Costa Rica beats T&T 2-1, now they sit on 11 points, T&T is all but eliminated.

Starting off, I think you're probably right about T&T...

But, some items working in their favor:
1. Their next match is home against Honduras. Honduras is really struggling, might even fire their coach before or after the gold cup, and T&T would be tough on them at home. This is a chance to grab 3 and leapfrog Honduras for 5th.
2. They then travel to Panama, who other than tonight, has struggled to find the back of the net. Additionally, T&T's only points of the hex were their win v los canaleros. I could see a standard Panama home draw here.
3. Their October matches, penultimate and final, are away to Mexico and home to us. Both Mexico and the US will most likely have already wrapped up passage to Russia by those respective matches and could theoretically roll out weaker squads.

I can envision a scenario where T&T winds up with 11 points. Will that be enough for 4th place? Probably not. But they do seem to have a better stretch run setup than Panama and Honduras

Good results for the US. Really the most ideal.

Keeps T&T away from any possible advancement and Panama and Honduras underneath.

Time to take down Costa Rica next match.

TheMasterplan said:

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Good results for the US. Really the most ideal.

Keeps T&T away from any possible advancement and Panama and Honduras underneath.

Time to take down Costa Rica next match.

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Things break pretty nicely for us down the stretch.

Our final two road games are against the two teams at the bottom of the table, and our final two home games are against the teams in 2nd and 4th.

If we protect our house, we'll be fine.

11 points would be the dream scenario for T&T now. 2 wins and 2 ties in the next 4 seems really hopeful for a team that has gotten just 3 points out of the first 6 matches.

The match on September 5 in Panama will tell the story for T&T and Panama. Panama's other remaining games are US, Mex and Costa Rica, so they definitely need to get 3 points from that match if they want to claim the 4 spot.

Current Table:
1. Mexico 14 pts
2. Costa Rica 11 pts
3. USA 8 pts
4. Panama 7 pts
5 Honduras 5 pts
6. T&T 3 pts

Remaining CONCACAF WCQ Matches:
Sept 1
Mexico v. Panama
T&T v. Honduras
USA v. Costa Rica

Sept 5
Honduras v. USA
Panama v. T&T
Costa Rica v. Mexico

Oct 6
Costa Rica v. Honduras
Mexico v. T&T
USA v. Panama

October 10
Honduras v. Mexico
Panama v. Costa Rica
T&T v. USA