2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF First Round

The first round of CONCACAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played between 22 and 31 March 2015.[1][2]

Format

A total of 14 teams (teams ranked 22–35 in the CONCACAF entrant list) played home-and-away over two legs. The seven winners advanced to the second round.

Seeding

The draw for the first round was held on 15 January 2015, 19:40 EST (UTC−5), at the W Hotel at Miami Beach, Florida, United States.[3]

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of August 2014 (shown in parentheses).[1][4] The 14 teams were seeded into two pots:

Each tie contained a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, with the order of legs decided by draw.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Pot 1 Pot 2
  1.  Saint Kitts and Nevis (159)
  2.  Belize (162)
  3.  Montserrat (165)
  4.  Dominica (168)
  5.  Barbados (169)
  6.  Bermuda (173)
  7.  Nicaragua (175)

Matches
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bahamas  0–8  Bermuda 0–5 0–3
British Virgin Islands  2–3  Dominica 2–3 0–0
Barbados  4–1  U.S. Virgin Islands 0–1 4–0
Saint Kitts and Nevis  12–4[note 1]  Turks and Caicos Islands 6–2 6–2
Nicaragua  8–0  Anguilla 5–0 3–0
Belize  1–1 (a)  Cayman Islands 0–0 1–1
Curaçao  4–3  Montserrat 2–1 2–2
Bahamas 0–5 Bermuda
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 3,500
Referee: Armando Villarreal (United States)
Bermuda 3–0 Bahamas
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 4,370

Bermuda won 8–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Bahamas.

British Virgin Islands 2–3 Dominica
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 1,169
Referee: Karl Tyrell (Jamaica)
Dominica 0–0 British Virgin Islands
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 2,661
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)

Dominica won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against British Virgin Islands.

Barbados 0–1 U.S. Virgin Islands
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 2,300
Referee: Kimbell Ward (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
U.S. Virgin Islands 0–4 Barbados
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 410
Referee: Kevin Morrison (Jamaica)

Barbados won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against U.S. Virgin Islands.

Saint Kitts and Nevis 6–2 Turks and Caicos Islands
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Sherwin Moore (Guyana)
Turks and Caicos Islands 2–6 Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 420
Referee: Elmer Bonilla (El Salvador)

Saint Kitts and Nevis won 12–4 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Turks and Caicos Islands.

Nicaragua 5–0 Anguilla
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 4,214
Referee: Jafeth Perea (Panama)
Anguilla 0–3 Nicaragua
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Óscar Moncada (Honduras)

Nicaragua won 8–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Anguilla.

Belize 0–0 Cayman Islands
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 1,924
Referee: Oscar Reyna (Guatemala)
Cayman Islands 1–1 Belize
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 1,800
Referee: Yadel Martínez (Cuba)

1–1 on aggregate. Belize won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Dominican Republic.

Curaçao 2–1 Montserrat
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Óscar Dávila (Nicaragua)
Montserrat 2–2 Curaçao
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CONCACAF)
Attendance: 500
Referee: Rodphin Harris (Trinidad and Tobago)

Curaçao won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Montserrat.

Goalscorers

There were 51 goals scored in 14 matches, for an average of 3.64 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes
  1. Order of legs reversed from originally published draw.
  2. Both legs were played in Dominica due to incomplete work at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground of the British Virgin Islands.[5]

References
  1. "CONCACAF to Hold Preliminary FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw in Miami on January 15". CONCACAF. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  2. "USMNT to start 2018 World Cup qualifying in November of 2015". Sports Illustrated. 12 January 2015.
  3. "Official Draw: CONCACAF Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018". CONCACAF.com. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  4. "FIFA Men's Ranking – August 2014 (CONCACAF)". FIFA.com. 14 August 2014.
  5. "BVI to play FIFA home qualifying matches in Dominica". Virgin Islands Daily News. 3 February 2015. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015.
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