Thirty-four CONCACAF teams will know their route to the FIFA World Cup Finals Germany 2006 this week when the Qualifying draw takes place on 5 December 2003 in Frankfurt, Germany.
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\u200bThe qualifying campaign will kick off on 18 February 2004 with the last games scheduled for 12 and 16 November 2005; almost two years of intense competition to see who will represent the Confederation in Germany 2006.
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\u200bThe CONCACAF World Cup qualifying draw will have the 34 nations placed into the following six pots:
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\u200bPot A: Costa Rica, Mexico, USA (Teams that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup)
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\u200bPot B: Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago (Teams that reached the final round of CONCACAF qualification for 2002 FIFA World Cup)
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\u200bPot C: Barbados, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, St. Vincent & The Grenadines (Teams that reached the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualification for 2002 FIFA World Cup)
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\u200bPot D: Belize, Nicaragua (Remaining teams from Central America)
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\u200bPot E: Antigua & Barbuda, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, Suriname (Two remaining teams from North Zone and top eight from Caribbean from the FIFA World Cup Rankings through 22 October 2003)
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\u200bPot F: Anguilla, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guyana, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands (Remaining teams from the Caribbean Zone and from the bottom of FIFA World Cup Ranking through 22 October 2003)
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\u200bAll twenty teams will be drawn from the Pots E and F and divided into ten groups of two to play home and away series to produce ten qualifiers. These teams will then be joined by the 14 teams that received first round byes from the remaining Pots (A, B, C, D). These 24 teams will be divided into 12 groups of two to play home and away with the second round series winners advancing to the semifinal stage.
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\u200bAt the semifinal stage, the twelve qualifiers will be divided into three groups of four, with the top two from each group moving on to the final qualifying stage.
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\u200bThe final group of six qualifiers will play, home and away, from 9 February \u0096 12 October 2005 at which point the top three will advance directly to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The fourth-place finisher will compete in a home and away playoff for one of the last berths into the event. These games will take place on 12 and 16 November 2005.
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\u200bCONCACAF World Cup 2006 Qualifying Schedule
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\u200b2004
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\u200bIntra-Caribbean Round
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\u200b18 February \u0096 Leg 1
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\u200b31 March \u0096 Leg 2
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\u200bMixed Zones Round
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\u200b12-13 June \u0096 Leg 1
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\u200b19-20 June \u0096 Leg 2
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\u200bSemi-Final Round
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\u200b18 August \u0096 Game 1
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\u200b4-5 September \u0096 Game 2
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\u200b8 September \u0096 Game 3
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\u200b9-10 October \u0096 Game 4
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\u200b13 October \u0096 Game 5
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\u200b17 November \u0096 Game 6
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\u200b2005
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\u200bFinal Round
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\u200b9 February \u0096 Game 1
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\u200b26-27 March \u0096 Game 2
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\u200b30 March \u0096 Game 3
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\u200b4-5 June \u0096 Game 4
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\u200b8 June \u0096 Game 5
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\u200b17 August \u0096 Game 6
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\u200b3-4 September \u0096 Game 7
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\u200b7 September \u0096 Game 8
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\u200b8-9 October \u0096 Game 9
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\u200b12 October \u0096 Game 10
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\u200bFourth-Place Playoff
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\u200b12 November \u0096 Leg 1
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\u200b16 November \u0096 Leg 2