CONCACAF Round Two: Group E and F Standings

Here is how the final two groups in CONCACAF appear after the first two fixtures.

Group E

1. Guatemala 6 pts, +5 GD
2. Belize 3 pts, +2 GD
3. Grenada 0 pts, -3 GD
4. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0 pts, -4 GD

Despite being in the second pot for the draw, Guatemala is the favorite in group E and has lived up to its billing. An easy 4-0 home win over St. Vincent was followed by a 2-1 road win in Belize.

While they impressed in its opener, Guatemala knows it has room for improvement. There were times during the Belize match where the visitors were clearly second best. The Guatemalans have also had six different goalscorers in the first two matches.

Belize produced the biggest shock of qualifying so far, an easy 3-0 win in Grenada. After defeating Montserrat in round one, the Central American side was not expected to do anything of note in this stage.

However, Deon McCaulay and company showed that Belize needs to be taken seriously in this group. McCaulay scored in each match, bringing his total to six in qualifying, leading CONCACAF.

While they will not beat Guatemala out for the top spot, second place is a realistic possibility for Belize, which would be a great achievement.

Both Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have only played one group match, the will play each other Sept. 18th in a rescheduled game.

Grenada was blitzed at home by Belize, and needs a win to recover and get its campaign back on track. The top-seeded team in the group is not out of things yet, but it does not look rosy at all.

A team I have developed a soft spot for, Vincy Heat, is also looking to regain some confidence, after a 4-0 rout to Guatemala. The side will hope its home crowd can help carry them to victory over Grenada.

Group F

1. Antigua and Barbuda 6 pts, +10 GD
2. Haiti 6 pts, +8 GD
3. Curaçao 0 pts, -5 GD
4. U.S. Virgin Islands 0 pts, -13 GD

The weakest group of round two, group F is both clear and convoluted. Anituga and Barbuda and Haiti have clearly separated themselves, but will be in a tense battle against each other for the top spot.

Goal difference could be the difference in this group, and as of now Antigua and Barbuda has the advantage. A 5-2 opening home win over Curaçao was followed by a 8-1 crushing of USVI.

Peter Byers has scored five goals already and could end up with double digits in this round. It appears the question is not will Anitgua and Barbuda win its next two games, but how many goals will they score.

Haiti suffered a minor scare in Curaçao, falling behind twice and trailing 2-1 at the half. They did recover to win 4-2, but it needs bigger wins in order to keep pace with Antigua and Barbuda.

Curaçao took a lead in each game, but its defense's weakness was exposed, as they leaked nine goals in two games. This side will improve as qualifying continues, but the best they do in this group is third.

USVI has overachieved already and will lose all six games in this round. They can try to keep the goal differential down, but it is going to be a long round for this team.

If Curaçao and USVI lose their next games, they will be mathematically eliminated.