohol that provides multiple drinks.
Is that clear?
Cause when I win I going to look for some bottle of champagne that has gold and caviar and craziness like that in it.
=D Ihu go strong. But you’ll lose though :p
Allyuh ent inviting me…thats ok ?
???? 🙁
lend me that crystal ball 😀
Savitri…yuh betting ?
No, I drinking Kirwin
Haha. Yeah. Chabeth buying =D
I will share the expense, whoever’s buying
It would be interesting to see the similar imagined points structure discussion of the other teams. I can’t help but feel that most of them, if not all, are probably saying “Well we could get 4-6 points off Trinidad and Tobago”.
Yeah. That’s the truth.
5 wins and one draw
Which five?
Gosh those results sounding near impossible! We have to play at 100% to get 13 points it don’t look like we could get 16?. But teams could have bad days. Here’s to hoping.. (wishing…praying) that on our worst days we are “good enough” and on our best days ⛅our opponents have their “bad” ones ⛈
We have got to work on our fitness. Every player must be hungry if we are to get those points because all the teams want to win.
We will have to play out of our skins to qualify. But!
I worried now yes, becuz I thought we good with CR at home, but allyuh know best. Hope Kelvin can come up with some good advice/tactics
Costa Rica is traditionally our toughest opponent. Even more than USA. Mexico not so bad at sea level. But they are unbeatable for us up in the sky.
Yeah…thanks I know of Mexico and the thin air. You must have good lung capacity.
We had good performances against these teams in the Gold Cups. There are certainly things we did then that contributed to our good showing. Kelvin Jack is reviewing tapes surely analysis is needed by the staff to research what we did right technically tactically and otherwise.
Exactly Jamaal.. Since the Gold Cup.. Panama , Costa Rica, Mexico and USA have played in the Copa America and gained some invaluable experience and added sharpness.. These teams have t stood still.. They have improved.. We have to play to our maximum to qualify. But if our opponents play to their maximum we wouldn’t qualify. We have a chance for sure.. Need a lot concentration
Yuh really think that we will be getting 3 points from Mexico eh, ?
We have a great record against Mexico in T&T. I mean we still only beat them once… But I’m hoping that we can pull it off. I think we have a shot there.
I think we have a better shot against Mexico here than maybe Costa Rica.
Actually Lasana you have us winning HONDURAS which while possible I’d say highly unlikely…BUT…I can see us BEATING Panama when we host them
If we don’t beat Honduras home and away, I don’t see how we can make it. 🙁
Not really Lasana Liburd I think we can do it but getting at least 1 point or 2 from he FIRST TWO GAMES is CRITICAL
If we beat Panama at home, that would be a great tonic for us. I just had that match as a draw.
Lasana Liburd Also consider that IF the USA has already qualified by the last game we could pull off an upset win…this happened back in the 2010 qualifiers Semi-final round
Yeah. That is a slim possibility. But I doubt it the way this US team is going. Even though they usually do very well in the hex.
I doubt we could beat USA on that last day. Regardless of if they’ve qualified
I wouldn’t put my head on a block for those shit snakes. I rather expect nothing and be surprised.
Shitsnakes? Wow….what an embarrassing comment smh
??? you probably can’t even make a 5 yard pass but calling professional paid players shitsnakes smh
You guys are free to catch feelings and bash me that’s ok. My comment was harsh but we allowed the usa team to become a powerhouse. Every world cup the USA team has been breezing through qualifications and it’s time for the T&T team to put a stop to that. So that poor performance was the source of my comment. So I hope my comment spark a turnaround and some wins against usa and Mexico. I hope they make me eat my words and come out successful, but until then I’m standing by my comments.
You go, girl! Call them shit snakes if you want; it’s your right to hold that opinion, (especially if you have ARRIVED AT it and not JUMPED TO it.) If they prove you wrong, then you’re going to have plenty pie on your face and it’ll be kudos to them.
For the moment, however, all of this is mere pointless speculation and I think the Editor knows fully well that he is merely working people into a needless frenzy with this piece. It’s his way of encouraging people to remain interested in Hart’s squad during the pre-hex break.
My guess is that we have to expect more of same between now and November 11 unless the TTFA can arrange a few serious friendlies for the side, thus giving the Editor and his staff serious reporting work to do.
Kurtwyn Baird, Brent Bennett, Kelvin Jack, I see us getting to 13 points. Maybe just enough for the play offs.
Of course I hope we do even better. But it’s really going to be rough. Because I have us winning in Honduras to even get to 13!
11 Nov: T&T vs Costa Rica (1 pt)
15 Nov: Honduras vs T&T (3 pt)
24 Mar: T&T vs Panama; (1 pt)
28 Mar: T&T vs Mexico; (3 pt)
7 Jun: United States vs T&T (0 pt)
11/12 Jun: Costa Rica vs T&T; (0 pt)
1 Sep: T&T vs Honduras; (3 pt)
5 Sep: Panama vs T&T; (1 pt)
6 Oct: Mexico vs T&T; (0 pt)
10 Oct: T&T vs United States; (1 pt)
Four points against mexico you must be paying them off
Haha. yes. That was a mistake. I think we can beat them at sea level. But we won’t get a point in the Azteca. That brings us down to 13 points though! 🙁
I had almost the exact breakdown Lasana. Just the 15 Nov is 0 pts. Panama on the 5th Sept is 3
I say 13 points
So Kirwin Weston, you think we will get plenty home wins then?
Yeah. After Shawn pointed out my error, I put us down to 13.
Yeah. Mexico, Honduras, and Panama wins at home. USA & Costa Rica, hell no.
We have a better chance at beating Mexico, but that’s just hope built from history, lol
If we could’ve gotten Panama on the 10th Oct, by then both teams would know their fate
Playoff is a south America team right
Asian Shawn
OK cool
I think we can get those wins you point at Kirwin. But you know football. We might slip on one of those days and maybe get a point instead of three.
Where do you see us picking up points on the road?
Yeah. Same way we could pull off a draw where we can’t see it either.
But we have to target people.
On the road we’ll have to target Honduras and Panama. I think those 2 are more vulnerable than CR, USA, & Mex
If we can get maximum points against those two nations, we get to 12. But you’d better believe they would be looking for maximum points from us too!
Gonna be a hard hex. The reality is every nation will be trying to get beat us. They will see us as the group minnow. So we’d best get our counter attack game on point.
We so badly off we will struggle at home against Costa Rica and Panama? The way I see it we need to make the home games count. This rolling over and playing dead unacceptable!
I say we have to push for those first three wins. That 4th game is Mexico own..
I like Kirk suggestion there Lasana.
I’m wary of playing hard on the 11th versus Costa Rica then having to travel to Honduras. That travel could affect us
Kirk A Inniss, the last time we beat Costa Rica at home was in 1971. Not even the Strike Squad and Yorke/Latapy/Stern Soca Warriors could have gotten us a win against Cost Rica.
It’s not impossible. But damn difficult.
Yeah. I honestly expect no points from Costa Rica and USA, bit we could hit and hope
The way i see it fellahs, if we don’t get eight points from those first four games, it is practically game over.
Agreed
Since 1971? Challenge accepted!?
Yes
First 2 games is key to our success. 6pts would be bess
That would be great…but Costa Rica has had our number for decades…hopefully we can turn the tide against them
hopefully…in a few mths this team will improve leaps and bounds to compete in dis rounds…