Author: Oliver Milošević
The month of May is full of futsal spectacles all around the Globe! Just when the Uefa Futsal Champions League Final match will be played (3 May in Zadar, Croatia, 20:00 CET), the first two results of the 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship in Guatemala City (Guatemala) will be known.
The seventh edition of the CONCACAF Futsal Championship will be held from 3rd to 9th May in Guatemala. It is the fourth edition that will be played in Guatemala (1996, 2008, 2012 and 2021), the other three were held in Costa Rica (2000, 2004 and 2016). 13 teams are divided into three groups and semifinalists will advance to the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania, which will be played from 12 September to 4 November 2021.
The 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship is the quadrennial international futsal championship organized by CONCACAF for the men's national teams of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region. The tournament was originally slated for 16 teams split into four groups of four teams, but after the withdrawals of French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe, the competition will now feature 13 teams.
Additionally, all matches will be played at the Domo Polideportivo, a venue that has a long history of hosting international futsal competitions, including the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Let's take a look together at all the groups; we're expecting some very interesting matches!
Group A: Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic
Group B: Panama, Mexico, and Suriname
Group C: Costa Rica, Canada, and Haiti
Group D: Cuba, United States, El Salvador and Nicaragua
The group stage will take place between May 3-5. After round-robin play, the first and second-place finishers in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The winners of the quarterfinals will qualify for the World Cup 2021.
GROUP A (Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic):
At first glance, it is clear there is one major favorite in this group - Guatemala, the champion of 2008, silver medalist in 2012, and bronze medalist in 2016. Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic complete Group A.
T&T and the Dominican Republic are two nations where futsal still hasn't made that 'boom' that it deserves. Trinidad and Tobago's national futsal team lost against Costa Rica 1:7 in a warm-up match on Tuesday night in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Costa Rica is one of the major favorites of the tournament, and Trinidad and Tobago players hope this loss will only motivate them to fight harder in the tournament.
Talking about the Dominican Republic - The national team is in the hands of the talented Argentinian coach Carlos Boccicardi since the 2018 Youth Olympics. Both teams see a chance for themselves in this group and it will be interesting to watch their mutual duel on 4 May. Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic have a lot to offer, no doubt about that. But can they disrupt the plans of group favorite - remains to be seen.
GROUP B (Panama, Mexico, and Suriname):
Panama is a firm favorite in this group - no explanation needed. Panama is the current vice-champion (lost against Costa Rica in 2016 finals), and bronze medalist from 2012.
The other two nations, Mexico and Suriname will, of course, do their best to create an upset along the way and secure second place to advance into the quarterfinals. The only time that Mexico qualified for the major tournament was exactly in Thailand in 2012. Can they repeat that success?
We'll see in the upcoming 10 days. Suriname won their qualification spot in this group, winning Aruba and The Cayman Islands. They are outsiders of the group, but we all know what futsal is, and one can always expect the unexpected!
GROUP C (Costa Rica, Canada, and Haiti):
The absolute favorite, not only of Group C but of the entire tournament as well, is a two-time (2012 and 2016) defending champion, Costa Rica! Besides them, Canada and Haiti complete Group C.
The Canada team seems like the team that will follow Costa Rica into the next round. Haiti is the outsider in this group, and both Canada and Haiti never took part in any major tournament.
Their players dream of making an upset against these two favorites and secure a berth in a major tournament. Are those dreams realistic? Let's see!
GROUP D (Cuba, United States, El Salvador and Nicaragua):
Probably the most interesting group of the tournament! Group D is the only group with four teams. Cubans are nominal favorites winning four consecutive silver medals (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008), and finishing fourth in the last tournament (2016).
Right next to the Cubans are the United States, the winners of 1996 and 2004. However, the USA failed to secure the semifinals in the last two editions (2012 and 2016) but they proved they are a quality team last year on the Futsal Week tournament.
Under the patronage of famous Serbian futsal player and coach Dušan Jakica, they are expecting to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since the tournament in Brazil in 2008.
>> The U.S. head coach: The USA could become one of the best futsal nations in the world!
El Salvador and Nicaragua are outsiders in this group. Both teams never took part in a major tournament, but we will see what they are made of on the first tournament's day when they play against Cuba (Nicaragua) and the United States (El Salvador).
As an end note - let's all enjoy these proper futsal spectacles across the Globe as we did so far!
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