CONCACAF facts and figures from Cancún

Four teams have returned home from the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier, with just Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and USA remaining before the semi-final stage on Friday 5 November. Two teams will qualify automatically for the FIFA Women’s World Cup with wins on Friday while a third team will advance to a two-leg playoff final with Italy.

Four teams have returned home from the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier, with just Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and USA remaining before the semi-final stage on Friday 5 November. Two teams will qualify automatically for the FIFA Women’s World Cup with wins on Friday while a third team will advance to a two-leg playoff final with Italy.



Here is a look at some of the facts and figures from the first 12 matches of the competition (the group phase).



In all, 51 goals were scored by 30 different players. Goals were scored in every match, but 10 of the 12 matches featured a clean sheet by the winning team. USA had eight different players score one or more goals while Canada had seven different players score one or more goals.



USA’s Abby Wambach was the leading scorer with six goals, followed by Mexico’s Maribel Domínguez with five goals, Canada’s Christine Sinclair with four goals, USA’s Amy Rodriguez with four goals, and Canada’s Jonelle Filigno with three goals.



All players are eligible for the semi-final stage. There were 32 yellow cards handed out in the group stage, with one player (Tasha St-Louis of Trinidad and Tobago) ejected after accumulating two yellow cards in the same match. Canada and Mexico had only one yellow card each; USA had two yellow cards; Costa Rica had six cards (Daniela Cruz and Raquel Rodriguez Cedeño have already served one-game suspensions).



Of the four remaining teams, USA has qualified for all five FIFA Women’s World Cups (USA 1991, Sweden 1995, USA 1999, USA 2003 and China 2007) while Canada has qualified for all but one (every time since Sweden 1995). Mexico has qualified for one FIFA Women’s World Cup (USA 1999) while Costa Rica has yet to qualify.



Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck, is taking part in the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier from 28 October to 8 November in Cancún, Mexico. Canada has qualified for each of the last four FIFA Women’s World Cups and hopes to make it five straight with a qualification to Germany 2011™.