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.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bThe winners of the 12 groups advance to the second stage, when they are drawn into three groups of four teams.
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\u200bGroup 1: Winners of Groups 1-4
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\u200bGroup 2: Winners of Groups 5-8
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\u200bGroup 3: Winners of Groups 9-12
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\u200bMatch Dates: August 18, September 4/5, September 8, October 9/10, October 13 and November 17, 2004.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bThe 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.
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\u200bFirst Stage Groupings
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\u200bGroup 1 Grenada, Guyana, USA
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\u200bGroup 2 Bermuda, Monsterrat, El Salvador
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\u200bGroup 3 Haiti, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica
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\u200bGroup 4 British Virgin Islands, St Lucia, Panama
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\u200bGroup 5 Cayman Islands, Cuba, Costa Rica
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\u200bGroup 6 Aruba, Surinam, Guatemala
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\u200bGroup 7 Antigua & Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles, Honduras
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\u200bGroup 8 Canada, Belize
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\u200bGroup 9 Dominica, Bahamas, Mexico
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\u200bGroup 10 US Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados
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\u200bGroup 11 Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago
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\u200bGroup 12 Nicaragua, St Vincent & Gren
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\u200bFinal first stage ties; First Leg: June 12/13, 2004
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\u200bGrenada or Guyana v United States of America
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\u200bBermuda or Monsterrat v El Salvador
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\u200bHaiti or Turks and Caicos Islands v Jamaica
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\u200bBritish Virgin Islands or St Lucia v Panama
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\u200bCayman Islands or Cuba v Costa Rica
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\u200bAruba or Surinam v Guatemala
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\u200bAntigua & Barbuda or Netherlands Antilles v Honduras
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\u200bCanada v Belize
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\u200bDominica or Bahamas v Mexico
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\u200bUS Virgin Islands or St. Kitts and Nevis v Barbados
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\u200bDominican Republic or Anguilla v Trinidad and Tobago
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\u200bNicaragua v St Vincent & Gren
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