CONCACAF, with uncharacteristically fast speed, announced the schedule of the Third Round of World Cup qualifying within 24 hours of the conclusion of the last matches in the Second Round. (CONCACAF's press release announced the schedule up to Round 4; you can find the full calendar at the Wikipedia page.) The Third Round, which to long-time CONCACAF observers is also called the Semifinal Round, will take place between 8 June and 16 October, which will stretch out the Group Stage schedule in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is very possible that a MLS team will have to finish its final CCL group matches and play a MLS Cup playoff game in quick succession.
CONCACAF has done a good job of limiting the structural advantages and disadvantages of the group stage. No national team starts the Third Round with consecutive home or away matches. It does look a little odd to see the home-and-away (home-and-home in US English) pair of matches in the middle of the stage, but I think CONCACAF implemented this to prevent a team from having three consecutive home or away matches in a six-match mini-league. As things stand, the following teams have the structural advantage of consecutive home qualifiers:
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| Guatemala | El Salvador | Canada |
| Antigua & Barbuda | Guyana | Panama |
These teams have the structural disadvantage of consecutive away qualifiers:
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| USA | Mexico | Honduras |
| Jamaica | Costa Rica | Cuba |
When you look at the groups this way, it's clear that the seeded teams -- those who received byes through to the third round -- have the structural disadvantage in this round, while the group winners from the second round will enjoy consecutive home qualifiers. I don't think that the USA or Mexico will be affected much by having to play two consecutive qualifiers on the road, especially when you consider that there is anywhere from a 12-week gap between Matchdays 2 and 3 and a 4-week one between Matchdays 4 and 5. It might make a difference in Group C, but at this time I see Canada and Panama as direct competitors to the second Hexagonal place in the group.
I'll take a look back at the Second Round of World Cup qualifying later.
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