Canada Draws Belize in World Cup Qualifying

Canada has drawn Belize as its opponent in the opening round of World Cup Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The Central American country is ranked No. 174 in the FIFA World Rankings and is located east of Guatemala on the Caribbean Sea coast. The World Cup Draw was made in Frankfurt, Germany today.



The home and away series with Belize will take place on June 13 in Canada (site to be determined) and June 19 or 20, 2004 in Belize City. The winner advances to the semi-final round.



The first stage saw the 34 CONCACAF nations drawn into groups to decide who will progress. The teams were drawn into ten groups of three and two groups of two.



The 20 lowest rank nations were drawn into the groups (1-7 and 8-11) containing three teams. They will play each other in a two-legged tie for the right to take on the other team drawn into that same group. The match dates are February 18 and March 31, 2004.



The winners of the 12 groups advance to the second stage, when they are drawn into three groups of four teams.



Group 1: Winners of Groups 1-4

Group 2: Winners of Groups 5-8

Group 3: Winners of Groups 9-12



Match Dates: August 18, September 4/5, September 8, October 9/10, October 13 and November 17, 2004.



The winner of the Canada-Belize series (Group 8) will play the winners of Group 5 (Cayman Islands, Cuba, Costa Rica), Group 6 (Aruba, Surinam, Guatemala) and Group 7 (Antigua & Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles, Honduras) in the semi-final round.



The top two in each group will advance to the final stage which consists of a group of six teams. Match Dates: February 9, March 26/27, March 30, June 4/5, June 8, August 17, September 3/4, September 7, October 8/9 and October 12, 2005.



The top three teams qualify automatically for the finals. The fourth placed team will play-off with the winner of a knock-out match in the Asian region.



First Stage Groupings

Group 1 Grenada, Guyana, USA

Group 2 Bermuda, Monsterrat, El Salvador

Group 3 Haiti, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica

Group 4 British Virgin Islands, St Lucia, Panama

Group 5 Cayman Islands, Cuba, Costa Rica

Group 6 Aruba, Surinam, Guatemala

Group 7 Antigua & Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles, Honduras

Group 8 Canada, Belize

Group 9 Dominica, Bahamas, Mexico

Group 10 US Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados

Group 11 Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago

Group 12 Nicaragua, St Vincent & Gren



Final first stage ties; First Leg: June 12/13, 2004

Grenada or Guyana v United States of America

Bermuda or Monsterrat v El Salvador

Haiti or Turks and Caicos Islands v Jamaica

British Virgin Islands or St Lucia v Panama

Cayman Islands or Cuba v Costa Rica

Aruba or Surinam v Guatemala

Antigua & Barbuda or Netherlands Antilles v Honduras

Canada v Belize

Dominica or Bahamas v Mexico

US Virgin Islands or St. Kitts and Nevis v Barbados

Dominican Republic or Anguilla v Trinidad and Tobago

Nicaragua v St Vincent & Gren