Canada draws Belize in next round of World Cup qualifying

The Canadians and nine other second-round winners moved on, joining Jamaica and Haiti – the seventh- and eighth-seeded teams – to play six home-and-away series in the third round.

Heavy favorite New Zealand is in Group B with Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Fifty-two European teams take part and are divided into seven groups of six and two of five.

Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Canada, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, St. Vincent & Grenadines all advanced from Second Round of Qualifying, which was played in June. As it turned out, both will land in Group B, with Costa Rica and Panama, if they win their third-round matchups as expected.

England scraping a place among the top seeds will certainly help but it is no guarantee of avoiding a nightmare fixture list, with Italy and France lurking in pot two, Sweden and Ukraine in three, and the Republic of Ireland, Turkey and Montenegro in four. The winners then meet in a play-off, with the victor advancing to the intercontinental play-off. “We can be happy with that”.

With some sponsors committed to other big events in 2016 – such as the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the European Championship – promotional campaigns tied to the 2018 World Cup would typically start after they are finished, Valcke said.

Meanwhile, Brazil striker Hulk – who earlier this week said he encountered racism in nearly every match he played in Russian Federation – has pulled out of taking part in the draw.

And speaking of the corruption scandal, former FIFA vice-president and current head of Caribbean football, Jack Warner, has received his extradition orders from the U.S. In a statement from Tobago’s Attorney General.

“But for the Russian FA to say they didn’t hear or see any evidence of racism is beyond a joke”.

Manchester City has been spending heavily again, including 49 million pounds ($76 million) on winger Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, now that it is no longer subject to FFP restrictions.

“I’m sure until the (presidential) election, until the 26th of February, there will not be major announcements”, Valcke said, adding that “at least two major companies” have been in negotiatons. “The experiences that I have gone through, I have gone through in other countries too”. “If want to buy a Ferrari you need money, if you don’t have, you don’t have a Ferrari”. But even at that point-which is where the draw placed the U.S. on Saturday-the competition nearly certainly will not trouble the Americans at all. This is a preliminary tournament and will be held in four Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi. Qualification has already begun for most of the confederation’s 35 members, with the first two rounds eliminating the tiniest of the minnows.