#1282: World Cup 2002, from Slavin (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:JPS390@aol.com

Soccer-World Cup qualifying draw for CONCACAF

  
TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) - First round draw for the North and Central American 
and Caribbean qualifying competition of the 2002 World Cup made on Tuesday: 

Central American zone: 

Group A 
 1. El Salvador           
 2. Belize                
 3. Guatemala             

Group B 
 1. Honduras              
 2. Nicaragua             
 3. Panama                

The two group winners qualify for the semifinal round of 12 teams. The two 
runners-up play off against the runners-up in Caribbean groups 2 and 3 for 
places in the semifinal round. 

Caribbean zone: 

Group 1 
 Cuba v Cayman Islands          
 St Lucia v Surinam             
 Aruba v Puerto Rico            
 Barbados v Grenada             

Group 2 
 St Vincent v U.S. Virgin Islands 
 St Kitts and Nevis v Turks and Caicos Islands 
 Guyana v Antigua 
 British Virgin Islands v Bermuda 

Group 3 
 Trinidad v Netherlands Antilles 
 Dominican Republic v Montserrat 
 Dominica v Haiti               
 Anguilla v Bahamas 

Teams play knockout tournament in three rounds. The three group winners 
qualify for semifinal round. The runner-up of group 1 plays off against 
Canada for a place in the semifinal round. The two other runners-up play off 
against the runners-up in the Central American zone for places in the 
semifinal round. 

Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and the United States qualify directly for the 
semifinal round. 

The 12 teams qualified for the semifinal round will be drawn into three 
groups of four teams. The two top teams from each group qualify for the final 
round of six teams. They will play off in a single group from which the top 
three teams qualify for the finals in Japan and South Korea. 

05:59 12-07-99

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.