2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Fifth Round
The fifth round (also known as the Hexagonal or Hex) of CONCACAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 11 November 2016 to 10 October 2017.[1][2] Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while Honduras qualified for (and was later eliminated in) the inter-confederation play-offs, and United States (who failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years) and Trinidad and Tobago were eliminated in this round.
Format
A total of six teams which had advanced from the fourth round (the three group winners and the three group runners-up) played against each other home-and-away in a double round-robin format in a single group. The top three teams in the group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fourth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs to face the fifth-placed team from the AFC.[1] This stage is referred to as the Hexagonal or Hex, and has been used by CONCACAF to determine its World Cup finals entrants since the qualification tournament for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica have qualified for every "Hex" since it first began in 1998.
The draw for the fifth round (to decide the fixtures) was held on 8 July 2016, 10:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami Beach, United States.[3][4][5] As the draw was held before the fourth round was completed, the identities of the fourth round qualifiers were not known at the time of the draw, except for Mexico which were by then already confirmed as winners of Group A.
Qualified teams
| Group (4th round) |
Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| A |  Mexico |
 Honduras |
| B |  Costa Rica |
 Panama |
| C |  United States |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
The draw position of each team (to decide the fixtures) was as follows.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the World Cup. Italicised team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
| Draw position[5] |
Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Panama |
| 3 | Honduras |
| 4 | Costa Rica |
| 5 | Mexico |
| 6 | Trinidad and Tobago |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico |
10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 21 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Costa Rica |
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 16 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Panama |
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 13 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Honduras |
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 13 | Advance to inter-confederation play-offs | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | |
| 5 | United States |
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 12 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 6–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 6 | Trinidad and Tobago |
10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 6 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |
Matches
| Honduras | 3–1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Honduras | 1–1 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Panama | 1–1 | United States |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Mexico | 1–1 | United States |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| United States | 0–2 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Honduras | 1–1 | United States |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Mexico | 3–1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Costa Rica | 1–1 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
| Panama | 2–1 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
Goalscorers
There were 76 goals scored in 30 matches, for an average of 2.53 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Francisco Calvo
- Rónald Matarrita
- Bryan Ruiz
- Emilio Izaguirre
- Alexander López
- Anthony Lozano
- Oswaldo Alanís
- Néstor Araujo
- Héctor Herrera
- Raúl Jiménez
- Miguel Layún
- Rafael Márquez
- Oribe Peralta
- Diego Reyes
- Abdiel Arroyo
- Fidel Escobar
- Gabriel Gómez
- Blas Pérez
- Alvin Jones
- Joevin Jones
- Carlyle Mitchell
- Shahdon Winchester
- Sebastian Lletget
1 own goal
- Cristian Gamboa (against Mexico)
- Guillermo Ochoa (against Honduras)
- Carlyle Mitchell (against Panama)
- Omar Gonzalez (against Trinidad and Tobago)
Notes
- Honduras were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Costa Rica on 28 March 2017) away from Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, for several incidents during their home match against Panama.[6]
- The Mexico v United States match was brought forward from 13 June 2017 to accommodate Mexico's participation in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.[7]
- The Costa Rica v Honduras match was originally scheduled for 6 October 2017, 20:00 local time, but was postponed to the next day, 16:00 local time, because of Tropical Storm Nate.[8][9]
References
- "CONCACAF to Hold Preliminary FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw in Miami on January 15". CONCACAF. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- "USMNT to start 2018 World Cup qualifying in November of 2015". Sports Illustrated. 12 January 2015.
- "Official Draw Scheduled for the Final Round of CONCACAF Qualifying for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018". CONCACAF.com. 1 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- "Draw: CONCACAF Qualifying for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018". CONCACAF.com. 7 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- "Mexico to open Hex on the road". FIFA.com. 8 July 2016.
- "Several member associations sanctioned for incidents during FIFA World Cup qualifiers and friendlies". FIFA.com. 19 December 2016.
- "Match-ups Confirmed for Final Round of CONCACAF Qualifying for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018". CONCACAF.com. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- "Nate postpones Costa Rica-Honduras World Cup qualifier". EuroSport. 5 October 2017.
- "WCQ: Costa Rica-Honduras postponed until Saturday". CONCACAF.com. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.