The United States defeated Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday to finish in first place in CONCACAF Group C and advance to the Hexagonal, the final round of 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. The U.S., who featured Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris during this latest round of call-ups and Sounders forward Clint Dempsey earlier in the group stage, will open against Group A winner Mexico on Friday, Nov. 11, at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Seattle Sounders defenders Joevin Jones (Trinidad and Tobago) and Roman Torres (Panama) have also qualified for the Hex, which is a 10-match home-and-home round-robin to determine CONCACAF’s representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Sounders forward Oalex Anderson and S2 forward Myron Samuel represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who were eliminated after finishing in fourth place in Group C.
The top three teams automatically qualify for Russia, while the fourth-place team will compete in a home-and-home series against a team from the Asian Football Confederation with the winner qualifying for the World Cup. Mexico defeated New Zealand in 2013 ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The venues where the matches will be played will be announced by the hosting federation. Below is the full schedule, with the home teams listed first.
Matchday 1: Friday, Nov. 11, 2016
- United States vs. Mexico
- Honduras vs. Panama
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. Costa Rica
Matchday 2: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016
- Costa Rica vs. United States
- Panama vs. Mexico
- Honduras vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Matchday 3: Friday, March 24, 2017
- United States vs. Honduras
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. Panama
- Mexico vs. Costa Rica
Matchday 4: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
- Panama vs. United States
- Honduras vs. Costa Rica
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. Mexico
Matchday 5: Wednesday, June 7 or Thursday June 8, 2017
- United States vs. Trinidad and Tobago
- Costa Rica vs. Panama
- Mexico vs. Honduras
Matchday 6: Sunday, June 11 or Monday, June 12, 2017
- Mexico vs. United States
- Panama vs. Honduras
- Costa Rica vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Matchday 7: Friday, Sept. 1, 2017
- United States vs. Costa Rica
- Mexico vs. Panama
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. Honduras
Matchday 8: Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
- Honduras vs. United States
- Panama vs. Trinidad and Tobago
- Costa Rica vs. Mexico
Matchday 9: Friday, Oct. 6, 2017
- United States vs. Panama
- Costa Rica vs. Honduras
- Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago
Matchday 10 (matches kick off simultaneously): Friday, Oct. 10, 2017
- Trinidad and Tobago vs. United States
- Panama vs. Costa Rica
- Honduras vs. Mexico
