One down, five to go.
After wins to open the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, the Canadian and US national teams will look to get off to perfect 2-0-0 starts on Tuesday night. They each won their first game of the fourth round with the US trouncing St. Vincent & the Grenadines 6-1 and Canada getting a huge home win vs. Honduras.
If they do happen to win on Tuesday, their spot in the fifth round of qualifying or "The Hexagonal" is virtually assured.
CONCACAF moved to the format of 12 teams in three groups of four before the Hex for the 1998 World Cup qualifying cycle. Since then, 13 teams have managed to collect six points from their first two games. All 13 teams advanced to the Hex.
| Points needed to qualify for the Hex | ||||
| Points Through First 2 Games | Teams | # of Teams to Qualify | ||
| 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 0 | N/A | ||
| 3 | 13 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 6 | 14 | 14 | ||
As you can see from the table, both teams put themselves in good positions by winning their first games. 54 percent of teams have made it to the Hex after securing three points in the first two games.
A draw would also see both teams' chances increase, as 67 percent of teams to collect four points in their first two games have moved on to the next round of qualifying.
Looking ahead to the rest of qualifying, it appears both national teams will need to secure eight more points in their remaining five games if they want to be sure that they will qualify.
| Points in round before Hex | ||||
| Points | Teams | # of Teams to Qualify | ||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 10 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 11 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 12 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 13 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 15 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 18 | 3 | 3 | ||
USMNT's road to Russia continues in Port of Spain against Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday night (6:30 pm ET; beIN SPORTS), while Canada are visiting El Salvador (8:30 pm ET; beIN SPORTS in US).
