Match Schedule: September 2011

Here is the complete 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying schedule for September 2011. This month will feature two matchdays in Asian qualifying and two matchdays in CONCACAF qualifying. CONCACAF matchdays are notorious for being spread over multiple calendar dates, so we will see closer to the first week of September whether any matches are played out of their originally slotted calendar dates. The AFC, on the other hand, is notorious for following the specified FIFA matchdays to the letter.

Match times are given in Central Time (GMT-5).

2 September 2011 (AFC Third Round Matchday 1)

Thailand at Australia 5:00 Brisbane

North Korea at Japan 5:20 Saitama
Lebanon at South Korea 6:00 Goyang

Uzbekistan at Tajikistan 6:30 Tursunzoda

Singapore at China 7:00 Kunming

Jordan at Iraq 7:00 Arbil

Saudi Arabia at Oman 10:00 Muscat

Kuwait at United Arab Emirates 10:30 Al Ain City

Indonesia at Iran 10:30 Tehran

Qatar at Bahrain 12:00 Manama

2 September 2011 (CONCACAF Second Round Matchday 1)

Belize at Grenada 14:30 St. George's

U.S. Virgin Islands at Haiti 15:00 Port-au-Prince

Cayman Islands at Suriname 16:00 Paramaribo

Curacao at Antigua and Barbuda 16:30 North Sound

Nicaragua at Dominica 17:00 Roseau

Bermuda at Trinidad and Tobago 18:00 Port of Spain

Barbados at Guyana 18:30 Georgetown

Puerto Rico at St. Kitts and Nevis 19:00 Basseterre

St. Lucia at Canada 19:00 Toronto

Dominican Republic at El Salvador 20:30 San Salvador

St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Guatemala 21:00 Guatemala City

6 September 2011 (AFC Third Round Matchday 2)

Tajikistan at North Korea 2:30 Pyongyang

Oman at Thailand 6:00 Bangkok

Iraq at Singapore 6:30 Singapore

Bahrain at Indonesia 7:00 Jakarta

United Arab Emirates at Lebanon 9:00 Beirut
Japan at Uzbekistan 9:00 Tashkent

China at Jordan 11:00 Amman

Iran at Qatar 11:30 Doha

South Korea at Kuwait 12:00 Kuwait City

Australia at Saudi Arabia 12:30 Dammam

6 September 2011 (CONCACAF Second Round Matchday 2)

Suriname at Dominican Republic 14:00 San Cristobal

Trinidad and Tobago at Barbados 15:00 Bridgetown

Antigua and Barbuda at U.S. Virgin Islands 15:30 Fredericksted

Guatemala at Belize 16:00 Belmopan

St. Kitts and Nevis at St. Lucia 17:00 Gros Islet

El Salvador at Cayman Islands 18:30 George Town
Bermuda at Guyana 18:30 Providence

Canada at Puerto Rico 19:00 Bayamon

Haiti at Curacao 19:00 Willemstad

Panama at Nicaragua 20:00 Managua

18 September 2011 (CONCACAF Second Round Matchday 2)

Grenada at St. Vincent and the Grenadines 14:00 Kingstown

Will Bahrain have a full squad? The ongoing protests in Bahrain have led to many Shia Muslim national team players being imprisoned by the Sunni Muslim government:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/08/12/Bahrain.World.Cup.ap/index.html?sct=sc_t2_a7

Bahamas withdraw from 2014 FIFA World Cup

In a stunner, Bahamas have withdrawn from FIFA World Cup qualifying for Brasil 2014 despite having advanced to the CONCACAF Second Round after a 10-0 aggregate defeat of Turks and Caicos. They will not be replaced in their group, leaving CONCACAF Group C with just three teams: Panama, Dominica, and Nicaragua. Only the winner of the group advances to round three. Bahamas were the fourth seed in the group.

Bahamas withdrew due to the unavailability of their national team stadium for the next qualifying stage due to construction delays and the high costs of having to play six games away from home instead of just three.

Panama now have open dates on 2 September 2011 and 7 October 2011. Dominica have open dates on 6 September 2011 and 11 October 2011. Nicaragua now finish their slate of matches on matchday 4 and have open dates on the final 2 matchdays for the CONCACAF Second Round, 11 November 2011 and 15 November 2011.

