2010 World Cup Qualifying is in full swing - with North America (CONCACAF)'s next stage beginning next week. European (UEFA) qualifying begins in September.

Any thoughts so far?

Looking at CONCACAF... the top TWO teams in each group will advance to the final World Cup Qualifying Group, where the top THREE teams will then advance to South Africa... the FOURTH place team will play the FIFTH place team in SOUTH AMERICA in a home and away series to advance to the World Cup.

CONCACAF

Group A
Cuba
Guatemala
Trinidad and Tobago
United States

USA should have no trouble finishing first... and I'd probably Trinidad and Tobago finish second


Group B
Canada
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico

I'm not saying this because I'm Canadian, but I'm convinced that Canada will join Mexico in advancing from this group.

Group C
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Haiti
Suriname

Costa Rica should be a lock for first place... and I'd go with El Salvador to finish second.

I hope your call is right and I pretty much agree with you Enigma but I would have to point out the spoilers in Group A are Guatemala and in Group B Honduras.

The US drew with Guatemala in a friendly early this year (in the US) and Honduras (U-23) qualified for the Olympics over Mexico and Canada, so they have a strong young team.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see my Canadian Dynamo boys play in the World Cup. De Rosario will still only be 31 and Pat Onstad is a robot! Any young, up and coming Canadian g'keepers?

Other points to make:
Although TnT was the 4th place team that beat out the 5th place Asian team (Bahrain) to qualify for WC06, will they be without their mvp g'keeper from WC06 - Hislop.

Did de Guzman defect to the Netherlands? I thought I heard a rumor earlier this year.

Also, will the Sven Goran Eriksson effect on Mexico make them unstoppable?

Wednesday, August 20th: World Cup Qualifying Match-ups
Canada vs Jamaica
Guatemala vs USA
Cuba vs Trinidad & Tobago
Mexico vs Honduras
Costa Rica vs El Salvador
Haiti vs Suriname

I'll keep this short cuz I've gotta get goin...

1. Yes, DeGuzman did defect to Holland

2. I don't think Sven Goran Eriksson will have much effect on Mexico right now, since he hasn't had much time to get to know the squad and so forth.

Wednesday, August 20th: World Cup Qualifying Match-up Results
Canada 1-1 Jamaica
Guatemala 0-1 USA
Cuba 1-3 Trinidad & Tobago
Mexico 2-1 Honduras
Costa Rica 1-0 El Salvador
Haiti 2-2 Suriname

Saturday, September 6th: World Cup Qualifying Match-ups
Trinidad & Tobago v. Guatemala
Cuba v. USA
Jamaica v. Mexico
Canada v. Honduras
El Salvador v. Haiti
Costa Rica v. Suriname

CONCACAF 2010 World Cup Qualifying
Each country plays each other with a home and away fixture. The top three teams will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fourth place team will compete in a home-and-away play-off against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL (South America). This is slightly different from the 2006 qualification. Trinidad & Tobago qualified by beating Bahrain of the Asian Football Confederation.
2010 WC Qualifying Group Stage WIKI

Group Stage
Country (# WC Apps) Last App.
Costa Rica (3) 2006
El Salvador (2) 1982
Honduras (1) 1982
Mexico (13) 2006
Trinidad & Tobago (1) 2006
USA (8) 2006

USA Dates Home Match
2/11/09 USA v. Mexico (Crew Stadium, Columbus)
3/28/09 El Salvador v. USA (Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador)
4/1/09 USA v. Trinidad & Tobago
6/3/09 Costa Rica v. USA (Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José)
6/6/09 USA v. Honduras
8/12/09 Mexico v. USA (Estadio Azteca, Mexico City)
9/5/09 USA v. El Salvador
9/9/09 Trinidad & Tobago v. USA (Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain)
10/10/09 Honduras v. USA (Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula)
10/14/09 USA v. Costa Rica

USA vs Mexico next week on ESPN2. Make sure u watch!

ANOTHER REASON TO HATE FREAKIN' BLOCKBUSTER

Glad USA won and Bradley was unbelievable vs Mexico. I'm already looking to the next USA qualifier.