Bermuda has been draw against Bahamas in the First Round of the CONCACAF Preliminary Competition for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018. If Bermuda are successful in the First Round they will face Guatemala in the Second Round. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will host the draw for the initial phases of the CONCACAF Preliminary Competition for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018. The draw will be held in Miami at the W Hotel South Beach.
The event, involving 27 of the 35 CONCACAF Member Associations seeking to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, will determine the match-ups for the first Two Rounds of the five-round Regional Qualifying Tournament in CONCACAF, which begins in March and runs through 2017.
The seeding for the draw for this edition of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying was based on FIFA rankings as of August 2014.The 35 Member Associations competing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup have been ranked 1-35 (please see below for the full ranking).
The fourteen (14) National Teams ranked 22 to 35 (St. Kitts & Nevis, Belize, Montserrat, Dominica, Barbados, Bermuda, Nicaragua, Turks & Caicos, Curacao, US Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla – in order of rank) will dispute Round One of the Preliminary Competition, which consists of seven home-and-away series to be contested from March 23rd – 31st of this year.
For Round Two, the thirteen (13) Member Associations ranked 9-21 (Canada, Cuba, Aruba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Suriname, Guatemala, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana, Puerto Rico – in order of rank) will join the seven (7) Round One series winners, for ten more home-and-away series to be held between June 8th – 16th, 2015.
Round Three, which consists of another series of home-and-away match-ups featuring the ten (10) Round Two series winners, joined by the two Member Associations ranked 7 and 8 – Jamaica and Haiti — will be played August 31-September 8.
PRELIMINARY COMPETITION
Round One (March 23rd – 31st, 2015)The 14 PMAs ranked 22 to 35 (FIFA ranking as of August 2014) constitute the 14 Round One teams.
The round consists of 7 home-and-away series.
Round Two (June 8th – 16th, 2015)The 7 Round One series winners will then join the 13 PMAs ranked 9 to 21 (FIFA rankings as of August 2014) in Round Two. The 20 teams will be paired into 10 home-and-away series.
Round Three (August 31st – September 8th, 2015)The 10 Round Two series winners will then join the 2 PMAs ranked 7 to 8 (FIFA rankings as of August 2014) in Round Three. The 12 teams will be paired into 6 home-and-away series.
Round Four (November 7 – 17, 2015 / March 21 – 29, 2016 / August 29 – September 6, 2016)The 6 Round Three series winners will then join the 6 PMAs ranked 1 to 6 (FIFA rankings as of August 2014) in Round Four. The 12 teams will be grouped into 3 round-robin, home-and-away groups of 4 teams.
Round Five (November 7th – 15th, 2016 / March 20th – 28th, 2017 / June 5th – 13th, 2017 / August 28th – September 5th, 2017 / October 2nd – 10th, 2017)The 3 Round Three group winners and 3 Round Three group runner-ups will contest Round Five.