News Report:

http://www.concacaf.com/page/WCQ/NewsDetail/0,,12813~2426184,00.html

Syria booted from 2014 FIFA World Cup

Syria have been ejected from the 2014 FIFA World Cup for having used an ineligible player during their AFC Second Round matchup against Tajikistan. George Mourad, who scored in the first match against Tajikistan, had previously played for Sweden's senior national team in 2005 and had not received FIFA approval for his switch to the Syrian senior national team.

Mourad made his fourth and fifth appearances for the Syrian national squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after having made just two appearances for Sweden in his lifetime. Mourad was born in Lebanon to Syrian parents. Mourad's only ties to Sweden were his having played in the Swedish professional league between 2004 and 2008.

If anything, Mourad's two appearances for Sweden should be wiped from the record books. How he was eligible for the Swedish national team is not obvious, but one would imagine that his citizenship was expedited due to his footballing prowess in the national league, the Allsvenskan.

Syria are petitioning their suspension in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The first game of the next phase of qualifying had been scheduled to take place on 2 September 2011 between Syria and Uzbekistan on a neutral field as Syria have not been allowed to play at home by FIFA due to political unrest. Hopefully, the Court reinstates Syria because it would be a shame to have a strong team banished from the competition based on a technicality despite having thrashed Tajikistan 6-1 in their aggregate series.

Tajikistan have been inserted in Syria's position in Group C alongside Japan, Uzbekistan, and North Korea. This switch alleviates the pressure felt by the other three teams in what had been considered the Group of Death for the AFC Third Round.

Tajikistan's fixtures for the third round of Asian qualifying are given below.

2 September 2011

Uzbekistan at Tajikistan

6 September 2011

Tajikistan at North Korea

11 October 2011

Tajikistan at Japan

11 November 2011

Japan at Tajikistan

15 November 2011

Tajikistan at Uzbekistan

29 February 2012

North Korea at Tajikistan

News Reports:

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6877303/syria-disqualified-2014-world-cup-fielding-ineligible-player

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1495459/index.html

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/international-sport/162004-syria-disqualified-by-fifa-over-ineligible-player.html

OFC First Round Schedule

The OFC First Round will pit the teams seeded 8, 9, 10, and 11 in OFC qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in a single group with only the winner advancing to the OFC Second Round. Each team will play each other team once for a total of three matches per team. All six matches in this round will take place in Apia, Samoa, at the same complex that hosted the 2007 South Pacific Games.

8. Samoa

9. Tonga

10. Cook Islands

11. American Samoa

The teams will play a match every two days over a five day period in late November 2011.

The match times correspond to Central Standard Time (GMT-6).

22 November 2011

Tonga vs. American Samoa 18:00 Apia, Samoa

Cook Islands at Samoa 21:00 Apia

24 November 2011

Cook Islands vs. American Samoa 18:00 Apia, Samoa

Tonga at Samoa 21:00 Apia

26 November 2011

American Samoa at Samoa 18:00 Apia

Tonga vs. Cook Islands 21:00 Apia, Samoa

The big matchup for this round looks to be Tonga at Samoa on the second matchday. Samoa are the pick to advance to the second round of OFC qualifying.

CONCACAF Second Round Schedule

CONCACAF has announced that its second round of qualifying will take place over six matchdays. These matchdays have been split into three sets of doubleheaders to be played in 2011. The first doubleheader takes place on 2 September 2011 and 6 September 2011. The second doubleheader takes place on 7 October and 11 October 2011. The third doubleheader happens on 11 November 2011 and 15 November 2011 and features two matches between the top two seeds in each group.

This round of qualifying has a decidedly Caribbean feel, with eighteen of the twenty-four participating teams coming out of the Caribbean Football Union. Two groups are wholly made up of CFU members, guaranteeing that at least two CFU members will join Cuba and Jamaica in the third round.

