Trinidad & Tobago to open against Costa Rica in CONCACAF final round

MIAMI, CMC:

Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago will meet Costa Rica in their opening game of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

T&T and Costa Rica will do battle in one of three first-round games of the Hexagonal stage carded for Friday, November 11.

United States play Mexico, and Panama take on Honduras in the other two games.

The schedule and pairings for the six-team home-and-away series were confirmed in a release issued on Wednesday by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

All six teams secured places in the final round of qualifying by finishing among the top two of their respective groups in semifinal round play that concluded Tuesday evening.

The placement and schedule for the Final Round was determined according to the group position in which each team finished the semifinal stage.

The seeding and order of matches were determined via a draw conducted in July at CONCACAF Headquarters on Miami Beach.

The Hexagonal, a 10-match schedule for each of the contestants, will be played from November through October 2017.

The top-three finishers advance directly to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

The fourth-place team advances to an intercontinental home-and-away play-off to be disputed in November 2017, against a team from the Asian Football Confederation.

CONCACAF HEXAGONAL SCHEDULE

- Match day 1 - Friday, November 11, 2016

USA vs Mexico

Honduras vs Panama

Trinidad & Tobago vs Costa Rica

- Match day 2 - Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Costa Rica vs USA

Panama vs Mexico

Honduras vs Trinidad & Tobago

- Match day 3 - Friday, March 24, 2017

USA vs Honduras

Trinidad & Tobago vs Panama

Mexico vs Costa Rica

- Match day 4 - Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Panama vs USA

Honduras vs Costa Rica

Trinidad & Tobago vs Mexico

- Match day 5 - Wednesday, June 7 or Thursday, June 8, 2017 TBD*

USA vs Trinidad and Tobago

Costa Rica vs Panama

Mexico vs Honduras

- Match day 6 - Sunday, June 11 or Monday, June 12, 2017, TBD*

Mexico vs USA

Panama vs Honduras

Costa Rica vs Trinidad & Tobago

- Match day 7 - Friday, September 1, 2017

USA vs Costa Rica

Mexico vs Panama

Trinidad & Tobago vs Honduras

- Match day 8 - Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Honduras vs USA

Panama vs Trinidad & Tobago

Costa Rica vs Mexico

- Match day 9 - Friday, October 6, 2017

USA vs Panama

Costa Rica vs Honduras

Mexico vs Trinidad & Tobago

- Match day 10 (*matches kickoff simultaneously) - Friday, October 10, 2017

Trinidad & Tobago vs USA

Panama vs Costa Rica

Honduras vs Mexico