The Concacaf Road to Qatar has reached its conclusion! Canada, Mexico, and the USA qualified for Qatar 2022; while Costa Rica makes an inter-continental playoff against New Zealand! In this last look at the Concacaf Road to Qatar, we’ll see just how these nations fared in their final matches!
Concacaf Road to Qatar
On the final matchday of the Concacaf Qualifiers. Three qualification spots were up for grabs. Canada knew they were on their way to Qatar, but the USMNT, Mexico, and Costa Rica were fighting for auto-qualification spots and an inter-continental playoff. Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Honduras were all out of contention already but still had to play the matches for the pride of their countries. Here’s a look back at the final matches on the Concacaf Road to Qatar!
Costa Rica 2 – 0 USA
While the match didn’t go how the USA wanted it to, a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica clinched their spot at Qatar 2022! For the USA it’s an accomplishment that has been four years in the making. After not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup the USMNT had a complete overhaul. It took until the summer of 2021 for this team to show that they are a quality team. Winning the Concacaf Nations League, and the Concacaf Gold Cup last June and August showed this team was ready for the gauntlet of World Cup Qualifying. They made it through, even in a loss, and took 25 points from 14 matches to get an auto-qualifying spot.
Costa Rica was the winner in this match. They sat many of their starters in this match to preserve them for a potential inter-continental playoff match against New Zealand. Those players who were sitting out were in danger of being suspended if they got a yellow card against the USA. It gave the opportunity for Costa Rica to play some of their young players. They stepped up and beat the USA. In the end, Los Ticos ended their Road to Qatar with one more match to get in. They play New Zealand in Qatar this summer; win and get in! Can Costa Rica do it?
Jamaica 2 – 1 Honduras
In the only match that featured two nations already eliminated Jamaica hosted Honduras. Both nations were up for the match! and the road team struck first. Angel Tejeda opened the scoring from the spot giving Honduras a rare lead in the 18th minute. After that goal went in Jamaica woke up.
Leon Bailey struck for Jamacia with about five minutes left in the first half. He slotted home a penalty to square the game, and just before the stroke of halftime, Ravel Morrison got his first-ever goal for Jamaica. The nice effort gave Jamaica the win in the final match of the World Cup qualifying for the Reggae Boyz. For both Honduras and Jamaica, the Road to Qatar was a bumpy one that led to nowhere. Will either nation be able to come back from this failure in the years to come? Only time will tell!
Mexico 2 – 0 El Salvador
Mexico entered their final day of World Cup Qualifying knowing that anything better than a 4-0 loss to El Salvador and a Costa Rica win would mean they’d be on their way to Qatar 2022! This Mexico team did not leave room for any doubt about if they’d be going to the World Cup. Mexico scored in under 20 minutes thanks to Carlos Antuna’s strike. They didn’t stop there, getting a second goal off of a Raul Jimenez penalty in the second half. Mexico’s road to Qatar leads to the promised land, as they got 28 points from 14 matches to take second place in the octagonal.
El Salvador made the last round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying for the first time in a decade, and they struggled in it. Winning only two games and taking only 10 points meant a second-to-last-place finish. This nation will likely be able to progress after this run in the octagonal. Their home atmosphere is brilliant, and their talented squad will grow after this run. We’ll have to see what Concacaf qualifying looks like for the 2026 World Cup as the USA, Mexico, and Canada will likely auto-qualify for being hosts. Could El Salvador find a way to make it to that tournament after their Road to Qatar didn’t lead to the world Cup?
Panama 1 – 0 Canada
On this Road to Qatar, Canada and Panama have been two of the most impressive teams. Unfortunately for Panama, they didn’t have the best form in the last two qualifying windows and were eliminated from contention before this final match at home against Canada. This didn’t mean Panama would lay down and lose in their final match. They took it to and beat a second-string Canadian side 1-0 on the final day. Panama was four points short of making it to the World Cup. They are an organized team that should only progress after what will be seen as a failure to not qualify.
Canada is the king of Concacaf! They took the top spot in the octagonal on their Road to Qatar! Through their first 11 matches, They had no losses, seven wins, and four draws; taking 25 points from a possible 33 points. In their final window, they needed one win to secure their spot in Qatar, and they did that in front of their home crowd against Jamaica. This team is going to be one no team wants to face at Qatar 2022. Could we see a Canadian team, that is going back to their first World Cup in 36 years, make a splash and go on a run to the cup?
The Road to Qatar is now closed
The Road to Qatar is now closed! Canada, Mexico, and the USA are going to Qatar. Costa Rica could join them by beating New Zealand in a playoff match. These will be the teams repping Concacaf at the 2022 Men’s World Cup!
We’ll find out tomorrow which groups these nations will be in! Then these nations have a long eight-month wait to play in the matches. In that time, there will be Concacaf Nations Leagues matches, and other high-caliber friendlies to get the nations ready. Could any team from Concacaf make a deep run at Qatar 2022? We’ll wait to watch and see!
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