2 September 2011

Dominican Republic at El Salvador

Cayman Islands at Suriname

Bermuda at Trinidad and Tobago

Barbados at Guyana

Bahamas at Panama

Nicaragua at Dominica

St. Lucia at Canada

Puerto Rico at St. Kitts and Nevis

Belize at Grenada

St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Guatemala

U.S. Virgin Islands at Haiti

Curacao at Antigua and Barbuda

6 September 2011

El Salvador at Cayman Islands

Suriname at Dominican Republic

Trinidad and Tobago at Barbados

Bermuda at Guyana

Panama at Nicaragua

Dominica at Bahamas

Canada at Puerto Rico

St. Kitts and Nevis at St. Lucia

Grenada at St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Guatemala at Belize

Haiti at Curacao

Antigua and Barbuda at U.S. Virgin Islands

7 October 2011

El Salvador at Dominican Republic

Suriname at Cayman Islands

Trinidad and Tobago at Bermuda

Guyana at Barbados

Panama at Bahamas

Dominica at Nicaragua

Canada at St. Lucia

St. Kitts and Nevis at Puerto Rico

Grenada at Belize

Guatemala at St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Haiti at U.S. Virgin Islands

Antigua and Barbuda at Curacao

11 October 2011

Cayman Islands at El Salvador

Dominican Republic at Suriname

Barbados at Trinidad and Tobago

Guyana at Bermuda

Nicaragua at Panama

Bahamas at Dominica

Puerto Rico at Canada

St. Lucia at St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Grenada

Belize at Guatemala

Curacao at Haiti

U.S. Virgin Islands at Antigua and Barbuda

11 November 2011

El Salvador at Suriname

Cayman Islands at Dominican Republic

Trinidad and Tobago at Guyana

Barbados at Bermuda

Panama at Dominica

Nicaragua at Bahamas

Canada at St. Kitts and Nevis

Puerto Rico at St. Lucia

Grenada at Guatemala

St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Belize

Haiti at Antigua and Barbuda

Curacao at U.S. Virgin Islands

15 November 2011

Suriname at El Salvador

Dominican Republic at Cayman Islands

Guyana at Trinidad and Tobago

Bermuda at Barbados

Dominica at Panama

Bahamas at Nicaragua

St. Kitts and Nevis at Canada

St. Lucia at Puerto Rico

Guatemala at Grenada

Belize at St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Antigua and Barbuda at Haiti

U.S. Virgin Islands at Curacao

AFC Third Round Schedule

The AFC has announced that its third round of qualifying will take place over six matchdays. These matchdays involved two doubleheaders and two single matchdays. The first two matchdays are in a doubleheader: 2 September 2011 and 6 September 2011. Matchday three is on 11 October 2011. The next two matches are in a doubleheader: 11 November 2011 and 15 November 2011. The sixth and final matchday is the most isolated, giving teams three months to prepare for their 29 February 2012 round three finale. Three of the five top seeds for this round come from the East Asian Football Federation (China, South Korea, Japan) along with a 2010 FIFA World Cup finalist (North Korea).

2 September 2011

Singapore at China

Jordan at Iraq

Lebanon at South Korea

Kuwait at United Arab Emirates

North Korea at Japan

Uzbekistan at Syria

Thailand at Australia

Saudi Arabia at Oman

Indonesia at Iran

Qatar at Bahrain

6 September 2011

China at Jordan

Iraq at Singapore

South Korea at Kuwait

United Arab Emirates at Lebanon

Japan at Uzbekistan

Syria at North Korea

Australia at Saudi Arabia

Oman at Thailand

Iran at Qatar

Bahrain at Indonesia

11 October 2011

Iraq at China

Jordan at Singapore

United Arab Emirates at South Korea

Kuwait at Lebanon

Syria at Japan

Uzbekistan at North Korea

Oman at Australia

Saudi Arabia at Thailand

Bahrain at Iran

Qatar at Indonesia

11 November 2011

Singapore at Jordan

China at Iraq

Lebanon at Kuwait

South Korea at United Arab Emirates

North Korea at Uzbekistan

Japan at Syria

Thailand at Saudi Arabia

Australia at Oman

Indonesia at Qatar

Iran at Bahrain

15 November 2011

Iraq at Jordan

China at Singapore

United Arab Emirates at Kuwait

South Korea at Lebanon

Syria at Uzbekistan

Japan at North Korea

Oman at Saudi Arabia

Australia at Thailand

Bahrain at Qatar

Iran at Indonesia

29 February 2012

Jordan at China

Singapore at Iraq

Kuwait at South Korea

Lebanon at United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan at Japan

North Korea at Syria

Saudi Arabia at Australia

Thailand at Oman

Qatar at Iran

Indonesia at Bahrain